ironymaiden | rednecks in space

i read Red Thunder yesterday. i've not had such a great time reading a novel in a long time. as the reviewers say repeatedly, it's basically a Heinlein juvenile. the science is...what it is. i read most of it in a single sitting, shouting and laughing all the way.

so, a group of twenty-year-olds, an ex-astronaut, and his genius cousin build a spaceship out of railroad tanker cars. the whole thing is a rural kid's wet dream: reach the stars with off-the-rack technology and a friend who knows how to weld. oh, and do it all faster and smarter than those stodgy superpower governments.

the character writing is solid and (i can say from experience) the bright independent tinkerers without much schooling are spot-on. the women are smart and strong, and less than half the cast is white. our narrator reminds me a little of Alex Rogan from The Last Starfighter (speaking of something else that's excellent silly fun)...if he was Cuban/Italian and lived in Florida.

good times. thanks to