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Double Star
One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was — as usual — in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars.
Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians was at stake — failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. And Smythe's own life was on the line — for if he wasn't assassinated, there was always the possibility that he might be trapped in his new role forever!
Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians was at stake — failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. And Smythe's own life was on the line — for if he wasn't assassinated, there was always the possibility that he might be trapped in his new role forever!
243 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1956
About the author
Robert A. Heinlein
949 books9,765 followersRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok, waldo and speculative fiction, as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon.
Also wrote under Pen names: Anson McDonald, Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders, John Riverside and Simon York.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok, waldo and speculative fiction, as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon.
Also wrote under Pen names: Anson McDonald, Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders, John Riverside and Simon York.
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July 22, 2016
Really enjoyed this.
Heinlein's first but least recognized Hugo Award winner. Like many of his better works, this is a science fiction vehicle that he uses to discuss other issues, here he spends time with politics, maybe even adding some subtle, and not too subtle ideas about what he thinks is right and wrong in politics.
Not consistent with other novels about Martians, or his future fiction in other books, but excellent characterization and a fun story. Borrows heavily from the Prisoner of Zenda theme.
Heinlein's first but least recognized Hugo Award winner. Like many of his better works, this is a science fiction vehicle that he uses to discuss other issues, here he spends time with politics, maybe even adding some subtle, and not too subtle ideas about what he thinks is right and wrong in politics.
Not consistent with other novels about Martians, or his future fiction in other books, but excellent characterization and a fun story. Borrows heavily from the Prisoner of Zenda theme.
July 9, 2015
Review also posted at Fantasy Literature.
In Double Star, a 1956 Robert Heinlein novella, Lawrence Smith (aka Lorenzo Smythe or "Lorenzo the Great"), an out-of-work actor, accepts a job to impersonate a man for a few days, without, perhaps, asking as many questions about the job as he should have. He promptly finds himself whisked off to the planet Mars, standing in for one of the most important political figures in the solar system, who has been kidnapped. Larry's first task: fool the Martians during a vitally important Martian adoption ceremony. But somehow one appearance as a double leads to another, and another...
My (self-imposed) mission was to find a Robert Heinlein story where the enjoyment of the tale isn't swamped by the offensive content for which Heinlein is, unfortunately, well known. Double Star, I think, does the job pretty well. There are a couple of instances of eyebrow-raising dialogue, and the women mostly have secretarial-type jobs, but it's par for what you'd normally expect to see in 1950's books (even science fiction; the imaginations of mid-century SF authors had their limits), and nothing was too far out of line.
Heinlein gets on his soapbox a little about personal freedoms and politics, but it's all good since the main message is equality for all races, including Martians and Venerians (aliens from Venus). A few outdated technologies like microfilm and slide rules appear alongside the spaceships and ray guns, but it doesn't ruin the fun. It's actually pretty amusing in a retro kind of way.
This is a quick and humorous read, not terribly challenging, but enjoyable, and there are some interesting ideas about how acting a role can change you as a person, the importance of the political process, and the impact one person can have.
In Double Star, a 1956 Robert Heinlein novella, Lawrence Smith (aka Lorenzo Smythe or "Lorenzo the Great"), an out-of-work actor, accepts a job to impersonate a man for a few days, without, perhaps, asking as many questions about the job as he should have. He promptly finds himself whisked off to the planet Mars, standing in for one of the most important political figures in the solar system, who has been kidnapped. Larry's first task: fool the Martians during a vitally important Martian adoption ceremony. But somehow one appearance as a double leads to another, and another...
My (self-imposed) mission was to find a Robert Heinlein story where the enjoyment of the tale isn't swamped by the offensive content for which Heinlein is, unfortunately, well known. Double Star, I think, does the job pretty well. There are a couple of instances of eyebrow-raising dialogue, and the women mostly have secretarial-type jobs, but it's par for what you'd normally expect to see in 1950's books (even science fiction; the imaginations of mid-century SF authors had their limits), and nothing was too far out of line.
Heinlein gets on his soapbox a little about personal freedoms and politics, but it's all good since the main message is equality for all races, including Martians and Venerians (aliens from Venus). A few outdated technologies like microfilm and slide rules appear alongside the spaceships and ray guns, but it doesn't ruin the fun. It's actually pretty amusing in a retro kind of way.
This is a quick and humorous read, not terribly challenging, but enjoyable, and there are some interesting ideas about how acting a role can change you as a person, the importance of the political process, and the impact one person can have.
May 26, 2010
Before I begin, I'd like to thank you all for choosing to read this review today. It is you who actively participate in the Goodreads community that are the pulsating heart of this great country, _____. (Insert your country name here.) Without your efforts, intellectual life everywhere would be sure to stagnate. This has always been my position, and I am a man with firm convictions, never changing my mind about anything.
Just yesterday, a young, impoverished child asked me how I was going to help improve this country if I am elected Czar. And I said...*checks notes on palm*...lower taxes by wagging war--wagging war? Oh, uh, sorry--WAGING war...on evil countries full of terrorists. I also prioritize putting children first, and also putting the environment and our future first.
It is my pleasure to discuss Double Star this afternoon. Double Star is a terrific book of mine, and I've known it for several weeks. Honestly, I can only say nice things about it. Having won the Hugo in...some year...it is a book with the greatest of accolades to its name.
It's the story of an actor asked to play the most challenging and dangerous role of his life: representing a politician during a ceremony that, if it isn't conducted exactly right, could mean death. But after the ceremony, the politician isn't yet ready to return to his duties, and the actor is hired for another job.
Witty and fast-paced, Double Star is very fun, and I can't honestly say whether I liked this or Starship Troopers better. Yes, I can. I liked this one better because at the end of the day, the message here was, "Politicians can be replaced by decent actors without anyone noticing," whereas the message in Starship Troopers was "Woo Haa! Go team!" While I give full credit to those willing to serve in the armed forces of ________, and I'm aware that they are the pulsating heart of this great country, and without them, nobody would protect our borders from those dangerous terrorists and immigrants, I relate more with the former message.
It is truly a shame that so many of our representatives seem to simply say what they think people want to hear, but unfortunately, some people are stupid enough that they can get away with it. Not you people, though, you people are the foundation that this country is built upon. It's time we take back this country from bland, insipid politicians, and put someone with real positions on the issues back in office! And I have positions! On the issues!
I believe that our children shouldn't take drugs, and education is important! Unlike you-know-who, who wants to undermine all the values that you hold dear! Say no to socialism and fascism! And vote like a patriot! Vote for our future! Vote for me! Click "yes" below, and take a stand for values! You like values, right?
September 30, 2023
Me ha gustado bastante este libro. Crecí leyendo a Heinlein, Asimov y compañía, todos ellos escritores muy prolíficos. Estrella doble no lo leí entonces y me daba miedo hacerlo ahora, por aquello de no saber cómo habría envejecido. Me alegro de haberme decidido.
La novela se sitúa en un futuro lejano. Se ha descubierto que hay vida inteligente, así como civilizaciones desarrolladas en los distintos planetas del Sistema Solar. Muchos de estos planetas, incluida La Tierra, se han unificado en un imperio, cuyo emperador es humano. En La Tierra hay dos partidos políticos enfrentados, uno, el expansionista, que aboga por integrar a los no humanos y tratarles a pie de igualdad y otro de caracter xenófobo y supremacista. En este contexto político, un actor es contratado para hacerse pasar, durante un par de días, por el jefe supremo del partido expansionista. De su actuación dependerá el futuro de La Tierra y del Sistema Solar. Hasta ahí la sinopsis.
¿Qué me ha gustado?
La manera directa que tiene Heinlein de introducir al lector en el lío. Con pocos trazos, nos enteramos de cómo es la vida en ese futuro, de la apariencia y cultura de alguna raza extraterrestre, de los prejuicios existentes hacia ellos y de los viajes interespaciales. Todo ello acompañado de una dosis suficiente de acción.
La evolución del protagonista, que pasa de realizar un trabajo por el que le pagan a desarrollar un fuerte sentido del deber.
La filosofía a favor del integracionismo racial, que desarrolla el autor. A Heinlein se le ha acusado de todo, de machista e incluso de misógino (pese a que se casó con una bioquímica que hablaba siete idiomas), de militarista y de defensor a ultranza del capitalismo en su estado más puro. Creo que se nos olvida que nació en 1907 y que creció en la Kansas de entonces. Sus valores son los usuales de la época y lugar en los que se educó. Este libro se publicó en EEUU en 1956. Cierto, que muchas de sus actitudes y estereotipos sobre la mujer en sus novelas, no son aceptables en el mundo occidental de hoy en día. Cierto que era contrario al movimiento pacifista. Pero tambien cierto que, en esta novela, se muestra decididamente antixenófobo; defiende que la integración es el camino y la xenofobia el germen de nuestra propia destrucción. Muy interesantes las frases y reflexiones de Lincoln que emplea.
Las consideraciones que hace sobre la forma en que los pueblos afrontan los cambios y sus costes a nivel político.
Por último, me ha gustado mucho el final, Heinlein puro.
Recomendable.
La novela se sitúa en un futuro lejano. Se ha descubierto que hay vida inteligente, así como civilizaciones desarrolladas en los distintos planetas del Sistema Solar. Muchos de estos planetas, incluida La Tierra, se han unificado en un imperio, cuyo emperador es humano. En La Tierra hay dos partidos políticos enfrentados, uno, el expansionista, que aboga por integrar a los no humanos y tratarles a pie de igualdad y otro de caracter xenófobo y supremacista. En este contexto político, un actor es contratado para hacerse pasar, durante un par de días, por el jefe supremo del partido expansionista. De su actuación dependerá el futuro de La Tierra y del Sistema Solar. Hasta ahí la sinopsis.
¿Qué me ha gustado?
La manera directa que tiene Heinlein de introducir al lector en el lío. Con pocos trazos, nos enteramos de cómo es la vida en ese futuro, de la apariencia y cultura de alguna raza extraterrestre, de los prejuicios existentes hacia ellos y de los viajes interespaciales. Todo ello acompañado de una dosis suficiente de acción.
La evolución del protagonista, que pasa de realizar un trabajo por el que le pagan a desarrollar un fuerte sentido del deber.
La filosofía a favor del integracionismo racial, que desarrolla el autor. A Heinlein se le ha acusado de todo, de machista e incluso de misógino (pese a que se casó con una bioquímica que hablaba siete idiomas), de militarista y de defensor a ultranza del capitalismo en su estado más puro. Creo que se nos olvida que nació en 1907 y que creció en la Kansas de entonces. Sus valores son los usuales de la época y lugar en los que se educó. Este libro se publicó en EEUU en 1956. Cierto, que muchas de sus actitudes y estereotipos sobre la mujer en sus novelas, no son aceptables en el mundo occidental de hoy en día. Cierto que era contrario al movimiento pacifista. Pero tambien cierto que, en esta novela, se muestra decididamente antixenófobo; defiende que la integración es el camino y la xenofobia el germen de nuestra propia destrucción. Muy interesantes las frases y reflexiones de Lincoln que emplea.
Las consideraciones que hace sobre la forma en que los pueblos afrontan los cambios y sus costes a nivel político.
Por último, me ha gustado mucho el final, Heinlein puro.
Recomendable.
July 31, 2022
I started this reread at the recommendation of Jo Walton, who wrote that “Double Star may well be Heinlein’s best novel.” https://www.tor.com/2010/07/22/parlia... It won the 1956 Hugo award for best novel. I don’t think I’ve ever reread it, since I checked it out of the library in 1960 or so.
I’m finding it very much a book of its time, and I’m regularly hitting crude, clunky stuff that throws me out of the narrative. You’ve read the blurb, right? Well, Penny, the Chief’s secretary who is is said to be one of those secretaries hopelessly in love with her boss [!], is objecting to the impersonation scheme. Captain Dak says, “Stow it, Penny, or I’ll spank your round fanny.” Oy. And Bill Corpsman, the obnoxious speechwriter! So I’m not sure I’ll continue.
On the plus side, I’m reading the first hardcover edition — very likely the one I read back then — and the period art is priceless. And the book could be viewed as an alternate-history novel of sorts, or even a history-of SF artifact. I’m at p.75 of 186.
Got over the hump. Despite the “busters” and “old sons’ and Penny’s “Jungle Lust” perfume. Oh, and all American women are “quivering” to be presented to the Imperial Court! Groan.
Farleyfile! I’d forgotten that part, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_... . How politicians keep track of everyone (of any importance) they meet, and how the actor hones his impersonation of the Chief. Nicely done.
The Imperial Audience, with Lorenzo wearing his Martian life-wand, and walking us through his (& RAH’s) thought-processes. The imposter becomes the Competent Man!
I did get a warm glow, and a moist eye, at the end, which I certainly won’t be telling you.
So I won't be launching into an extensive Heinlein reread program. But this one wasn't bad, once I got into the rhythm, and over the clunks.
2022, accidental reread notes: I had picked this one up on a library SF-shelves trawl, not realizing I had reread the book in 2018. As you can imagine, this reread went by pretty quickly, and I'll stand by my 2014 reread notes. A good Heinlein, but most definitely a book of its time. 3.5 stars rating this time, but I'll leave the overall rating at 3 stars. Recommended reading, award winning, compulsively readable -- but you will have to make allowances for this 1956 novel! One random instance: the book ends with a solar-system-wide election, and the campaign manager for the imposter's party is working up the early returns on a slide rule! The TV networks do have giant electronic brains....
I’m finding it very much a book of its time, and I’m regularly hitting crude, clunky stuff that throws me out of the narrative. You’ve read the blurb, right? Well, Penny, the Chief’s secretary who is is said to be one of those secretaries hopelessly in love with her boss [!], is objecting to the impersonation scheme. Captain Dak says, “Stow it, Penny, or I’ll spank your round fanny.” Oy. And Bill Corpsman, the obnoxious speechwriter! So I’m not sure I’ll continue.
On the plus side, I’m reading the first hardcover edition — very likely the one I read back then — and the period art is priceless. And the book could be viewed as an alternate-history novel of sorts, or even a history-of SF artifact. I’m at p.75 of 186.
Got over the hump. Despite the “busters” and “old sons’ and Penny’s “Jungle Lust” perfume. Oh, and all American women are “quivering” to be presented to the Imperial Court! Groan.
Farleyfile! I’d forgotten that part, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_... . How politicians keep track of everyone (of any importance) they meet, and how the actor hones his impersonation of the Chief. Nicely done.
The Imperial Audience, with Lorenzo wearing his Martian life-wand, and walking us through his (& RAH’s) thought-processes. The imposter becomes the Competent Man!
I did get a warm glow, and a moist eye, at the end, which I certainly won’t be telling you.
So I won't be launching into an extensive Heinlein reread program. But this one wasn't bad, once I got into the rhythm, and over the clunks.
2022, accidental reread notes: I had picked this one up on a library SF-shelves trawl, not realizing I had reread the book in 2018. As you can imagine, this reread went by pretty quickly, and I'll stand by my 2014 reread notes. A good Heinlein, but most definitely a book of its time. 3.5 stars rating this time, but I'll leave the overall rating at 3 stars. Recommended reading, award winning, compulsively readable -- but you will have to make allowances for this 1956 novel! One random instance: the book ends with a solar-system-wide election, and the campaign manager for the imposter's party is working up the early returns on a slide rule! The TV networks do have giant electronic brains....
October 16, 2009
Brian Aldiss, in Trillion Year Spree, says this is Heinlein's most enjoyable novel. Who am I to fault his judgment? It is, indeed, a lot of fun: pathetic, failed actor Laurence Smith (stage name, "Lorenzo Smythe") is hired to impersonate John Joseph Bonforte, leader of the Expansionist party, and the Solar System's most important politician. Bonforte has been kidnapped, and for complicated reasons there is an appointment he must attend; no excuse will be acceptable if he fails to turn up on time.
So Smythe is drafted in, proceeds to learn Bonforte's mannerisms and background story, and starts his unusual new job. The first public appearance goes fine, and no one suspects a thing. Then he has to do another one, and then yet another. Pretty soon he's living Bonforte's life for him. I don't want to give away too much of a fun plot, but the basic message is that politicians, even good ones like Bonforte, are fakes. Any halfway competent actor with a few weeks of prep time could step into their shoes, and they would do just as well.
I think Heinlein was unusually prescient here. When he wrote it, remember that there was no Reagan or Schwarzenegger. And even now, the book has some punch left. Politics is less and less about ideas, more and more about appearances; you need a good script, and the ability to project your character in a convincing way. For a couple of weeks in 2008, it looked like Sarah Palin had a decent shot at becoming Vice President (and maybe, later, President), largely on the strength of her "hockey mom" persona. It now seems that that was largely a construct, but I believed it at the time, even though I didn't like it.
In England, it appears that we're going to get David Cameron as our next Prime Minister. He's a Conservative, and he's campaigning on a platform of helping the poor and the environment; it's difficult to believe it's any more honest than Dubya's "compassionate conservatism". But that's not the important thing. He interprets the role imaginatively, and he looks convincing; if this were the Oscars, I'd be tipping him for a statuette, and most voters are viewing the election in pretty much that way. Heinlein had a point.
So Smythe is drafted in, proceeds to learn Bonforte's mannerisms and background story, and starts his unusual new job. The first public appearance goes fine, and no one suspects a thing. Then he has to do another one, and then yet another. Pretty soon he's living Bonforte's life for him. I don't want to give away too much of a fun plot, but the basic message is that politicians, even good ones like Bonforte, are fakes. Any halfway competent actor with a few weeks of prep time could step into their shoes, and they would do just as well.
I think Heinlein was unusually prescient here. When he wrote it, remember that there was no Reagan or Schwarzenegger. And even now, the book has some punch left. Politics is less and less about ideas, more and more about appearances; you need a good script, and the ability to project your character in a convincing way. For a couple of weeks in 2008, it looked like Sarah Palin had a decent shot at becoming Vice President (and maybe, later, President), largely on the strength of her "hockey mom" persona. It now seems that that was largely a construct, but I believed it at the time, even though I didn't like it.
In England, it appears that we're going to get David Cameron as our next Prime Minister. He's a Conservative, and he's campaigning on a platform of helping the poor and the environment; it's difficult to believe it's any more honest than Dubya's "compassionate conservatism". But that's not the important thing. He interprets the role imaginatively, and he looks convincing; if this were the Oscars, I'd be tipping him for a statuette, and most voters are viewing the election in pretty much that way. Heinlein had a point.
May 3, 2023
Double Star was the first of Heinlein's novels to win the Hugo Award for best of the year and is the least remembered of the four. It won in 1956, beating books by Asimov, Brackett, Kornbluth, and Russell. It's the story of an actor who is hired to impersonate a politician during an election campaign who has been kidnapped and injured so that the public won't know he's unable to appear in public. The actor, Smythe, is introduced as something of a despicable rogue, and the process whereby he becomes his subject, Bonforte, an intelligent, benevolent, capable, strong "Heinlein man," is quite subtle, fascinating, and richly drawn. There are some bits that haven't aged well (they use paper and slide rules to run their interplanetary empire, one of the campaign promises that was supposed to be funny at the time was "two women in every bed," and the female character tends to faint when things get interesting, for example), but it's a good story about responsibility in many senses of the word. There are a few ponderings on politics that tend to run a bit long and dry but reflect Heinlein's experiences in the area (as recounted in the excellent biography by William Patterson) most interestingly. Heinlein's prose is clear, clever, and entertaining, and he doesn't let his philosophizing get in the way of his storytelling, as he was prone to do in his later books. I was surprised by the ending the first time I read it, but it kept me engaged all the way through this time as well even though I knew what was coming.
April 5, 2019
I read this book growing up and I can’t tell you exactly why I remembered liking it, but a friend was recently reading it and I decided to add it to my list.
There is a lot of hit or miss on the Heinlein bookshelf and I can respect those who don’t find this one interesting. First, it really isn’t focused on the science fiction though we get a lot of what RAH imagines about humans spreading out in the solar system. Second, the lead character isn’t (in Heinlein’s terms) “a spaceman.” He is a somewhat narcissistic actor who is hired on Earth to substitute for a high-level politician who is “missing.”
We get a good measure of Heinlein’s thoughts on government and politics. There are some very nice bits on the craft of acting. There is nothing too profound and this short novel moves ahead at a rapid pace. Why did I like it? I enjoy Heinlein’s ability to create “ordinary” people who are placed in extraordinary circumstances. 3.5* because I was very entertained.
There is a lot of hit or miss on the Heinlein bookshelf and I can respect those who don’t find this one interesting. First, it really isn’t focused on the science fiction though we get a lot of what RAH imagines about humans spreading out in the solar system. Second, the lead character isn’t (in Heinlein’s terms) “a spaceman.” He is a somewhat narcissistic actor who is hired on Earth to substitute for a high-level politician who is “missing.”
We get a good measure of Heinlein’s thoughts on government and politics. There are some very nice bits on the craft of acting. There is nothing too profound and this short novel moves ahead at a rapid pace. Why did I like it? I enjoy Heinlein’s ability to create “ordinary” people who are placed in extraordinary circumstances. 3.5* because I was very entertained.
July 25, 2022
2022 update:
Still for me one of Heinlein best novels!
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Me ha gustado mucho Estrella Doble, la he disfrutado con la misma intensidad con la que disfruté de las otras obras de Heinlein que he leído hasta ahora. La novela recibió el premio Hugo en 1956.
Lorenzo "El Gran Lorenzo" Smythe, un actor desempleado, es contratado para representar al líder político del Partido Expansionista: John Joseph Bonforte, querido y odiado por muchos en el Sistema Solar. Como doble de Bonforte, Lorenzo tendrá que estudiar todo sobre él y presentarse en eventos de gran importancia para defender los ideales del partido y luchar contra la oposición. Una ceremonia en Marte, una Asamblea en la Capital Imperial (la Luna), naves espaciales y todo lo que se puede esperar del gran maestro Heinlein.
La vida te puede llevar por caminos inesperados, ¿no? Creo que esta novela es un claro ejemplo de ello.
Still for me one of Heinlein best novels!
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Me ha gustado mucho Estrella Doble, la he disfrutado con la misma intensidad con la que disfruté de las otras obras de Heinlein que he leído hasta ahora. La novela recibió el premio Hugo en 1956.
Lorenzo "El Gran Lorenzo" Smythe, un actor desempleado, es contratado para representar al líder político del Partido Expansionista: John Joseph Bonforte, querido y odiado por muchos en el Sistema Solar. Como doble de Bonforte, Lorenzo tendrá que estudiar todo sobre él y presentarse en eventos de gran importancia para defender los ideales del partido y luchar contra la oposición. Una ceremonia en Marte, una Asamblea en la Capital Imperial (la Luna), naves espaciales y todo lo que se puede esperar del gran maestro Heinlein.
La vida te puede llevar por caminos inesperados, ¿no? Creo que esta novela es un claro ejemplo de ello.
July 20, 2024
„Двойна звезда“ страшно много ми хареса и веднага се нареди сред любимите ми творби на Робърт Хайнлайн! Съчетанието между научна фантастика и политически трилър се е получило отлично... Действието в нея е динамично и напрегнато, но същевременно присъстват стойностни послания и чувство за хумор. Главният герой в книгата е актьор, който е въвлечен в доста сложна ситуация, тъй като трябва да замества популярен политически лидер...
„Само че аз наистина бях започнал да вярвам на тези хора. Всички бяха адски приятни люде — а от това научих за Бонфорте не по-малко, отколкото бях научил от слушането на речите му и гледането на филми. Както разбирах, политическата фигура не е един-единствен човек, а цял добре сработен отбор. Ако самият Бонфорте не беше свестен, той нямаше да събере около себе си тези хора.“
„Само че аз наистина бях започнал да вярвам на тези хора. Всички бяха адски приятни люде — а от това научих за Бонфорте не по-малко, отколкото бях научил от слушането на речите му и гледането на филми. Както разбирах, политическата фигура не е един-единствен човек, а цял добре сработен отбор. Ако самият Бонфорте не беше свестен, той нямаше да събере около себе си тези хора.“
November 25, 2015
This is one of Heinlein's early novels, which you can tell by the brevity and the lack of wankery. Also the fact that he just jumps straight into the story and never wastes much time on exposition.
This is in fact one of Heinlein's greatest strengths, and I think a major reason for his grandmaster status — he may be a bit out of fashion nowadays, and he often lost the plot in his later works, but he was first and foremost a storyteller. A spinner of yarns, a teller of tales, and if readers frequently read too much into the author's id because of what his characters did, that was their own lookout.
Double Star is typical of Heinlein SF. We get a fully sketched out (but barely described) interplanetary society, in which the United States still exists as a sovereign state, in cooperation with an Empire that governs across the solar system. Mars is its own planet, and the alien Martians coexist with humanity, with some on both sides wanting the two races to join together, while others are violent separatists. All of this plus the spacefaring technology, which is on the slightly soft side of hard SF, but presents nothing particularly outlandish for this rocket ships and BEM era story.
What makes Heinlein a master of his craft is that he drops us into this universe and makes it all perfectly understandable (the parts that aren't really explained don't matter), without devoting a single chapter, in fact barely a paragraph, to exposition. What exposition there is is all through character dialog, and it all happens through action rather than "As You Know Bob" conversations. Hence, our main character, Lorenzo Smythe, who is a Martianphobe who winds up having to impersonate a politician who is involved in an important formal ritual to become an honorary Martian, tells us everything we need to know about Martians between dodging murder attempts by a renegade faction of Martians (this happens in the first few pages of the book) and whining about how much he dislikes Martians on his hasty trip to go make friends with them.
Heinlein characters are always a bit freakishly competent, which is why we're supposed to believe that Lorenzo is such a great actor that even though he was grabbed seemingly at the last moment by a couple of a shady men needing him to impersonate a famous politician at a moment's notice, he manages to fool almost everyone around his subject, from the Martians to the Emperor.
There are even some space politics in this book, though Heinlein is blamed for soapboxing more than he actually did, and while there are hints of his usual rugged self-reliance and free trade philosophy, nothing is too obviously on the nose with regards to real-world politics. Are the Martians a metaphor for some Earthly Other? Maybe - you could read them that way, but sometimes a Martian is just a Martian. Likewise, the politician he is impersonating, one of those rare honest sorts who honestly is trying to do the right thing for his nation and his constituents, could easily be read as a liberal or a conservative or any other sort of party member.
This was in fact a pretty fast-paced yarn about political conspiracies and diplomatic maneuvers that could have easily been told without the sci-fi trappings. Heinlein added spaceships and Martians because that's the kind of story he wrote, but I'll bet non-SF readers would enjoy this story just as much if it had been written as a "mundane" conspiracy thriller.
This is not his most exciting or imaginative work, but it is a good showcase of Heinlein's early style, and his talents as a writer.
This is in fact one of Heinlein's greatest strengths, and I think a major reason for his grandmaster status — he may be a bit out of fashion nowadays, and he often lost the plot in his later works, but he was first and foremost a storyteller. A spinner of yarns, a teller of tales, and if readers frequently read too much into the author's id because of what his characters did, that was their own lookout.
Double Star is typical of Heinlein SF. We get a fully sketched out (but barely described) interplanetary society, in which the United States still exists as a sovereign state, in cooperation with an Empire that governs across the solar system. Mars is its own planet, and the alien Martians coexist with humanity, with some on both sides wanting the two races to join together, while others are violent separatists. All of this plus the spacefaring technology, which is on the slightly soft side of hard SF, but presents nothing particularly outlandish for this rocket ships and BEM era story.
What makes Heinlein a master of his craft is that he drops us into this universe and makes it all perfectly understandable (the parts that aren't really explained don't matter), without devoting a single chapter, in fact barely a paragraph, to exposition. What exposition there is is all through character dialog, and it all happens through action rather than "As You Know Bob" conversations. Hence, our main character, Lorenzo Smythe, who is a Martianphobe who winds up having to impersonate a politician who is involved in an important formal ritual to become an honorary Martian, tells us everything we need to know about Martians between dodging murder attempts by a renegade faction of Martians (this happens in the first few pages of the book) and whining about how much he dislikes Martians on his hasty trip to go make friends with them.
Heinlein characters are always a bit freakishly competent, which is why we're supposed to believe that Lorenzo is such a great actor that even though he was grabbed seemingly at the last moment by a couple of a shady men needing him to impersonate a famous politician at a moment's notice, he manages to fool almost everyone around his subject, from the Martians to the Emperor.
There are even some space politics in this book, though Heinlein is blamed for soapboxing more than he actually did, and while there are hints of his usual rugged self-reliance and free trade philosophy, nothing is too obviously on the nose with regards to real-world politics. Are the Martians a metaphor for some Earthly Other? Maybe - you could read them that way, but sometimes a Martian is just a Martian. Likewise, the politician he is impersonating, one of those rare honest sorts who honestly is trying to do the right thing for his nation and his constituents, could easily be read as a liberal or a conservative or any other sort of party member.
This was in fact a pretty fast-paced yarn about political conspiracies and diplomatic maneuvers that could have easily been told without the sci-fi trappings. Heinlein added spaceships and Martians because that's the kind of story he wrote, but I'll bet non-SF readers would enjoy this story just as much if it had been written as a "mundane" conspiracy thriller.
This is not his most exciting or imaginative work, but it is a good showcase of Heinlein's early style, and his talents as a writer.
July 16, 2018
در بین علمیتخیلیهایی که تا به حال خوندم این یکی بسیار متفاوت و جذاب بود. فضاسازی و شخصیتپردازی ستودنی هستند و داستان سریع و پرتن�� مخاطب رو به وجد میاره. خیلی دوست دارم روزی چنین داستانی بنویسم.
پ.ن: شاید تنها ایرادی که بشه به داستان گرفت همگام نبودن پیشرفت فناوری با زمان وقوع داستانه؛ زمانی که سفرهای بین سیارهای به راحتی سفرهای بین شهری امروز شدهاند و صحبت از تمدنهای بیگانه و فناوریهای فوقپیشرفته است، وجود بایگانی کاغذی عظیم و دفترهای قطور کمی عجیبه.
پ.ن: شاید تنها ایرادی که بشه به داستان گرفت همگام نبودن پیشرفت فناوری با زمان وقوع داستانه؛ زمانی که سفرهای بین سیارهای به راحتی سفرهای بین شهری امروز شدهاند و صحبت از تمدنهای بیگانه و فناوریهای فوقپیشرفته است، وجود بایگانی کاغذی عظیم و دفترهای قطور کمی عجیبه.
October 5, 2016
O lectura facilă și amuzantă, Stea dublă este povestea lui Lawrence Smith, un actor șomer care acceptă să joace rolul unei mari personalități politice timp de câteva zile și se trezește fără voia sa în miezul unei întregi conspirații oculte...
Cu toate că nu este o capodoperă a originalității sau a răsturnărilor de situație, cartea asta mi-a plăcut destul de mult datorită stilului ironic și personalității personajului principal - folosirea persoanei întâi și felul în care Smith (Smith cel îngâmfat - îmi vine în minte când mă gândesc la el) își plânge uneori de milă, modul hotărât în care declamă că nu va mai continua șarada ca apoi să se lase înduplecat - toate acestea îți creează senzația unei complicități și te fac sa îți dorești un final fericit al întregii situații.
Printre ideile interesante: egalitatea dintre rase (umane și non-umane în acest caz), importanța menținerii imaginii politice publice în detrimentul esenței și implicațiile pe care le are abordarea unui rol pentru fiecare actor.
Lumea acceptă o anumită cantitate de reformă, după care se mai odihnește. Dar reforma rămâne. Lumea nu vrea cu adevărat schimbare, nici un fel de schimbare – iar xenofobia are rădăcini adânci. Dar progresăm, dacă trebuie – dacă vrem să ajungem la stele.
Cu toate că nu este o capodoperă a originalității sau a răsturnărilor de situație, cartea asta mi-a plăcut destul de mult datorită stilului ironic și personalității personajului principal - folosirea persoanei întâi și felul în care Smith (Smith cel îngâmfat - îmi vine în minte când mă gândesc la el) își plânge uneori de milă, modul hotărât în care declamă că nu va mai continua șarada ca apoi să se lase înduplecat - toate acestea îți creează senzația unei complicități și te fac sa îți dorești un final fericit al întregii situații.
Printre ideile interesante: egalitatea dintre rase (umane și non-umane în acest caz), importanța menținerii imaginii politice publice în detrimentul esenței și implicațiile pe care le are abordarea unui rol pentru fiecare actor.
Lumea acceptă o anumită cantitate de reformă, după care se mai odihnește. Dar reforma rămâne. Lumea nu vrea cu adevărat schimbare, nici un fel de schimbare – iar xenofobia are rădăcini adânci. Dar progresăm, dacă trebuie – dacă vrem să ajungem la stele.
December 3, 2017
Washed-up actor Lorenzo Smythe accepts the role of his lifetime- to impersonate a politician who has been kidnapped, right before both an important meeting meant to unite Humans and Martians. Failure to show up could result in a war between planets.
This book was originally published in 1956 and it certainly felt dated to me. Despite human existence now being on an interplanetary level, this is very much an American story with a limited scope. Lorenzo often doesn't refer to Humankind as being from Earth, but simply as "America". Along with the anti-British sentiment which seems so small once you bring space into the matter, and the bigotry between humankind and the martians, the viewpoints in this book are really rather boring and outdated.
I was hoping for something a little bit more fun and not so heavily reliant on the reader's understanding of the American political system, but perhaps it's my own fault for not expecting as much.
This book was originally published in 1956 and it certainly felt dated to me. Despite human existence now being on an interplanetary level, this is very much an American story with a limited scope. Lorenzo often doesn't refer to Humankind as being from Earth, but simply as "America". Along with the anti-British sentiment which seems so small once you bring space into the matter, and the bigotry between humankind and the martians, the viewpoints in this book are really rather boring and outdated.
I was hoping for something a little bit more fun and not so heavily reliant on the reader's understanding of the American political system, but perhaps it's my own fault for not expecting as much.
August 3, 2020
İlginçtir, bilimkurgu edebiyatı seven biri olarak okuduğum ilk Heinlein kitabı oldu. Bilimkurgu grubumuz olmasa daha erteleyebilirdim.
Öncelikle kitabı ırkçı olmadığını göstermek üzerine kurmuş bence Heinlein. Bolca da siyasi gönderme yapıştırmış.
Oyuncu olan karakterimizin kaçırılan bir politikacının yerine geçmesi isteniyor, hem de Mars'ta! Daha sonra beklenmedik şeyler oluyor ve işler karışıyor.
🖖
Öncelikle kitabı ırkçı olmadığını göstermek üzerine kurmuş bence Heinlein. Bolca da siyasi gönderme yapıştırmış.
Oyuncu olan karakterimizin kaçırılan bir politikacının yerine geçmesi isteniyor, hem de Mars'ta! Daha sonra beklenmedik şeyler oluyor ve işler karışıyor.
🖖
May 8, 2012
A couple of years ago I attended an event at which Connie Willis spoke about her research for Blackout and All Clear. She referenced numerous romantic comedies and several war movies in addition to her factual historic research. I don't recall that she brought up many works of fiction, but Double Star was one of them, and it stuck in my mind as something I wanted to read. Between the Hugo win and the subject matter, I thought it would be worth a try.
Willis said that Double Star was inspired by the story of M.E. Clifton James, who was sent to North Africa and Gibraltar in Field Marshal Montgomery's place in order to confuse the Germans. She borrowed these events in her own depiction of the intelligence war. Heinlein's version is less madcap than the Willis version, and possibly less madcap than the true story, given that James was an alcoholic and a smoker (and was missing a finger!) and Montgomery was not.
Double Star is fast paced and somehow manages a light tone despite the serious subject matter. The Great Lorenzo (nee Lawrence Smith) is an out of work actor when he is plucked out of a bar to perform the role of a lifetime: impersonating the kidnapped Expansionist leader John Joseph Bonforte.
At the beginning, the actor's character is painted somewhat broadly. He spends a lot of time talking about his own acting chops, and it takes the reader a while to trust that he is actually as good as he says. This journey mimics that of Bonforte's inner circle, who agree to the deception out of desperation, but have little confidence that it will work.
Most of this shortish novel takes place over the span of a few weeks. It manages to flesh out the political situation fairly quickly, and with enough depth that there is a sense of what is at stake in the impersonation gambit. The character development of the support players is a little lacking, but Smith is fully realized, as is Bonforte in a more oblique fashion. It's interesting to see Smith's own fears and prejudice and strong personality twist to conform with the role he is forced to play.
On the whole, I think this book has aged well, but as usual with mid-century SF, I had some issues with the characterization of women. Smith learned his profession from his father, but doesn't seem to have had a mother to speak of. Bonforte's assistant, Penny, is intelligent, but also moody and petulant and subject to fainting spells. She is also deep in unrequited love for Bonforte. Thankfully, she is only threatened with a spanking once by a co-worker. If it had been twice I would have been tempted to put the book down.
I'm glad I didn't put it down. I was impressed by the taut plotting and the contained timeline. I'd be very curious to find out where the breaks were in the original Astounding serialization. The will-he-be-found-out moments dripped with suspense, and Smith's personal journey was well depicted. This is a worthy Hugo winner, and I'd place it near the top of my personal best-of-Heinlein list.
May 5, 2022
Premio Hugo 1956
La historia es bastante sencilla. Lorenzo Smythe, un actor sin trabajo, es abordado por un piloto llamado Dak en un bar con lo que él cree que es una propuesta rutinaria de trabajo. Cuando va a encontrarse con su contacto, se ve envuelto en un juego de intriga política de alto riesgo en el que los participantes están dispuestos a jugar hasta la muerte. Debido a las exigencias de la cultura y la política, John Bonforte, el líder de la oposición parlamentaria leal del Imperio, debe aparecer en un evento específico o su carrera política se arruinará y se producirá una sangriento conflicto. Sabiendo esto, y buscando descarrilar su facción política,uns desconocidos han secuestrado a Bonforte. Debido a las similitudes en apariencia entre Bonforte y él mismo, Smythe se encuentra a sí mismo como parte de un plan para reemplazar a Bonforte con un doble para reemplazar el evento y evitar un desastre político, con Smythe en el papel del doble de Bonforte. Pronto, un evento se convierte en dos, y a medida que avanza la historia, las circunstancias parecen conspirar para mantenerlo en el papel de Bonforte por períodos cada vez más largos, hasta que finalmente Smythe deja de existir y todo lo que queda del hombre antes conocido como Smythe es un renacido. Bonforte.
Estrella doble es bastante breve, mi copia solo tiene 240 páginas. Pero en ese puñado de páginas, Heinlein es capaz de describir un sistema solar que abarca un imperio, dos razas alienígenas (aunque una se describe de manera muy superficial), todo un sistema político, además de los detalles específicos que conforman la tramade la novela. Heinlein logra esto, como lo hace en muchas de sus novelas, principalmente evitando la explicación hasta que sea absolutamente necesaria. Cuando un marciano aparece al principio del libro con una "varita de vida", Heinlein no se detiene a explicar qué es una varita de vida o qué puede hacer. Simplemente hace que los personajes reaccionen como un elemento de su mundo y confía en que el lector capte lo que es del contexto.Heinlein hace esto a lo largo del libro.
Una cosa interesante de la historia es que no hay mucho que realmente tenga que ser ciencia ficción. La psicología particular de los marcianos es un punto de la trama, pero ese elemento podría haberse transferido a uno que no sea de ciencia ficción sin demasiada dificultad. Casi todo lo demás sobre el libro podría haberse trasladado fácilmente a un thriller político contemporáneo sin ningún esfuerzo sustancial. En su mayor parte, el libro es una excusa para hablar sobre política y la psicología de las campañas y el gobierno. Al usar a Lorenzo Smythe como su lente en la historia, quien es tanto un actor capaz como un estudioso de cómo influir en las emociones humanas, así como un neófito político, Heinlein presenta al lector su visión del proceso político paso a paso.
Desde cierta perspectiva, parece un tanto extraño que un libro con tan poca ciencia ficción en su trama gane el premio Hugo. Por otro lado, la ciencia ficción política es uno de los temas más recurrentes de Heinlein, por lo que desde esa perspectiva parece adecuado que esta fuera la primera de sus cuatro novelas premiadas con el Hugo. Aunque hay algunos elementos del libro un poco desfasados (Heinlein imagina a la gente calculando las probabilidades de los resultados electorales con reglas de cálculo y enormes bóvedas de archivo llenas de millones de rollos de cinta )la novela sigue siendo un buen ejemplo del mejor trabajo de Heinlein y vale la pena leerla.
La historia es bastante sencilla. Lorenzo Smythe, un actor sin trabajo, es abordado por un piloto llamado Dak en un bar con lo que él cree que es una propuesta rutinaria de trabajo. Cuando va a encontrarse con su contacto, se ve envuelto en un juego de intriga política de alto riesgo en el que los participantes están dispuestos a jugar hasta la muerte. Debido a las exigencias de la cultura y la política, John Bonforte, el líder de la oposición parlamentaria leal del Imperio, debe aparecer en un evento específico o su carrera política se arruinará y se producirá una sangriento conflicto. Sabiendo esto, y buscando descarrilar su facción política,uns desconocidos han secuestrado a Bonforte. Debido a las similitudes en apariencia entre Bonforte y él mismo, Smythe se encuentra a sí mismo como parte de un plan para reemplazar a Bonforte con un doble para reemplazar el evento y evitar un desastre político, con Smythe en el papel del doble de Bonforte. Pronto, un evento se convierte en dos, y a medida que avanza la historia, las circunstancias parecen conspirar para mantenerlo en el papel de Bonforte por períodos cada vez más largos, hasta que finalmente Smythe deja de existir y todo lo que queda del hombre antes conocido como Smythe es un renacido. Bonforte.
Estrella doble es bastante breve, mi copia solo tiene 240 páginas. Pero en ese puñado de páginas, Heinlein es capaz de describir un sistema solar que abarca un imperio, dos razas alienígenas (aunque una se describe de manera muy superficial), todo un sistema político, además de los detalles específicos que conforman la tramade la novela. Heinlein logra esto, como lo hace en muchas de sus novelas, principalmente evitando la explicación hasta que sea absolutamente necesaria. Cuando un marciano aparece al principio del libro con una "varita de vida", Heinlein no se detiene a explicar qué es una varita de vida o qué puede hacer. Simplemente hace que los personajes reaccionen como un elemento de su mundo y confía en que el lector capte lo que es del contexto.Heinlein hace esto a lo largo del libro.
Una cosa interesante de la historia es que no hay mucho que realmente tenga que ser ciencia ficción. La psicología particular de los marcianos es un punto de la trama, pero ese elemento podría haberse transferido a uno que no sea de ciencia ficción sin demasiada dificultad. Casi todo lo demás sobre el libro podría haberse trasladado fácilmente a un thriller político contemporáneo sin ningún esfuerzo sustancial. En su mayor parte, el libro es una excusa para hablar sobre política y la psicología de las campañas y el gobierno. Al usar a Lorenzo Smythe como su lente en la historia, quien es tanto un actor capaz como un estudioso de cómo influir en las emociones humanas, así como un neófito político, Heinlein presenta al lector su visión del proceso político paso a paso.
Desde cierta perspectiva, parece un tanto extraño que un libro con tan poca ciencia ficción en su trama gane el premio Hugo. Por otro lado, la ciencia ficción política es uno de los temas más recurrentes de Heinlein, por lo que desde esa perspectiva parece adecuado que esta fuera la primera de sus cuatro novelas premiadas con el Hugo. Aunque hay algunos elementos del libro un poco desfasados (Heinlein imagina a la gente calculando las probabilidades de los resultados electorales con reglas de cálculo y enormes bóvedas de archivo llenas de millones de rollos de cinta )la novela sigue siendo un buen ejemplo del mejor trabajo de Heinlein y vale la pena leerla.
October 23, 2014
Again, I was really tickled by this old tale in audio format. The reader was excellent & his voices occasionally had me in stitches. The King sounded like JFK & it worked. LOL!
Politics is the greatest game, but sometimes has dirty players, is Heinlein's assertion. The basic idea is that of team play. Interesting idea & I loved the way the character evolved. Again, he managed to fit a lot of his own ideas into the story without being preachy & keeping the action moving the entire time.
Politics is the greatest game, but sometimes has dirty players, is Heinlein's assertion. The basic idea is that of team play. Interesting idea & I loved the way the character evolved. Again, he managed to fit a lot of his own ideas into the story without being preachy & keeping the action moving the entire time.
May 9, 2015
Double Star: No second-rate actor could ever become president, right?
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Double Star is one of Robert Heinlein’s most enjoyable early period SF novels, a short and tightly-plotted story of out-of-work actor Lawrence Smith (aka “The Great Lorenzo”), who is unexpectedly tapped for a very important acting job, to impersonate an important politician named John Bonforte who has been kidnapped. Initially the job is supposed to be just short-term until the real guy can be rescued, but as things drag out, this becomes more difficult. Even more surprisingly, Lorenzo finds he is actually getting quite good at impersonating Bonforte, and has started to understand and sympathize with his politics as well. But how far can this situation go before somebody blows his cover…
Published in 1956 and winner of the Hugo Award, this book is perfectly paced, with great supporting characters and plenty of twists and turns. The characteristic Heinlein wit is effortless, and even when he discusses politics, it doesn’t get tiresome. More than anything, what amazing foresight he had. I mean, that would be unthinkable that an action star or second-rate actor could be a governor, or even, God forbid, President of the United States, right?
While Double Star is a great novel, I have mixed feelings about the works of Dean and Grand Master of Science Fiction, Robert Heinlein. I couldn’t stand Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land, but loved The Door Into Summer and Double Star. I found much to admire in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress but also got tired of some of the lecturing. You couldn’t find a more opinionated person on the subjects of politics (liberal and conservative), personal responsibility to society, the military, criticism of organized religion, sexual freedom, libertarianism, very mixed attitudes (both admiring and condescending) towards women, and of course a great enthusiasm for depicting realistic future societies of all kinds.
His early books (haven’t read the juveniles, though I’m sure they were great for young folks growing up in the early 1950s) are really fun, with exciting plots, snarky dialogue, plucky characters, and interesting ideas. His middle stuff gets much further into exploring his ideas about politics, sex and religion, and his later stuff is almost unreadable, bloated, self-indulgent explorations of his own inner obsessions, with a healthy dollop of incest and kinky sex. I’m sure those books would never have been published if they were written by anyone other than Heinlein.
In the end, the SF genre has been enriched immeasurably by the presence of Robert Heinlein, along with his fellow giants Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, and the genre will probably never see his like again.
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Double Star is one of Robert Heinlein’s most enjoyable early period SF novels, a short and tightly-plotted story of out-of-work actor Lawrence Smith (aka “The Great Lorenzo”), who is unexpectedly tapped for a very important acting job, to impersonate an important politician named John Bonforte who has been kidnapped. Initially the job is supposed to be just short-term until the real guy can be rescued, but as things drag out, this becomes more difficult. Even more surprisingly, Lorenzo finds he is actually getting quite good at impersonating Bonforte, and has started to understand and sympathize with his politics as well. But how far can this situation go before somebody blows his cover…
Published in 1956 and winner of the Hugo Award, this book is perfectly paced, with great supporting characters and plenty of twists and turns. The characteristic Heinlein wit is effortless, and even when he discusses politics, it doesn’t get tiresome. More than anything, what amazing foresight he had. I mean, that would be unthinkable that an action star or second-rate actor could be a governor, or even, God forbid, President of the United States, right?
While Double Star is a great novel, I have mixed feelings about the works of Dean and Grand Master of Science Fiction, Robert Heinlein. I couldn’t stand Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land, but loved The Door Into Summer and Double Star. I found much to admire in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress but also got tired of some of the lecturing. You couldn’t find a more opinionated person on the subjects of politics (liberal and conservative), personal responsibility to society, the military, criticism of organized religion, sexual freedom, libertarianism, very mixed attitudes (both admiring and condescending) towards women, and of course a great enthusiasm for depicting realistic future societies of all kinds.
His early books (haven’t read the juveniles, though I’m sure they were great for young folks growing up in the early 1950s) are really fun, with exciting plots, snarky dialogue, plucky characters, and interesting ideas. His middle stuff gets much further into exploring his ideas about politics, sex and religion, and his later stuff is almost unreadable, bloated, self-indulgent explorations of his own inner obsessions, with a healthy dollop of incest and kinky sex. I’m sure those books would never have been published if they were written by anyone other than Heinlein.
In the end, the SF genre has been enriched immeasurably by the presence of Robert Heinlein, along with his fellow giants Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, and the genre will probably never see his like again.
May 22, 2020
Comentaba en mi reseña de Starship Troopers que esa historia había envejecido muy mal y me había llegado a aburrir. Sin embargo, Estrella doble, que está escrita unos años antes, me ha parecido una historia que se podía haber escrito anteayer.
Una novela muy entretenida en la que se habla de política y con un ritmo altísimo en el que no dejan de pasar cosas. Además, tiene un humor que no había visto en Heinlein en ninguna de las novelas que hasta ahora he leído suyas.
Una pena la edición que me he leído en Kindle de La Factoría de Ideas, muy mal formateada y llena de erratas.
Una novela muy entretenida en la que se habla de política y con un ritmo altísimo en el que no dejan de pasar cosas. Además, tiene un humor que no había visto en Heinlein en ninguna de las novelas que hasta ahora he leído suyas.
Una pena la edición que me he leído en Kindle de La Factoría de Ideas, muy mal formateada y llena de erratas.
June 16, 2018
Of the so-called "Big 3" of sci-fi, I'd put Heinlein squarely at #4. Though I found this surprisingly tolerable and entertaining, sci-fi was clearly just a vehicle for him to write about his true passion, politics. He just can't help getting up on his soapbox and lecturing us on the virtues of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Every time I read something from Heinlein I swear it will be the last, and this time I probably mean it.
June 22, 2021
The first Heinlein I actually liked. This is a light hearted, enjoyable read.
May 23, 2024
This is the first Robert A. Heinlein’s SF novel that won Hugo award in 1956, not because his earlier stuff was weaker or less popular (his novel Beyond This Horizon, received 1943 Retro-Hugo in 2018), but because the award was first introduced in 1953. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for May 2024 at The Evolution of Science Fiction group.
It is a rather unusual novel for the author: in this period he mostly wrote ‘juveniles’ (a mix of modern-day MG and YA with the 40s-50s sensibilities, i.e. quite ‘clean’), which this is a rather quickly written adult SF adventure, which borrows heavily from adventure literature of 19th and early 20th centuries, largely driven by the fact that his wife at that moment helped to rehearse a play, so their house was full of actors.
The great first sentence captured me instantly: If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he’s a spaceman.
So, this is the story of an actor, Lawrence Smith, aka the Great Lorenzo, who is also a narrator. From his own descriptions, readers can see that he is a vain person, who adapts on a spot not only externally, but in his very thoughts, a great example of an unreliable narrator. He is down on his luck, but voyagers (space pilots) hire him to go to Mars to impersonate a politician, John Joseph Bonforte, whose political stance is initially quite alien to Lorenzo, but after walking a mile in another man’s shoes…
In respect of depicting ‘persons of art’, this book reminded me of my recent read, The Prestige. It is also interesting to note several layers in this story. For example, Lorenzo teaches that acting is not just painting a different face:
Would it suffice if an acquaintance looked at you and said, ‘Say, that big fellow reminds me of Dak Broadbent. It’s not Dak, of course, but looks a little like him.’ Eh?”
“Huh? I suppose so. As long as he was sure it wasn’t me. I’m supposed to be on...well, I’m not supposed to be on Earth just now.”
“He’ll be quite sure it is not you, because we’ll change your walk. That’s the most distinctive thing about you. If your walk is wrong, it cannot possibly be you—so it must be some other big-boned, broad-shouldered man who looks a bit like you.”
This on one side reminds me about fooling gait detectors in Little Brother (which can be a homage) but on the other, about the hocus-pocus the author makes by giving different voices to different characters, from vocabulary to length of sentences – in the first part of the book there is much more dialogue than usual in Heinlein’s novels – he plays the trick his character is describing!
Has the book had any problems? Definitely, like most books of the time, women are underrepresented, and gays are mentioned obliquely only in not-really funny jokes. And tech, that still uses slide rules and spools of data. Of course, the described main plot would have failed miserably in our digital surveillance state, but I still enjoy it greatly.
It is a rather unusual novel for the author: in this period he mostly wrote ‘juveniles’ (a mix of modern-day MG and YA with the 40s-50s sensibilities, i.e. quite ‘clean’), which this is a rather quickly written adult SF adventure, which borrows heavily from adventure literature of 19th and early 20th centuries, largely driven by the fact that his wife at that moment helped to rehearse a play, so their house was full of actors.
The great first sentence captured me instantly: If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he’s a spaceman.
So, this is the story of an actor, Lawrence Smith, aka the Great Lorenzo, who is also a narrator. From his own descriptions, readers can see that he is a vain person, who adapts on a spot not only externally, but in his very thoughts, a great example of an unreliable narrator. He is down on his luck, but voyagers (space pilots) hire him to go to Mars to impersonate a politician, John Joseph Bonforte, whose political stance is initially quite alien to Lorenzo, but after walking a mile in another man’s shoes…
In respect of depicting ‘persons of art’, this book reminded me of my recent read, The Prestige. It is also interesting to note several layers in this story. For example, Lorenzo teaches that acting is not just painting a different face:
Would it suffice if an acquaintance looked at you and said, ‘Say, that big fellow reminds me of Dak Broadbent. It’s not Dak, of course, but looks a little like him.’ Eh?”
“Huh? I suppose so. As long as he was sure it wasn’t me. I’m supposed to be on...well, I’m not supposed to be on Earth just now.”
“He’ll be quite sure it is not you, because we’ll change your walk. That’s the most distinctive thing about you. If your walk is wrong, it cannot possibly be you—so it must be some other big-boned, broad-shouldered man who looks a bit like you.”
This on one side reminds me about fooling gait detectors in Little Brother (which can be a homage) but on the other, about the hocus-pocus the author makes by giving different voices to different characters, from vocabulary to length of sentences – in the first part of the book there is much more dialogue than usual in Heinlein’s novels – he plays the trick his character is describing!
Has the book had any problems? Definitely, like most books of the time, women are underrepresented, and gays are mentioned obliquely only in not-really funny jokes. And tech, that still uses slide rules and spools of data. Of course, the described main plot would have failed miserably in our digital surveillance state, but I still enjoy it greatly.
November 2, 2010
4.0 to 4.5 stars. Of the Heinlein novels I have read, this one is my second favorite after The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. I have always been a fan of the "idea" portions of Heinlein's stories but sometimes have found the actual plots a bit dry. Not so with this one which I really liked from both an idea and plot perspective.
In brief, the story revolves around a talented, but unemploted, actor named Lawrence Smith recruited to portray a popular politician after he has been kidnapped by political rivals. I really like both Smith and politician he impersonates named John Joseph Bonforte. Both characters come across as true heroes in the classic sence of the word. This plot dealt quite a bit with politics which I really enjoyed as well maintaining excellent pacing and tension throughout. I also thought the very last line of the book was classic. Highly Recommended!!
Winner: Hugo Award Best Science Fiction Novel (1956).
In brief, the story revolves around a talented, but unemploted, actor named Lawrence Smith recruited to portray a popular politician after he has been kidnapped by political rivals. I really like both Smith and politician he impersonates named John Joseph Bonforte. Both characters come across as true heroes in the classic sence of the word. This plot dealt quite a bit with politics which I really enjoyed as well maintaining excellent pacing and tension throughout. I also thought the very last line of the book was classic. Highly Recommended!!
Winner: Hugo Award Best Science Fiction Novel (1956).
October 17, 2015
This is a story about a down-in-his-luck actor, Lorenzo Smythe. He was approached with a job; to impersonate someone for about an hour. It would be a quick job, and he would be well paid for his efforts.
Lorenzo was not told who he would be impersonating, or the reason why. He had to take the job--or leave it. He eventually was talked into taking the job, but little did he know that the job was to impersonate someone on Mars. And Lorenzo got physically sick at the sight and smell of Martians!
This is a fun story, well told, by the great science fiction author, Robert Heinlein. While It takes place with the solar system as the stage, the story could just as well have taken place strictly on Earth, as a normal story. There isn't much science here, but the story doesn't really need any. There are a few technological innovations, but none really out of line from today's technology.
The story flows almost like a mystery novel. I've looked at some of the other reviews here; don't read them, as I believe they give away many of the mysteries.
Lorenzo was not told who he would be impersonating, or the reason why. He had to take the job--or leave it. He eventually was talked into taking the job, but little did he know that the job was to impersonate someone on Mars. And Lorenzo got physically sick at the sight and smell of Martians!
This is a fun story, well told, by the great science fiction author, Robert Heinlein. While It takes place with the solar system as the stage, the story could just as well have taken place strictly on Earth, as a normal story. There isn't much science here, but the story doesn't really need any. There are a few technological innovations, but none really out of line from today's technology.
The story flows almost like a mystery novel. I've looked at some of the other reviews here; don't read them, as I believe they give away many of the mysteries.
April 13, 2012
This may be my favorite Robert Heinlein novel, at least of the few I've read so far. I enjoy political intrigue in SF novels and Heinlein does a great job creating a detailed, believable plot full of twists and turns, that still never seems to drag. Lorenzo Smythe is a great character who grows during the course of the book to become a better person. I like that. I also like that there was none of the weird Heinlein sex stuff that made me dislike "Stranger in a Strange Land."
This was just a fun, well thought out science fiction story.
This was just a fun, well thought out science fiction story.
September 15, 2017
I like vintage Science Fiction novels and this fit the bill in every way. In many ways the science fiction of the 1950s were adventure stories that just happened to take place in outer space. The characters were even called "Space Cowboys" because the heroes did not act much differently then the romanticized versions of, in reality, a boring job herding cattle.
Digression:
How such a tedious job as taking care of cows metamorphosed into a glamorous, "good guys conquering the villains" persona is a mystery to me. Why did not skilled artisans ever develop such a reputation? "Bif, the brick layer smelled trouble. Slowly he pulled out his trowel, and stealthily advanced toward the fast disappearing shadow just around the corner..."
Back to the review:
Double Star is a fun adventure story that had me wondering what was going to happen to the very end and, unlike some stories, resolves in a satisfying, convincing and also poignant way.
"If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he's a spaceman."
This is the first sentence of the story and the observation is made by our main character, Lawrence Smith, aka "the Great Lorenzo."
He might have been great but now he is an out of work actor trying to avoid creditors. He is sitting inside a bar when he sees the aforementioned man walk in. He strikes up a conversation with him and soon finds himself sucked into the vortex of an adventure.
I do not want to give anything away, but briefly, the spaceman Dak Broadbent needs the great Lorenzo to perform his greatest act ever: impersonate an intergalactic political figure for the future of the universe. If that sounds like a tall order, it is.
John Joseph Bonforte has made great strides in diplomatic dealings with Martians. So much so that the Martians want to make him one of them and have him perform a "nesting rite". Don't ask what that is. The upshot is that it will make Bonforte a fellow Martian and family. This will go far in bringing Martians into the Empire because they will see themselves as having a voice in the intergalactic government, something they don't have now, even though Earth has colonized the planet, although they apparently have not overpowered the Martians, which would make them a formidable foe if uncooperative with the empire's plans.
There is a faction, both human and Martian that are against this kind of union. They have therefore kidnapped Bonforte so he will be unable to attend the Martian rite.
Now, one thinks, so what? Surely the Martians will understand that he has been kidnapped and contrary to his own will, will not attend the ceremony.
No, they won't. Their idea of honor is that one deserves to die if they for any reason, even those beyond their control, do not follow through on their word. They are willing to die themselves for failing to follow through and would expect no less from a human.
The kidnappers know this and hope to destroy all diplomatic relations with Mars and the Empire as a result.
The solution? Hire an actor to impersonate Bonforte for the ceremony. The kidnappers won't dare reveal what they have done because it would turn everyone against them.
At first Lorenzo balks, but he soon grows attached to the idea of not only the challenge of what would undoubtedly be his greatest performance but of achieving something not just for himself but something greater for man (and Martian) kind.
The story is told in first person narrator by Lorenzo. He is a very likeable person and very human as he struggles with the part he is to play in this adventure and also how he thinks and calculates to pull everything off. We see his transformation as he "becomes" Bonforte. Heinlein succeeded in creating a character worth following around on this rather suspenseful story.
Things, naturally don't go smoothly, or it would be a much shorter story, so we get to ride along bumps and twists as unexpected plot turns arise.
This might be called an "old fashioned" science fiction story, but it is my favorite kind and they are mostly be the kind I read.
Digression:
How such a tedious job as taking care of cows metamorphosed into a glamorous, "good guys conquering the villains" persona is a mystery to me. Why did not skilled artisans ever develop such a reputation? "Bif, the brick layer smelled trouble. Slowly he pulled out his trowel, and stealthily advanced toward the fast disappearing shadow just around the corner..."
Back to the review:
Double Star is a fun adventure story that had me wondering what was going to happen to the very end and, unlike some stories, resolves in a satisfying, convincing and also poignant way.
"If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he's a spaceman."
This is the first sentence of the story and the observation is made by our main character, Lawrence Smith, aka "the Great Lorenzo."
He might have been great but now he is an out of work actor trying to avoid creditors. He is sitting inside a bar when he sees the aforementioned man walk in. He strikes up a conversation with him and soon finds himself sucked into the vortex of an adventure.
I do not want to give anything away, but briefly, the spaceman Dak Broadbent needs the great Lorenzo to perform his greatest act ever: impersonate an intergalactic political figure for the future of the universe. If that sounds like a tall order, it is.
John Joseph Bonforte has made great strides in diplomatic dealings with Martians. So much so that the Martians want to make him one of them and have him perform a "nesting rite". Don't ask what that is. The upshot is that it will make Bonforte a fellow Martian and family. This will go far in bringing Martians into the Empire because they will see themselves as having a voice in the intergalactic government, something they don't have now, even though Earth has colonized the planet, although they apparently have not overpowered the Martians, which would make them a formidable foe if uncooperative with the empire's plans.
There is a faction, both human and Martian that are against this kind of union. They have therefore kidnapped Bonforte so he will be unable to attend the Martian rite.
Now, one thinks, so what? Surely the Martians will understand that he has been kidnapped and contrary to his own will, will not attend the ceremony.
No, they won't. Their idea of honor is that one deserves to die if they for any reason, even those beyond their control, do not follow through on their word. They are willing to die themselves for failing to follow through and would expect no less from a human.
The kidnappers know this and hope to destroy all diplomatic relations with Mars and the Empire as a result.
The solution? Hire an actor to impersonate Bonforte for the ceremony. The kidnappers won't dare reveal what they have done because it would turn everyone against them.
At first Lorenzo balks, but he soon grows attached to the idea of not only the challenge of what would undoubtedly be his greatest performance but of achieving something not just for himself but something greater for man (and Martian) kind.
The story is told in first person narrator by Lorenzo. He is a very likeable person and very human as he struggles with the part he is to play in this adventure and also how he thinks and calculates to pull everything off. We see his transformation as he "becomes" Bonforte. Heinlein succeeded in creating a character worth following around on this rather suspenseful story.
Things, naturally don't go smoothly, or it would be a much shorter story, so we get to ride along bumps and twists as unexpected plot turns arise.
This might be called an "old fashioned" science fiction story, but it is my favorite kind and they are mostly be the kind I read.
August 2, 2020
"Show must go on."
September 26, 2010
A fun and quick book, and another example of why the most consistently enjoyable Heinlein writings were the early ones.
There's nothing amazingly noteworthy, and it's certainly not a must-read-before-you-die type of book. But it does have a message, and it does have an exuberant style, and (probably its greatest attribute) the book is concise enough to know precisely how to avoid overstaying its welcome.
You won't regret giving this a read, whether you've never read science fiction or whether you read nothing but... This is perhaps another strength of the novel, and although based on an untested assumption, I do think it may be the one of the more broadly accessible Heinlein works beyond the typical SF readership.
A well-deserved early Hugo winner, and a solid 4-star rating from me.
There's nothing amazingly noteworthy, and it's certainly not a must-read-before-you-die type of book. But it does have a message, and it does have an exuberant style, and (probably its greatest attribute) the book is concise enough to know precisely how to avoid overstaying its welcome.
You won't regret giving this a read, whether you've never read science fiction or whether you read nothing but... This is perhaps another strength of the novel, and although based on an untested assumption, I do think it may be the one of the more broadly accessible Heinlein works beyond the typical SF readership.
A well-deserved early Hugo winner, and a solid 4-star rating from me.
January 15, 2023
This Hugo winner from sci-fi veteran Robert Heinlein gives us a fun switcheroo tale where our protagonist, the Great Lorenzo has to step in and replace a powerful public figure and things go poorly from there. It is set in a future where the solar system has been colonized by humans and in this case, Lorenzo must travel to an important conference on Mars. He is able to get background on his doppelganger from the Farley files, and discovers that he is in stark disagreement politically with the person he needs to imitate. It is a tale written in the 50s with the typically misogynist Heinlein female throwaway characters, but nonetheless, the premise is interesting and the action is non-stop. I would not put this up as my favorite Heinlein book so far, but still it has merits in terms of narrative, character building, and pacing.
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