The Free Lunch
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4.2 • 6 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
On the run from a terrible past, twelve-year-old Mike seeks refuge in America's most beloved theme park, Dreamworld. On yet another attempt to "disappear" into Dreamworld, Mike is helped by Annie, a woman has successfully hidden in Dreamworld for years.
Mike faces many challenges: he must help stop hired killers who seek to destroy his new home, and also help uncover the nature and purpose of some very strange creatures who are infiltrating Dreamworld.
Praised by The New York Times as "an homage to the lighter side of Robert A. Heinlein", this is a clever and compassionate novel for Robinson and Heinlein lovers alike.
“The Free Lunch is a fast-moving homage to the lighter side of Robert A. Heinlein”
- The New York Times
"You get much more than you bargained for in this fun-filled-yet-serious novel. Spider's the antidote for entropy, the blahs, and the pernicious notion that humor and good grace are absent from the SF field." - Ben Bova
"The Free Lunch" is a three course meal: adventure, humor, and solid extrapolation. Spider Robinson is a master storyteller, and this novel is one of his best. Bon appetite!" - Allen Steele
"If one were given the task of creating Spider Robinson from scratch, the best way to do it would be to snatch James Joyce from history, force-feed him Marx Brothers films and good jazz for the better part of a decade, then turn him loose on a world badly in need of a look at itself."
- The Vancouver Sun
"Spider Robinson is the hottest writer to hit science fiction since Harlan Ellison, and he can match the master’s frenetic energy and emotional intensity, arm-break for gut-wrench.”
- The Los Angeles Times
"Spider Robinson is the Tom Robbins of the 21st century."
- John Varley
[Spider Robinson] "embodies the best of Sturgeon, Heinlein, and Asimov."
- David Gerrold
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This smoothly written, well-paced romp from Canadian author Robinson (Telempath) takes places in 2023 at Dreamworld, a Disneyland-style park, whose themes draw from SF, fantasy and 1960s popular culture. Twelve-year-old Mike tries to hide himself in Dreamworld, but runs into the "Mother Elf," a midget named Annie. Comparing notes, they begin to suspect that Dreamworld is being infiltrated, but by whom? They first suspect "aliens," then agents of Alonzo Haines, proprietor of Dreamworld's spatterpunk rival, Thrillworld. Then they discover that Haines's formidable enforcer, Randall Conway, is after the aliens and after them as well. Mike and Annie ally themselves with the mystery folk, particularly an ingenious little gentleman named Hormat with an arsenal of high-tech dirty tricks, simply in order to stay alive long enough to find out where Hormat is literally coming from. In due course, after Conway gets what he deserves, all secrets are revealed, with Hormat's being so unoriginal as to be almost anticlimactic. Besides piling on the warm fuzzies, Robinson pays blatant homage to Robert A. Heinlein, retelling the classic youth-and-mentor tale of that author's juveniles and referring extensively to his work in the Dreamworld themes. The conclusion hints at a sequel in which Mike and Annie will infiltrate Thrillworld. Fans of lightweight SF should be pleased. FYI:Best known for the Callahan series, Robinson has won the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards.
