Friday

Rating:
Summary: One of my Favorites
Review: heinlein does an excellent job of portraying the mixed up emotions of a cyborg trying to relate to everything in the human world. Friday shows confusion over several situations, and while the book drags on the edge of an adventure novel, it really seems to be about the confusion that a non-human entity has in relating to the human relationships all around her sphere of emotional influence. Given that the relationships she once thought "safe" have become something profoundly different, RAH does a great job of portraying her confusion over what has happened - along with the other feelings of grief, anger, and finally, comprehension. A good storyline, coupled with an excellent undercurrent regarding the difficulties in dealing with ever-changing relationships in an entity that is never truly changing --- or is she?? :)


Rating:
Summary: Some of you don't get it
Review: This late-period Heinlein novel is at least better than the one it followed (_The Number of the Beast_). Most of it is fun to reread.

The protagonist here is an Artificial Person (AP) named Friday Jones, who works as a courier for the organization headed up by Hartley 'Kettle Belly' Baldwin (last seen in the 1949 short stort 'Gulf'). Friday's very cool all around but she has a little self-esteem problem owing to the fact that much of the world thinks APs aren't genuinely human.

Well, of _course_ they are; they're genetically engineered to be able to outperform us ordinary mortals in strength, speed, and intelligence, but they're human (genetically and otherwise) all the same. (So you should ignore reviewers' comments describing Friday as a 'cyborg'. She's no such thing.) And that's really the heart of this novel -- Friday's long and sometimes excruciating journey to _belonging_. (In this respect, the novel very nicely _undoes_ all of the Uebermensch crap Heinlein wrote in the 1940s.)

That's the heart, but the novel has a couple of spots on its soul. As other readers have noted, Friday's response to her rape (and her rapist) is more than a little jarring, and I don't think it's possible to explain it away as a result of her upbringing and genetic enhancements. And I could have lived without the several pages of astrogation and starcharts (although I do enjoy Heinlein's little doodle of a centaur).

The sequence of events starts off well enough, but it sort of rambles and meanders. Oh, well; most of it is interesting, anyway, although the secret-agent intrigue peters out partway through. And there are memorable characters -- nothing quite at the level of the Long family, mind you, but still some pretty interesting people.

Plus there's some extremely cool stuff in the background. Heinlein the prognosticator scores especially well here, creating a fictional analogue of the Internet (in 1982) and setting his tale against a backdrop of corporate infighting and political Balkanization that is almost never, but should be, credited in histories of cyberpunk.

I like it -- at least well enough to reread it fairly often. I wouldn't recommend starting with it if you're new to Heinlein, though.

Rating:
Summary: The World's First REAL Superheroine
Review: Once upon a time on an Earth gone straight to hell, there is one really nice, very pretty superheroine who (alone among all her associates) has it all together. As sweet to her adversaries as to her friends, she trots about the ganaxy delivering contraband intel for a 'boss' straight out of Central Casting. With every modern convenience at her disposal, she's still faced with the very human problems of fitting in among normal people, balancing work and down time and stopping to smell the roses in a Bladerunner-esque world ruled only by money, fance gismos and mercinary expediency.

To those who say there's no plot here, I respond: There doesn't need to be! The action is always fun, as well as warm and soft (you're supposed to read it that way despite all the standard backdrop required of any sci-fi tale worth its salt). What's really sweet is that in Friday's world, there's no REAL violence (Don't be too literal about the actual words on the page, which are only there as pro forma window dressing). In fact, what makes this the best of the best is that Friday is fully as nice to her adversaries as to her colleagues. If you're a guy, you'll start fantasizing early on about being sent out against her -- (this is how Heinlein gets you involved, another mark of a great read). Like any good protagionist, Friday grows up along the way (though this part's a little underdone). Indeed, the only real problem I have is: How does she end up so well balanced in a world which clearly isn't?

One more thing: There's really no climax, and the ending is an ANTIclimax which doesn't fit the rest of it -- almost as if Heinlein had to force himself to give this really sweet superhero a rest, figuring he couldn't serialize her, which I guess he really couldn't. Understandable; I sure don't want to let her go. Imagine more Friday exploits for yourself. An A+ for sure!

Rating:
Summary: Freaky Friday...
Review: Friday is a courier. She's also a bio-engineered `enhanced' human, who kills indiscriminately, fights like batman, and has a libido Captain Kirk would be proud of. At first, I had difficulty getting into this audio book. Mostly because the male narrator's voice (what were they thinking? Could it really be that tough to hire a FEMALE narrator?) Was about as emotionless as a computer. Also, I was put off by Friday's character. She... Seems to be a sexual fantasy rather than a person.

After I overcome my aversion to Friday's personality, I found myself strangely compelled by Friday's world. While this novel is by NO means Heinlein's best, I was hooked anyway. Friday is a sympathetic character. I loved her relationship with boss, her friends, and comrades in arms. My only disappointment in this book, was I felt that Friday's love interest Percival was not very well developed. I also felt, that Friday failed to grow as a character and there were parts where Friday seemed to wander from relationship to relationship without much point. (I would've much preferred Friday have a few successful relationships rather than the DOZENS, which seemed to be portrayed).

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. Friday was a compelling character whose life and story was well worth listening too. Especially after the first few chapters. Word of caution, however: because of graphic violence, and rampant sexuality I would NOT recommend for sensitive or young readers.

Rating:
Summary: Mind-Numbing
Review: This book bit. I got this book thinking, "hey, Heinlein!" but it appears after reading that I should have been thinking, "hey, shoot me!" There is no plot to this novel--the grand resolution is that super-sexy courier Friday becomes a primitive farmer. At first Friday seems to be on a mission; she seems to matter, but when she's ordered on a vacation she proves herself a true overworker by forgetting that she even has a job and goes gallavanting across future Earth in many boring and trashy escapades. Friday doesn't have a story--though Heinlein tries every once and a while to pretend it's so; it's just one long vague, boring, orgy. There seem to be elements of Heinlein's better books in Friday--the Beanstalk, Luna City, and the mysterious organization that Friday works for (for a little while, at least). But don't read this book for them--read the OTHER books like Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Tunnel in the Sky (the point is that there are others!)...Friday isn't worth your time because it's completely pointless. You care about the character because Heinlein is (to some extent) a master, but when you get right down to it, she doesn't DO anything except fornicate! There are many better books out there, and there are even better Heinlein books out there, so read them instead of yet another addition to the brain-dead pile.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat unfocused, but enjoyable read
Review: I don't think Friday is up to par with Heinleins works, but it's still a decent book, and fun to read. It is a bit rough, as others have mentioned.

Friday is a courier, and is one of the best. She is specially trained to react with deadly force when her subconsious trigers her to do so to protect herself and her messages. These mental diciplines allow her to react with indeffrence and tactical stratigy to a gang rape, and other indignities. She's also a genitically engineered person, and is considered by most to be an un-person, even by herself. Her upbringing was one which taught her she was unworthy of being considered a real human, and so could never understand, or fit in with, real humans. In her journey she is finally able to come to terms, years later, with her status, and realise she really is human. But, her self-degridation is painfull to read at times.

This is also a treatice on racism. Although I found the level of racism to be unrealistic, I have a hard time beliving that racism would progress to this extreem condition in the future.

There is a high level of casual sex in this book as well, though not in detail. Friday sees sex as a fun activity, to be used to let off steam, to give a 'thank-you' to someone who has done her a favor, or even to not be rude by refusing.

An interresting read, some food for thought, but not one of the 'greats' of Heinlein. The main theme of the story is Friday trying to find a place to belong, where she can be accepted for herself. In the end, I think this shows the humanity in all of us. Don't we all just wish to find love an acceptance for who we are?

Rating:
Summary: Hot babe takes on the future
Review: Dude, this babe is awesome! She kicks butts and takes names, baby! The future can't come fast enough for me, if this is the quality of the chicks!