The Free Lunch

Under the facade 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 homeunderground,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. And if this were not trouble enough, Mike and Annie discover that each day there are more of the "trolls" who maintain Dreamworld then there were the day before. As the "trolls" continue to multiply, Mike and Annie must discover why....or it could mean the end of Dreamworld--and therealworld. Knotted in conflict and turmoil, what was a wonderful, carefree place becomes a battleground on which the fate of Earth's future is at stake. And only Mike and Annie, two unconventional heroes, can save it.

Spider Robinson, winner of three Hugos and a Nebula, was born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, and has been a Canadian resident for 30 years. Holder of a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York, he worked as a folksinger and journalist before publishing his first story in Analog in 1973. He now lives with his wife Jeanne Robinson (co-author of the Hugo- and Nebula-winning Stardance trilogy) on an island outside Vancouver, B.C., where they raise and exhibit hopes.

Eleven of his 31 books are set in Callahan's Place, a fabulous tavern founded by a time traveler, where puns flow as freely as beer, and smell far worse. The most recent is Callahan's Con [Tor July 2003]. He has contributed a regular editorial column, "Future Tense," to Canada's national newspaper, The Globe & Mail, since 1995. In 2000, he released Belaboring the Obvious, a CD of original music with the legendary Amos Garrett ("Midnight at the Oasis") on lead guitar, and in 2001 he was a celebrity judge at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam.

"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." --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 Magazine