The Counterfeit Heinlein

Gerald Knave

by Laurence M. Janifer

“No one but Larry Janifer could have dreamed up a puzzle as intricate, a mystery as baffling, or a McGuffin as gloriously twisted as those contained in The Counterfeit Heinlein. Professional Survivor Gerald Knave, the future’s most civilized man, finds he must compete with the man who knows everything that can possibly be known, and the girl who knows everything else, to solve a crime that all agree makes absolutely no sense...while dodging gunfire from someone who seems to think it does. Robert A. Heinlein would have loved this book. In fact, maybe he wrote it, and the damn thing is actually a counterfeit Janifer. Whoever’s responsible is ingenious, elegant, learned, concise, witty and wise—you decide.” —Spider Robinson “Both Knave and I have more respect and admiration for Robert A. Heinlein than either of us can well say. Nothing said by any person in this report is to be taken as a denigration of Heinlein or his work; indeed, no sf writer mentioned, quoted from, or alluded to by Knave or by any Misfit lacks the respect and admiration we both gladly give him, or her.” —Laurence M. Janifer

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Laurence M. Janifer (born Laurence M. Harris) was an American science fiction author, with a career spanning over 50 years.

Janifer was born in Brooklyn, New York with the surname of Harris, but in 1963 took the original surname of his Polish grandfather. Many of his early stories appeared under the "Larry M. Harris" byline.

Though his first published work was a short story in Cosmos magazine in 1953, his career as a writer can be said to have started in 1959 when he began writing for Astounding and Galaxy Science Fiction. He co-wrote the first novel in the "Psi-Power" series: Brain Twister, written with Randall Garrett under the joint pseudonym Mark Phillips. The novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960, and published in book form in 1962. Janifer's best known work is the "Survivor" series, comprising five novels and many short stories. The series follows the career of Gerald Knave as he visits (and survives to tell the tale of) planets on the outskirts of the civilized galaxy.

In addition to his career as a novelist and short story author, Janifer was an editor for Scott Meredith Literary Agency; editor/managing editor of various detective and science fiction publications; film reviewer for several magazines; and a talented pianist.

Laurence Mark Janifer's pseudonyms include: Alfred Blake, Andrew Blake, Larry M. Harris, Mark Phillips (with Randall Garrett), Barbara Wilson, Tom Beach, Robert J. Cassiday, Robert Cassiday, Lorens M. Dženifer, Renee St. Hahn, Laurance Janifer, Sir David Leeds, William Logan, Siral

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurenc...]

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Counterfeit Heinlein was the third Gerald Knave novel that Janifer had published, and it came out twenty-some years after Ace published the first two in the late 1970s. It seems to me to lack continuity with the prior books; Knave is just a futuristic private eye on an alien planet and the whole "survivor" concept is lost. The mystery itself is satisfactory, entertaining but not surprising. Recursive science fiction is easy to write, as (I think was Mike Resnick) has pointed out, but very difficult to write well. Janifer's foray into sf fandom satire verges on fanfic, as perhaps it should, but the idea that fannish activities will remain unchanged after an apocalyptic event ravishes Earth, three hundred years in the future after interstellar colonization... well, the only thing that seems less likely is that niche pop-culture icons from the mid-twentieth century will still be familiar to the inhabitants of that future. Perhaps I'm disappointed because I wanted to like the book a lot more than I actually could. I'll say two-and-a-half stars and round it up for the effort.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good read. I suppose author was trying to do a funny detective novel set in the future, but it is too simple and not an easy read.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to say 3.5, but GR doesn't give the half-star option. I was interested in the world-building. I have to admit, it was the title that got me. The mystery was well done, I think. I might one day read the other Gerald Knave books, just to see what else he's gotten up to.

[Raymond Spitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the references to Heinlein stories I love most of all. The mystery was good, not great. The setting and aliens were interesting. I would have rated it higher if I felt more of a connection with the main character.

[McKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads almost like Magnus Ridolph appearing in a Harry Harrison story. It's atmospheric and episodic and the entire idea of the Counterfeit Heinlein is delicious.