Customer Reviews

Bouncing Off the Moon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a direct sequel to Jumping off the Planet, and reading the earlier book is required to have any kind of understanding of this book.

Once more we are treated to Gerrold's version of a Heinlein juvenile, and this one owes some direct debts to a couple of Heinlein's works. Picking up immediately after the end of Jumping off the Planet, we find the dysfunctional Dingillian brothers starting on their trip to the moon, somewhat less mixed up than they were, but still on the run from certain shadowy persona who are extremely interested in the toy monkey they carry. They are taken under the wing of Alexei, a Russian-Loonie money launderer, who proceeds to get the brothers to the moon by most unconventional means, and travel beyond their arrival there via overland foot-trek.

Alexei could be a character taken directly from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, complete with a rather tortured syntax in his English speech patterns, but he is a rather interesting character, far better than most secondary characters. Some of the details of the brothers' forced march across the lunar landscape are a clearly updated version of a similar trek in Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. Gerrold does provide some rather fascinating updates to the technology that Heinlein used, most especially his 'portable' airlock. Most of the details Gerrold describes about the Lunar society belong in the same milieu as Mistress, but he does provide some possibly better economic justifications for why the society is the way it is. He makes clear that the Lunar culture is one built on scarcity, reusing everything to the greatest degree possible, perhaps explaining why this society does not seem nearly as rich and diversified as Heinlein's.

Plot-wise, this book is a continuing series of jumping from frying pan to fire to blast furnace. This makes for some fast page-turning adventuresome reading, though occasionally the descriptions of the technology slow down the pace. And there are some serious moral questions being posed underneath the action, questions that can be only partially answered by the protagonist middle brother. Charles' emotional and moral development is really the prime focus of this book, but he seems to make little progress in this book until near the very end. This is the major problem with this book, as Charles and his internal troubles did not do a very good job of engaging my interest, although this aspect was better done in this book than in the earlier Jumping Off the Planet.

A pretty good adventure, a nice update of some older Heinlein works, but not top-flight, though this book is better than its predecessor.

"Bouncing Off the Moon", and the first book "Jumping Off the Planet", show some well thought out views of life in space. The first book uses the entertaining story to examine the practical use of a "skyhook" or "beanstalk" type of transportation system, known in the book as "The Line". Gerrold looks at the technical aspects of the Line, as well social-economic impacts of such a transportation system on those who live on and off the planet. The second book takes a similar look at Lunar colonization, including living conditions, transportation systems, self-sufficiancy, and the economy. There are many aspects to living on the moon that had not been thought out or demonstrated in popular fiction, until now! My compliments to Mr. Gerrold for this accomplishment.

Charles "Chigger" Dingillian and his two brothers Douglas "Weird" and Bobby "Stinky" could no longer stand the unending war between their parents. So when their father tries to pull some sort of outer space smuggling scam, Chigger decides it is time for a divorce. His passionate angry plea to Judge Griffin grants the thirteen-year-old his request. Weird being eighteen was declared and adult by the Judge. Though younger than his siblings, Griffin leaves Stinky with his siblings.

With the earth in chaos, the three lads go off-planet. However, soon the universe gives chase because Stinky's robotic monkey given as a present during the parental tribulations turns out to contain a computer worth trillions in present day money. So the adventure begins with the lives of the Dingillian boys at stake.

BOUNCING THE MOON is science fiction at its best. So what else would a genre fan expect from David "Tribbles" Gerrold. The story line is amusing with serious undertones. The drama feels realistic, as enemy and friend seem interchangeable to Chigger. The three lads are fully developed and likable as they live up to their nicknames. Alas poor Mr. Gerrold has a galaxy-wide problem because the audience will demand more epic adventures starring Chigger, Weird, and Stinky.

Harriet Klausner

I found this novel to be rather boring. Also, trying to follow it without reading the first novel was a bit of a challenge.

Even with all of that it would have been ok, except for the gay aspect of the story. I'm not into gay literature, and would not have bought this if I had know ahead of time.

In this second book of the series, the Dingillian kids continue to be pushed around by everyone they meet.

First they are smuggled off of the Line (a space elevator)and crash land on the Moon. There they go though a series of grueling survival missions just to stay ahead of everyone who wants to stop them.

The big complication is that now they know they are carrying the latest generation of a HARLIE unit (an artificial intelligence introduced in Gerrold's When HARLIE Was One). As things get worse on Earth, control of the HARLIE unit represents power and possibly life over death for many groups, governments and factions.

Before it is all over, everyone winds up in court to see who should really have custody of the HARLIE unit. There are some surprising arguments and results.

Another fine book that has me aching for the final book in the series. Lots of action and introspection. Once again everything is from Charles's (Chigger's) viewpoint. How can they stay alive? Who can they trust? Where should they all go?

If you have read the first book (Jumping Off The Planet) you will really want to read this one. If you haven't read the first one, you really should before reading this one as much will be totally confusing otherwise.

The serise itself is witty and charming at the same time. Charles, the hero is a fine addition to the world of Science Ficton and as the serise goes on we get to see him mature and grow. You get to see Dougles finally come into his own as the leader of this tight nite little family.

I did not, however like ths book as much as I did the first in the serise entitled "Jummping off the Planet", it just seemed a bit rushed in places.

I realize this book is for young adults however I feel that the charecter of "Stinky"(Bobby) was added almost as an afterthought. He contributes nothing the dialong or the story line in fact hisonly actions thought the whole novel are to moan and complain and suffer brief periods of bladder control problems. We already know that from Mr Gerrold's portrayal of Howard that he doesn't like members of the legal profession. Maybe he is also trying to tell us that he doesn't like small children either.

I will read the 3rd and final book to see if Bobby matures a all.

This is a wonderful book don't get me wrong.

Gerrold sequels don't disappoint. This is an incredible continuation of Jumping Off the Planet. I wondered how Gerrold was going to make the moon as interesting as the beanstalk, lushly described in the previous book. I thought, "Well, the moon's just a sandy rock."

But Gerrold made the moon of the future into an exciting and fascinating place, a wild west of survival technologies that has flourished into a planet-wide colony of three million people, each with their own agendas and means of coping with life in a vacuum.

Now that's sci-fi. This will knock your socks off.

If you're thinking of reading David Gerrold's latest young-adult novel, "Jumping Off The Moon" without reading the first one, "Bouncing Off The Planet", be prepared to be completely lost. This worthy sequel to "...Planet" begins only a week after the action of the first. The characters already established, as is the plot, "...Moon" is a continuation of the wonderful story.

"Chigger" and his two brothers are still fleeing from many people, including their parents, while unknowingly toting a stuffed robotic animal endowed with super-intelligence. While this super-intelligence is only in its test phases, a few units have "escaped" and are loose in the solar system. "Chigger" finds out that his little brothers stuffed monkey is actually a sentient being on the lam from many nations who would control it. Most of the action takes place on the cold, sterile and anonymous surface and sub-surface of Earth's Moon, which has been colonized by the "Loonies", a nickname for lunar inhabitants. Gerrold does an apt job of bringing the action forward (although the story itself nearly mimics the first novel in story arc) and keeping the reader interested in the outcome, which has a somewhat surprising twist.

As far as young adult fare goes, this one is a winner!

Since Yesterday's Children (Gerrold's best book) is not readily available through Amazon.com, I thought I'd allude to it here. Gerrold fans may want to check it out.

The premise of the book (subtitled "A Conceptual Journey into War") is a Star Trek future with faster-than-light travel, an enemy alien civilization, and the psychology of the principles (the commander, his subordinates, the would-be commander, the Administration) when the pursuit of killing becomes overwhelming, even in the face of common sense. I think that this is a subtle, deep and ingeniously crafted anti-war novel, and I've read it several times. It has a point to make and makes it well, although the young Gerrold could have done bettter than to throw away the last page.

This may have been a pilot for a Star Trek episode. If it was, I can see why it didn't fly. You just can't compress this plot into 60 minutes of television. If you try to, you loose all meaning: "Well DUH, they were chasing a chimera, and your point is...?" The point, it seems to me, is in the detailed and very convincing characterization of the military mind.

I'm sure that David Gerrold fans will castigate me for never reading any of his other books (I did try "Finger in My i") but his Star Trek vision ultmately turned me off. If I want fantasy, I'll take Greg Bear any day. I like Bear's realism. Save your TV scripts and video games, faster-than-light travel and fantasy worlds for your kids, along with the tooth fairy.

I think that "Yesterday's Children" is one of the best books ever written, so I appreciate Gerrold's genius. This is brilliant Sci-Fi with an attitude, and the point is not DUH they were wrong; the point is that Gerrold uses the medium of science fiction to display the mentality of the military-industrial complex taken to its logical extreme.

I recommend David Gerrold as a gifted writer.