[Donnageddon]

I have always loved John Varley's work, and I have very much enjoyed Red Thunder and Red Lightening, but... ( you had to know a "but" was coming) I found this latest edition to be half good.

The first 40% is actually enjoyable (I speak in "%" because I read it on my beloved Kindle, and with a Kindle, you can only speak in "%"). The first approximately half is entertaining and a great tour of the Jovian System. I mean "tour" in the best and most explicit sense.

The protagonist is a Mars Navy draftee who is traveling the Jovian system as a singer in a jazz band. I really enjoyed the travelogue.

And then something really bad happens.

The bad stuff is well portrayed and well written.

Then there is the last 40% of the book.

That is boring as hell.

Old characters are altered (Jubal is rewritten in a way I approve of, but still it is not convincing) and things happen slowly. I passed through many pages just skimming, waiting for something to happen.

I almost wish the book had stopped half way through.

But I read it all. And I hope, if Varley continues the journey, his next book is more enthralling, because this one was difficult to read to the end.