SUMMARY:
Sparky Valentine is a former child star turned down-on-his-luck thespian who's just reached the grand old age of 100. Not that you could tell by looking at the old ham, who for some reason never seems to age--or stay out of trouble. Sparky's in the midst of a whirlwind theatrical tour designed to bring a bit of culture to the frozen desolation of the outer solar system when bad luck strikes in the form of a gumshoe hot on his tail. Sparky decides to skip the outer burgs for the more hospitable environs of Pluto, but things only get worse when he runs afoul of the notoriously unforgiving Charonese Mafia. As he's making his getaway, he learns something astonishing. The famous director Kaspara Polichinelli of Luna is planning a performance of King Lear, and he's short a lead to take on the title role. Sparky wires Polichinelli that he's interested, and Polichinelli tells him the part is his. Now all Sparky has to do is find a way to scrape together enough cash to get to Luna before the play starts while avoiding a seemingly unstoppable (and unkillable) Charonese hitman. --Craig E. Engler
All the universe is a stage...and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian. He brings Shakespeare--a version of it anyway--to the outer reaches of Earth's solar system. Sparky can transform himself from young to old, fat to thin, even male to female, by altering magnetic implants beneath his skin. Indispensible hardware for a career actor--and an interstellar con man wanted for murder...
**
Amazon.com Review
Sparky Valentine is a former child star turned down-on-his-luck thespian who's just reached the grand old age of 100. Not that you could tell by looking at the old ham, who for some reason never seems to age--or stay out of trouble. Sparky's in the midst of a whirlwind theatrical tour designed to bring a bit of culture to the frozen desolation of the outer solar system when bad luck strikes in the form of a gumshoe hot on his tail. Sparky decides to skip the outer burgs for the more hospitable environs of Pluto, but things only get worse when he runs afoul of the notoriously unforgiving Charonese Mafia. As he's making his getaway, he learns something astonishing. The famous director Kaspara Polichinelli of Luna is planning a performance of King Lear, and he's short a lead to take on the title role. Sparky wires Polichinelli that he's interested, and Polichinelli tells him the part is his. Now all Sparky has to do is find a way to scrape together enough cash to get to Luna before the play starts while avoiding a seemingly unstoppable (and unkillable) Charonese hitman. --Craig E. Engler
From Publishers Weekly
Sparky Valentine grew up on stage. He'd memorized all of Shakespeare by age six and was the star of a hit TV show at eight. His father, actor John Barrymore Valentine, was famous throughout the solar system. But John was also an abusive monster who used torture to help his son learn his lines. Now, nearly a century later, Sparky, a rootless outcast, wanders the outer reaches of inhabited space, sometimes acting in legitimate theater, sometimes working small-scale con games. Although his acting skills are still well honed, virtually all of his theater work must be done under various stage names because he's wanted for a variety of crimes, some minor, some serious. Then two events change Sparky's life. First, he's given a chance to play Lear in a new production being mounted on Luna by the finest director in the solar system. Second, he finds himself the intended victim of an implacable, surgically enhanced professional killer. Fleeing the assassin and a number of local constabularies, risking his life to reach Luna and the opening of King Lear, Sparky little knows what revelations about his family's secrets await him. Hugo and Nebula winner Varley (Steel Beach) is not so much a writer of ideas as one of character; the gradually emerging portrait he offers here of an abuse survivor seems right on the money. There's a lot of humor in evidence too, and plenty of theatrical extravagance, but they're invariably tinged with the melancholy that infuses Sparky's life. Although a tad wordy (as one might expect of a book narrated by a Shakespearean actor), this is an engrossing novel by one of the genre's most accomplished storytellers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Golden Globe by John Varley
"This is an engrossing novel by one of the genre's most accomplished storytellers." Publishers Weekly
All the universe is a stage...and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian. He brings Shakespearea version of it anywayto the outer reaches of Earth's solar system. Sparky can transform himself from young to old, fat to thin, even male to female, by altering magnetic implants beneath his skin. Indispensible hardware for a career actorand an interstellar con man wanted for murder...
Description:
SUMMARY: Sparky Valentine is a former child star turned down-on-his-luck thespian who's just reached the grand old age of 100. Not that you could tell by looking at the old ham, who for some reason never seems to age--or stay out of trouble. Sparky's in the midst of a whirlwind theatrical tour designed to bring a bit of culture to the frozen desolation of the outer solar system when bad luck strikes in the form of a gumshoe hot on his tail. Sparky decides to skip the outer burgs for the more hospitable environs of Pluto, but things only get worse when he runs afoul of the notoriously unforgiving Charonese Mafia. As he's making his getaway, he learns something astonishing. The famous director Kaspara Polichinelli of Luna is planning a performance of King Lear, and he's short a lead to take on the title role. Sparky wires Polichinelli that he's interested, and Polichinelli tells him the part is his. Now all Sparky has to do is find a way to scrape together enough cash to get to Luna before the play starts while avoiding a seemingly unstoppable (and unkillable) Charonese hitman. --Craig E. EnglerAll the universe is a stage...and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian. He brings Shakespeare--a version of it anyway--to the outer reaches of Earth's solar system. Sparky can transform himself from young to old, fat to thin, even male to female, by altering magnetic implants beneath his skin. Indispensible hardware for a career actor--and an interstellar con man wanted for murder...
**
Amazon.com Review
Sparky Valentine is a former child star turned down-on-his-luck thespian who's just reached the grand old age of 100. Not that you could tell by looking at the old ham, who for some reason never seems to age--or stay out of trouble. Sparky's in the midst of a whirlwind theatrical tour designed to bring a bit of culture to the frozen desolation of the outer solar system when bad luck strikes in the form of a gumshoe hot on his tail. Sparky decides to skip the outer burgs for the more hospitable environs of Pluto, but things only get worse when he runs afoul of the notoriously unforgiving Charonese Mafia. As he's making his getaway, he learns something astonishing. The famous director Kaspara Polichinelli of Luna is planning a performance of King Lear, and he's short a lead to take on the title role. Sparky wires Polichinelli that he's interested, and Polichinelli tells him the part is his. Now all Sparky has to do is find a way to scrape together enough cash to get to Luna before the play starts while avoiding a seemingly unstoppable (and unkillable) Charonese hitman. --Craig E. Engler
From Publishers Weekly
Sparky Valentine grew up on stage. He'd memorized all of Shakespeare by age six and was the star of a hit TV show at eight. His father, actor John Barrymore Valentine, was famous throughout the solar system. But John was also an abusive monster who used torture to help his son learn his lines. Now, nearly a century later, Sparky, a rootless outcast, wanders the outer reaches of inhabited space, sometimes acting in legitimate theater, sometimes working small-scale con games. Although his acting skills are still well honed, virtually all of his theater work must be done under various stage names because he's wanted for a variety of crimes, some minor, some serious. Then two events change Sparky's life. First, he's given a chance to play Lear in a new production being mounted on Luna by the finest director in the solar system. Second, he finds himself the intended victim of an implacable, surgically enhanced professional killer. Fleeing the assassin and a number of local constabularies, risking his life to reach Luna and the opening of King Lear, Sparky little knows what revelations about his family's secrets await him. Hugo and Nebula winner Varley (Steel Beach) is not so much a writer of ideas as one of character; the gradually emerging portrait he offers here of an abuse survivor seems right on the money. There's a lot of humor in evidence too, and plenty of theatrical extravagance, but they're invariably tinged with the melancholy that infuses Sparky's life. Although a tad wordy (as one might expect of a book narrated by a Shakespearean actor), this is an engrossing novel by one of the genre's most accomplished storytellers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Golden Globe by John Varley
"This is an engrossing novel by one of the genre's most accomplished storytellers." Publishers Weekly
All the universe is a stage...and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian. He brings Shakespearea version of it anywayto the outer reaches of Earth's solar system. Sparky can transform himself from young to old, fat to thin, even male to female, by altering magnetic implants beneath his skin. Indispensible hardware for a career actorand an interstellar con man wanted for murder...