Double Star

Name: Double Star
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
ISBN: 9781482950953

Author: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrator: Tom Weiner

Unabridged: 5 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Published: 01/15/2014

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction

Synopsis

Every stand-in dreamed of the starring rolebut what actor would risk his life for the chance? One minute, down-and-out actor Lorenzo Smythe is, as usual, in a bar, drinking away his troubles while watching his career circle the drain. Then a space pilot buys him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knows, hes shanghaied to Mars. Smythe suddenly finds himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who has been kidnapped. Peace with the Martians is at stake, and failure to pull off the act could result in interplanetary war. Smythe knows nothing of the issues concerning free interplanetary trade and equal rights for aliens and cares even less, but the handsome compensation is impossible to refuse. He soon realizes, however, that he faces a lifetime masquerade if the real politician never shows up.

About Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A Heinlein is considered one of the Big Three of classic science fiction (along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke). Heinlein is a seven-time Hugo Award recipient and was given the first Grand Master Nebula Award for lifetime achievement. Heinlein’s juveniles alone have influenced generations of scientists, engineers and creators the world over (for instance, it was once estimated that everyone in the Apollo 11 mission control room had read and loved at least one Heinlein novel). His worldwide bestsellers include Have Space Suit — Will Travel, Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers, Time Enough for Love, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ on July 09, 2015

Review also posted at Fantasy Literature. In Double Star, a 1956 Robert Heinlein novella, Lawrence Smith (aka Lorenzo Smythe or "Lorenzo the Great"), an out-of-work actor, accepts a job to impersonate a man for a few days, without, perhaps, asking as many questions about the job as he should have. H......more

Goodreads review by Manny on October 16, 2009

Brian Aldiss, in Trillion Year Spree, says this is Heinlein's most enjoyable novel. Who am I to fault his judgment? It is, indeed, a lot of fun: pathetic, failed actor Laurence Smith (stage name, "Lorenzo Smythe") is hired to impersonate John Joseph Bonforte, leader of the Expansionist party, and th......more

Goodreads review by Craig on May 03, 2023

Double Star was the first of Heinlein's novels to win the Hugo Award for best of the year and is the least remembered of the four. It won in 1956, beating books by Asimov, Brackett, Kornbluth, and Russell. It's the story of an actor who is hired to impersonate a politician during an election campaig......more

Goodreads review by H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov on April 05, 2019

I read this book growing up and I can’t tell you exactly why I remembered liking it, but a friend was recently reading it and I decided to add it to my list. There is a lot of hit or miss on the Heinlein bookshelf and I can respect those who don’t find this one interesting. First, it really isn’t foc......more

Goodreads review by César on July 25, 2022

2022 update: Still for me one of Heinlein best novels! --- Me ha gustado mucho Estrella Doble, la he disfrutado con la misma intensidad con la que disfruté de las otras obras de Heinlein que he leído hasta ahora. La novela recibió el premio Hugo en 1956. Lorenzo "El Gran Lorenzo" Smythe, un actor desemp......more