Double Star (1956)

Robert A. Heinlein

Del Rey, New York; ISBN: 0-345-33013-7; Pages: 243

The Show Must Go On

Sometime in the distant future, the solar system has been "colonized," earthlings have put a colony on Pluto and Ganymede, maintain settlements on Mars and Venus (co-existing with the natives), and the imperial capital, New Batavia, is on the Moon. The empire, an odd version of monarchical parliamentarism headed by a progeny of the Hapsburg dynasty (even though Willem sounds more Hohenzollern to me), is amid a political crisis, with the Expansionist party (the loyal opposition) headed by one Joseph Bonforte stands for free trade and the incorporation of the extra-terrestrials into the Empire on equal footing with the humans, while the ruling party, the Humanity Party with the clandestine terrorist core of "Actionists," is trying to block the reform and preside over a mix of xenophobia and racism.

To the Great Lorenzo, an out-of-work actor, the world of politics is cold and distant as the Magellan galaxy. And also just about as relevant. Everything, however, changes when a spaceman by the name of Dak offers him the role of a lifetime --- impersonating a kidnapped politician. Ample pay, no applause. Lorenzo finds himself in a breathtaking swirl of intrigue and high politics. He soaks in the personality of Bonforte, goes through the motions of becoming a member of the most aristocratic Martian nest, then goes on to discover that his brief stint is extended by unforeseen complications, forms a caretaker government, wins a general election, and finally becomes Bonforte himself (the real one has died in the meantime). Although this summarizes the main events of the story, the 200-odd pages put more meat on this skeleton than most speculative fictions works I have seen.

The protagonist evolves from a pretty talented but narcissistic actor to become a selfless public servant and continue the legacy of the person he had impersonated. As the story is told from his perspective, the change is masterfully described, although not quite convincing at times. It seems all too easy to slip into someone else's skin... but then again, maybe this is precisely what makes an actor great. The description of the workings of the political machine is also fascinating, although it reminds one of 20th century politics too much. RAH's apparent satisfaction with parliamentary monarchy as the system of government is quite unexpected, but he does give ample rationale. Curiously, the overly ceremonious nature of the regime does not appear to serve any particular purpose, and the existence of all the "nobility" is inexplicable. Although they doubtless exist even today, especially on the Old Continent, they have faded into political irrelevance. Putting them in the Imperial Court is odd and a throwback to other sci-fi works that depict the future government as a sort of empire. Nevertheless, the mundane workings of politics as a game, which is not dirty in itself but can be played by dirty players, is very much in tune with RAH's own dabbling (see, for example, his non-fictional "Take Back Your Government"), and is a mixture of practical cynicism and hopeful optimism. Although Lorenzo is at first cured from his xenophobia through hypnosis, I have little doubt that he would have liked the Martians eventually.

"Double Star" is decidedly a "juvenile" in its avoidance of colorful metaphors, the absence of sex, and somewhat cursory treatment of racism. It is, however, one of the best of its sort. It is a lightning read, the narrative briskly skips along, the suspense is unrelenting, the characters speak and act on their own; in other words, a pure delight for the reader. It is amazing that RAH could write such a novel with so little action to speak of. I would love to have learned more about the Martians, who seem quite superior in intelligence to humans (they retain all their memory after fissure --- their form of procreation --- and seem to live longer). The organization into nests, and the extreme form of propriety (reminiscent of the Japanese code of behavior) could have carried more pages. Or the Venusians with their bickering about the fine points of their religion, utterly incomprehensible to humans. Although all these are tangential to the story, they would have made one hell of a trip. Maybe next time.

March 16, 2000. BLS