Rolling Thunder by John Varley is the third book in his Red Thunder series. I wasn’t thrilled with book 2, but upon learning that the main character in book 3 was named Podkayne, I felt I had to read it. I should have listened to my gut. The book wasn’t horrible, but it definitely wasn’t good.

Patricia Kelly Elizabet Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond (Podkayne) is an 18 year old Martian in the Martian Navy. She’s assigned to Earth for recruiting suitable people to emigrate to Mars. When she finds out her great-grandmother is dying and about to be placed into a black bubble until a cure can be found, she head back home. She is then assigned to be a madam (Music, Arts and Drama Division, Martian Navy, basically the USO) on Europa. Since Podkayne is a singer, this is where she wants to be. The book follows Podkayne’s journey around the moons of Jupiter and then, after a ten year gap, picks up on some unusual activity around Earth.  The consequences of the previous books and the unusual activity lead to a flurry of activity with her extended family that could lead into a fourth book if Varley was interested.

The first book in the trilogy had a group of kids going out and doing something. This book just watches Podkayne as she watches things happen around her. The biggest thing that happens in her life just kind of falls into her hands. The action is all off-scene and what is on-scene is just not that interesting. Travis, Jubal and the heroes of previous books make appearances, but while they take action Podkayne is in her own little world. It’s not a good sign when the lead character is the most boring person in the book.

Hopefully, Varley will stop with this series now, since each succeeding book has been worse than the one before. It’s a quick read and there are only a few scientific issues that will make you scratch your head. Overall it’s below mediocre, not recommended. Read the Heinlein book instead.