The book is a simple adventure. A bunch of kids team up with a scientist relative and build a rocket to go to the moon. The physics and technology are covered in detail. Once they get there, they are surprised to run into other people. It turns out the others are Nazis with a plan to take over the earth with missles from the moon. The boys defeat the Nazis, saving the earth and return successfully to earth. Who needs superheroes when regular boys can save the world like this?
There is a bit of science fiction to the stories, but they are mostly about the people and their accepting environment. The bar has quirky ways of paying (no cash register and only dollar bills). The stories often have a plot element with a key character, then spend some time with some of the fun "contests" at the bar.
I enjoyed some of the author's discussion about the stories. He had received a lot of fan mail (along with some hate mail.) Some people wanted to know where the bar was located. Others complained that the stories were not science fiction. He struggled to respond to his mail. (And eventually shifted countries to help deal with it.) There was also a quite active usegroup at one time. It all seemed to bring back bits of nostalgia for slower paced time in the past.
This may be a better book for people who are already familiar with some of the characters.
Variable Star started out as a n outline written by Robert A. Heinlein during his early "juvenile" period. Long after Heinlein's death, it was adopted by Spider Robinson and finally given the novel treatment. The main character is a poor college student, studying in Vancouver. His girlfriend would like to get married. However, he would like to wait until they have the means. She then reveals that she is actually heiress to the richest man in the solar system. He is invited to join the family. However, he doesn't like the idea of having his life controlled so deeply. With the help of his girlfriend's younger sister, he escapes the compound, and eventually boards a colony ship that is set out to the far reaches of the galaxy. With the aid of some people with special abilities, they travel at nearly the speed of light. Much of the novel deals with the adventures aboard the ship. Eventually, a few of the speacial ship controllers die, leaving the ship flying endlessly in orbit. And, to make things really interesting, the sun goes Nova and the entire earth is destroyed, leaving the colonists the only hope for humanity. However, the ship they are on is likely the only one that knows that the deadly radiation blast is coming, leaving humanity in dire straits. Luckily, our narrator's former girlfriend has married a genius physicists who has developed faster than light speed travel. They come to the ship to get provisions, unearth some not so-nice plans, and eventually he hooks up with his true love.
