Varley was one of the first writers to be called "The New Heinlein." "This flattered and troubled him, since the Old Heinlein was a major role model - and not yet dead." (from his website) He has won many awards, including four for "Press Enter ¦."

NOVELS

The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977)
Varley's first novel, set in his Eight Worlds. Humans have been benefitting from a data stream arriving from the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, and after 400 years they get what appears to be a phone bill.

Titan (1979)
The first novel in the Gaean trilogy was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Cirocco 'Rocky' Jones and her crew discover one of Saturn's moons isn't exactly a moon and it's home to rather bizarre beings.

Wizard (1980)
In the second book of the Gaean trilogy, Cirocco Jones is now the Wizard of Gaea. But she's troubled, and leads a revolt against Gaea, the mad goddess.

Demon (1984)
Gaea, both world and goddess, is insane, and Cirocco and her allies set out to rescue the son of the witch Robin.

Millennium (1983)
Time travelers from a very messed-up future travel to the past to rescue airline passengers just before crashes. The book was made into a movie Varley himself doesn't like. If you want to find out how the movie was supposed to end, read this book.

Steel Beach (1992)
The setting is Luna, one of Varley's Eight Worlds. Used to creature comforts and instant sex changes, the people are bored, restless, and suicidal. So is the computer monitoring their existence.

The Golden Globe (1998) (winner 1999 Prometheus Award)
The adventures of Sparky Valentine, itinerant thespian, con-man, and wanted for murder, as he (she? - with Varley, this is never a constant) travels around the Eight Worlds.

Red Thunder (2003) (winner 2004 Endeavour Award)
In an adventure reminiscent of Heinlein's juvenile novels, a group of Americans construct a spacecraft using old tanker cars to beat the Chinese at being the first people on Mars.

Mammoth (2005)
In this sequel to 'Red Thunder' Ray Garcia-Strickland, son of two of the first people on Mars, travels back to Earth after something traveling at near-lightspeed strikes the planet, creating a huge tsunami in the Atlantic.

Red Lightning (2006)
A multibillionaire is set on cloning a mammoth from an intact specimen found frozen in Canada. Then it's discovered there's a 12,000 year old mummy of a man with the mammoth, and the man is wearing a wristwatch.

Rolling Thunder (2008)

Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Strickland, nicknamed Podkayne, is a third-generation Martian and granddaughter of one of the first settlers of Mars. She's signed on to go to Europa, the Jupiter moon, as an entertainer. But in the Martian Navy, even an entertainer finds more danger than she bargained for.

The Persistence of Vision (1978)
Varley's first collection won two awards, and the title story won the Locus, Hugo, and Nebula awards. Five others were nominated.

Picnic on Nearside(1984)
Winner of the 1980 Locus Award for best single-author collection, it was originally titled The Barbie Murders.

Blue Champagne (1986)
Four of the stories in this collection are award winners, including "The Pusher" and "Press Enter ¦."

The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction (2004)
It's a great place to start if you've heard of Varley but haven't read him yet. Even if you have his other collections, you'll want this one as well, not only for the new material, but for the author's extensive comments that precede each story.