- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0812540220
- ISBN-13: 978-0812540222
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,690,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Free Lunch
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fairs and theme parks are an almost irresistible attraction to the young and the young at heart, places where the everyday cares of the world can be safely ignored for a while as you indulge in a little bit of fantasy and just plain fun. And just a little bit into the future, there may be a new theme park, one that draws on the images and ideas of fabulists such as Robert Heinlein, Barry Hughart, and yes, even the Beatles of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields to create its attractions. For anyone with a smidgen of liking for the fantastic, for things which are a little bit beyond the current world, such a theme park might just be heaven.
For Mike, a twelve year old who has had to face cares and responsibilities that would try the best efforts of most adults, Dreamworld is more than a temporary haven. It’s a place where he can live, sheltered from the world, and even hidden from park employees, helped by the other non-regulation denizen of this park, Annie, sometimes known as the Mother Elf. Ah, but there’s something really strange happening in Dreamworld – at the end of the day shift, there are more employees leaving the park than arrived in the morning. And the arch-nemesis of this park, Alonzo Haines, proprietor of the competing park Thrillworld, would dearly love to find out who these ‘extras’ are, as a lever to destroy Dreamworld. The battle to save the park is joined, and Mike and Annie find themselves in a fight to save not just their adopted home, but perhaps the entire universe.
Clearly, this is a fun book, written very much in the mold of some of Heinlein’s juveniles, and echoes of The Mother Thing and the older Hazel Meade are clearly present in the character of Annie, while Mike evokes something of Kip and Thorby. Those who don’t recognize those names will not be lost, as they are fully realized, engaging personalities, while for those who do these items provide a greater ambience and they will be treated to a great trip down memory lane. This is true also of the many references within this book to other authors and books – all of them are deserving of a read, but if you haven’t read them, it won’t detract from your enjoyment of this novel.
This being a Spider and not a Heinlein novel, there is a fair amount of Spider’s specialty present, his penchant for puns and ironic humor, as evidenced most by some of the chapter titles like Out of Kin Troll. This adds a different flavor to this book, and those who like Spider’s Callahan’s Bar series will not be disappointed here. The plot itself is well developed, although there is nothing startling new or different here, and there are a few places where the action may give one a feeling that ‘this is just not a believable set of actions for a 12 year old’, but in general this is a smooth read, with each new scene developing logically from the prior one.
Not a great book, but one where you can sit down for a few hours and just lose yourself in its nicely imagined world, and experience a nice adventure.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Spider's Back, doing what he does best
18 Nov 2001
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Free Lunch is another of Spider Robinson's Heinlein impressions - and a damn good one it is as well! Dreamworld is a future theme park where all your dreams come true (under carefully controlled scientific conditions). Mike is a young, disillusioned boy who needs to escape from a reality that has become unbearable for him. He is a typical Heinlein juvenile; mature beyond his years with a vast knowledge of scientific and engineering principles and a quirky, clever mind. He manages to infiltrate Dreamworld where he plans to live a lotus-eating life away from the worries and responsibilities of reality. Underground in Dreamworld, he meets Annie, another refugee, who has been living there for more than thirteen years. She becomes his mentor.
It soon starts to become clear that there is a crisis in Dreamworld. Every evening, more staff leave the theme park than arrived in the morning - and the staff who leave are all trolls. Where are they coming from? Mike and Annie explore various hypotheses, each more outré than the last. But the truth turns out to be even stranger than anything they had imagined.
It's a great slam-bang adventure. Those with eyes to see will find it stuffed to the gunwales with Heinleinesque touches (Robinson can't resist the homage) but unlike some of his other books these touches aren't too overt and by and large they don't get in the way. He's also curbed his self-indulgent tendency to write self-referential novels full of science fictional in-jokes (I suspect he's found that they sell only to a very limited audience). As a result, The Free Lunch is one of his best novels in years and I strongly recommend it.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Spider Robinson's latest adventure
6 Aug 2001
Format:Hardcover
Spider Robinson spins another whimsical tale. Like many of Robert Heinlein's juvenile books, Robinson's young hero, Mike, manages feats that adults would find difficult. However Mike and his mentor, Annie are both geniuses (another Heinlein title character trait)so they can manage three impossible things before breakfast. Robinson's Dreamworld is definitely a place I want to visit. Filled with exhibits reflecting Heinlein, Beatles and other cultural icons of the twentith century, the park is a walk down memory lane for baby boomer scifi fans. Read and enjoy, then pass it on to a favorite twelve year old kid and hook him or her on science fiction.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Roll Over, Walt!
27 Feb 2002
Format:Hardcover
DreamWorld is a thinly veiled, future-ized DisneyWorld, with advances in customer, er, guest, psychology that provide an almost seamless, happy experience to everyone. When a boy runs away and goes "under," or behind the scenes, he's aware that the ripple effect of his behaviour will be so widespread. 'Nuff said about the plot; read it for yourself.
I've been a fan of Spider Robinson's for a long time, from the early Callahan's stories on. Is this his best work? I don't know; I do know I like it. It's written in his trademark irreverent, poke-fun-at-the-silly-things style, and it kept my attention all the way through. The end is fitting, if just a little weak.
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