Customer Reviews

Another Round At the Spaceport Bar

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A collection of stories that are centered on tales told at bars or about things that happen in bars. These are all very good
'The Far King' is weird. A bar fly wants true love from a Messiah, but he is from another world. She ends up with a high school chum. A good story. Long enough to be a novella.
'The Altar at Midnight' tells of the friendship a fellow can have from bars. Interesting surprise at the end.
'Princess' has a magical feel about it. An old lady bartender is taken care of by some undescribed characters. She does well and even ends up sort of happy.
'The Subject is Closed' has a religious bend. A priest has a discussion with some aliens and ends up with a crisis in his faith.
'The Persecutor's Tale' a weird tale of stranded travelers at an inn for the night. The innkeeper is levelheaded and congenial. He makes sure his guests enjoy their stay. One of the guests tells who they are and insights fear and loathing from everyone else. The story seems to be placed on Earth, but as it develops you feel very much as if it is on some alternate world.
'Longshot' tells of a gambler who could not help himself stop gambling, even if he said he was done with it all.
'Finnegan's' shows how barkeeps can not be replaced by remote control operators.
'The Oldest Soldier' is not placed in a bar, but in a liquor store that has a little beer to drink. Some ex-soldiers gather each evening to swap stories. The narrator is new to the group and an outsider, he is not an ex-soldier. Another newcomer is is a strange fellow who talks wildly about fighting in various battles all through history and into the future. The narrator helps the other newcomer escape from some fearsome creature.
'The Ultimate Crime' turns on a writer needing to develop a story about Sherlock Holmes. It is a good story that they (the waiter, really) come up with.
'All You Zombies -' is about how a time traveler gets to be one.
'The Immortal Bard' takes place on a college campus. One of the professors claims he brings back the dead. One of them was Shakespeare, which astounded the English teacher.
'Anyone Here From Utah?' is a scare story of how our lives are being run by technology. With the internet, I would like to see this author's take on it, now.
'Cold Victory' - "Historical Necessity versus the Man of Destiny" is the basis of the story, The question is not answered, but the story he tells is really good.
'C. O. D.' tells how it happens we live with dinosaurs brought back from the depths of space.
'Pennies From Hell' tells how one fellow sold his soul to the Devil unknowingly.
'Not Polluted Enough' is an odd story. The narrator is playing Bridge with three others. I got the feeling that they were old and retired and the narrator was fairly young. What was he doing playing cards with these old people? He tells how our pollution of this world may save us.
'Well Bottled at Slab's' is a knock off of Conan the Barbarian. Evil people doing evil things to each other. The magic works for good, eventually.
'The Three Sailor's Gambit' is a story of how three sailors came to be masters of Chess.