Yesterday, I finished reading a rather short and early novel by Robert Heinlein entitled Double Star. This novel earned Heinlein one of his four Hugo awards. It was good - I liked it a lot. I must confess though that I think it is weaker than the other novels he got Hugo awards for, but was no less deserving of the award for that. I got my copy off of eBay for a few bucks - wasn't expecting to win the auction as it was actually a first edition and in good shape.
Double Star tells the tale of an actor, Lawrence Smythe, who gets recruited to play the double of a high-level and influential human politician trying to influence the solar system's political direction from Mars. The politician he is posing as, Bonforte, had actually been kidnapped and it is unclear for much of the book how long Smythe will have to continue to play the role. The political landscape and the Bonforte's platform's position in it changes dramatically throughout the book, ultimately bringing Smythe into power. Smythe's engagement becomes extremely long-term due to the demise of Bonforte, and he finds that he has clearer memories of Bonforte's past, which he had been studying astutely for years to perfect his impersonations, than of his own.
It echoes, to me, the samurai film Kagemusha, which tells a tale of an impersonator becoming a leader as well. To be fair, though, Double Star was published twenty-four years before Kagemusha was released. I can't help but wonder if it was a direct influence.
Double Star was a really good book. I had lukewarm feelings about it up until I was about halfway through, but, by the end, it had grabbed me. The last few pages are especially poignant and moving.
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