Spider Robinson wrote a very solid Robert Heinlein book in Variable Star. I didn’t realize it was so new (Sept, 2006) when I picked it up at the library a few weeks ago. I’m rarely so up to date. 😉
Variable Star weaves in some faithful sci-fi themes: space colonies, not-so-friendly aliens, faster-than-light travel, and telepathy as the answer to faster-than-light communication. What was new to me was the label “Fermi’s Paradox” for the lack of intelligent life we’ve observed so far around the universe. “Where is everybody?” is the apocryphal question. This book, in the background, points out that you may not want to know the answer to the question.
These teasers aren’t doing it justice. It’s not a great book, but it was fun to read.