On the run from a terrible past, twelve-year-old Mike seeks refuge in America's most beloved theme park, Dreamworld. On yet another attempt to "disappear" into Dreamworld, Mike is helped by Annie, a woman has successfully hidden in Dreamworld for years.
Mike faces many challenges: he must help stop hired killers who seek to destroy his new home, and also help uncover the nature and purpose of some very strange creatures who are infiltrating Dreamworld.
Praised by The New York Times as "an homage to the lighter side of Robert A. Heinlein", this is a clever and compassionate novel for Robinson and Heinlein lovers alike.
“The Free Lunch is a fast-moving homage to the lighter side of Robert A. Heinlein”
- The New York Times
"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 three course meal: adventure, humor, and solid extrapolation. Spider Robinson is a master storyteller, and this novel is one of his best. Bon appetite!" - Allen Steele
"If one were given the task of creating Spider Robinson from scratch, the best way to do it would be to snatch James Joyce from history, force-feed him Marx Brothers films and good jazz for the better part of a decade, then turn him loose on a world badly in need of a look at itself."
- The Vancouver Sun
"Spider Robinson is the hottest writer to hit science fiction since Harlan Ellison, and he can match the master’s frenetic energy and emotional intensity, arm-break for gut-wrench.”
- The Los Angeles Times
"Spider Robinson is the Tom Robbins of the 21st century."
- John Varley
[Spider Robinson] "embodies the best of Sturgeon, Heinlein, and Asimov."
- David Gerrold
