The Free Lunch

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The Free Lunch

By: Spider Robinson

Narrated by: Spider Robinson

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About this listen

Under the façade of the world’s finest theme park lies a secret which could alter the course of human history.

Mike and Annie, refugees from the world outside, find a home underground, behind the scenes of Dreamworld, a theme park where hope exists as it does nowhere else. But Dreamworld is threatened by a jealous competitor who kills what he can’t have. As if this were not trouble enough, the two discover that each day there are more of the “trolls” who maintain Dreamworld than there were the day before. As the trolls continue to multiply, they must discover why, or it could mean the end of Dreamworld -and the real world.

Knotted in conflict and turmoil, what was a wonderful, carefree place becomes a battleground on which Earth’s future is at stake. Only Mike and Annie, two unconventional heroes, can save it.

Spider Robinson, winner of three Hugo Awards and a Nebula Award, is renowned for his Callahan’s Place series of bestselling novels. With his wife, Jeanne, he has also written the award-winning Stardance series.

Adventure

Fantasy

Fiction

Science Fiction

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Critic reviews

“You get much more than you bargained for in this fun-filled yet serious novel. Spider’s the antidote for entropy, the blahs, and the pernicious notion that humor and good grace are absent from the SF field.” (Ben Bova)

“ The Free Lunch is a fast-moving homage to the lighter side of Robert A. Heinlein…Robinson knows how to generate tension without losing his sense of humor, a more difficult trick than you can imagine.” ( The New York Times)

“Mike and Annie are the kind of characters that return to mind long after the book is done, and the tale is as jaunty as only Spider can make it in his Callahan mode. How can you possibly fail to enjoy this one?” ( Analog)

Most relevant

First Spider Robinson book I've read/listened to, and I'm going straight on to the Callaghan series. Narrator(author) is excellent.
The characters fully believable despite the mix of human and other worldly, just wish humans weren't the dominant species, but our natures would probably make this the case!
The plot has enough twists to prevent any predictability, and enough poignancy to keep it ringing true.
Definitely 5*, and I'd challenge anyone to dispute this even if they don't like sci-fi stuff....

couldn't put ît down....