The novel “Double Star” by Robert A. Heinlein was published for the first time in 1956, first in the magazine “Astounding Science Fiction” and shortly after as a book. In 1957 it received the Hugo Award as the best novel of the year.

Lawrence Smith, stage name Lorenzo Smythe or the Great Lorenzo, is an actor who’s having trouble finding a job. When he’s offered to double for a politician he accepts only because he needs money and because one of the men who came to hire it uses contemptuous words against him.

Lorenzo has just enough time to prepare to leave with his new employers when someone tries to kill them. Caught in a situation bigger than him, the actor discovers he has to double for John Joseph Bonforte, a prominent politician who was kidnapped by his opponents. It’s essential for Bonforte to participate in a ceremony where he’ll be formally adopted by a Martian clan to prevent the relationship between Earth and Mars from degenerating.

Lawrence completes his performance but when Bonforte is finally found he’s still under the influence of drugs. Lorenzo will continue to replace him until the politician is healthy enough but every meeting with the public or an authority creates a risk of being discovered.

The doppelganger theme explored in “Double Star” was a classic long before the birth of science fiction. In particular a reference point is the novel – which was adapted into several films – “The Prisoner of Zenda”, in which a prince is kidnapped by his enemies just before his coronation and is replaced by another man who looks incredibly like him.

In “Double Star” it’s not a prince who gets kidnapped but a politician, however the relationship between Earth and Mars is at stake. Thus Robert Heinlein uses the basic concept of “The Prisoner of Zenda” with the use of a doppelganger developing it in his own way in a science fiction story.

In “Double Star” it’s an actor who replaces the kidnapped politician and the story is told in first person from Lorenzo’s point of view. It’s a science fiction novel but it’s basically a story of people and this is true in a broader sense because it’s a political tale.

In fact Robert Heinlein describes the future political system, which is a constitutional monarchy, and the intrigue surrounding the election of the Grand Assembly, which is the Empire’s parliament. Lorenzo, who’s never been interested in politics, is caught in the middle of a political struggle whose outcome will affect the future of the entire solar system.

Lorenzo will be inevitably influenced by such important events in which he’s involved and by the need to get into Bonforte’s shoes. At the beginning of the novel Lawrence is a dislikable person because the way he describes himself he looks arrogant and while he claims not to be a racist he’s hostile towards Martians. Throughout the story everything changes and the metamorphosis is believable because Lorenzo doesn’t suddenly become a model citizen but with a series of small steps.

In many Robert Heinlein’s stories the protagonist grows up with the help of a mentor. In “Double Star” in a sense Bonforte is Lorenzo’s mentor even though the two can meet only towards the end of the novel. However Lorenzo is forced to enter into Bonforte’s mentality to perfectly mimic him so it’s the politician’s figure which has an indirect influence on the actor.

Another typical topic in Heinlein’s stories is the rejection of racism, a message that, being explicitly expressed, in the ’50s was very strong. In “Double Star” the author uses a stereotype to show the irrationality of racism: Lorenzo thinks that the Martians stink but after being hypnotized he’s conditioned to feel a nice smell when he’s in their presence and suddenly he starts to like them.

Also because the novel is narrated in first person by Lorenzo, the other characters aren’t as developed and the only woman among the protagonists is far from the strong women Heinlein would describe in his later novels.

Despite the fact that Bonforte has been adopted by a Martian clan Heinlein gives us only rather general information about their civilization. Of course today the idea that there’s a Martian civilization has become absurd but “Double Star” was written in the ’50s, before space probles started showing the real situation on Mars.

Actually for the story the fact that the aliens are natives of Mars, Alpha Centauri or a planet in the Andromeda galaxy is only relevant in the sense that the author must introduce an adequate propulsion system to cross the distance between the Earth and their planet.

Despite some flaws and a few outdated elements “Double Star” is a great novel. Personally I prefer a few other Heinlein’s novels but this is a classic you have to read.