Cosmic Cocktails [Paperback]

Denise Little (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2006

It's happy hour on the far side of the galaxy, where every drink is out of this world.

Get inebriated with fifteen all-new stories set in some of the wildest taverns, saloons, and bars across the universe. From a liquid life-form that has to be drunk to get drunk to a Terran agent on the trail of alien collaborators to a time-traveling assassin out to kill more than time in a bar-these tales are guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In conceiving this anthology of bar stories from outer space, editor Little drew inspiration from her own experience "living in Green Bay in the winter ... trapped all the time inside artificially heated shelters sealed against a hostile environment." The result, a collection of 15 all-new tales from largely unknown writers, is a winning treat just in time for the cold months. Many stories evoke what may be the original Space Bar & Grill, the bustling cantina from Star Wars, as in Stephen Mohan, Jr.'s description of a Hershin trader: "waxy blue-gray skin, twenty or thirty shiny black eyes sprinkled around a fist-sized sensory node set on a slim neck stalk." Others recall the mind-bending neo-noir of Philip K. Dick, as in Allan Rousselle's intoxicating story about a hired killer traveling back in time to terminate the inventor of a time machine. Playing out like an episode of The Twilight Zone, Annie Reed's clever tale follows a woman's inventive revenge on a Lothario, as she turns his every lie into a reality, making him the most wanted man on 17 planets. Without a marquee name in the mix, this low-key pub crawl is surprisingly consistent, delivering a punchy blend of shocks, laughs and otherworldly action with only a few stale brews among them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW (December 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756403987
• ISBN-13: 978-0756403980
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,146,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David DeLee is a native New Yorker. He holds a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice, and is a former licensed Private Investigator. He is the author of the Grace deHaviland, bounty hunter series. His previous short stories have appeared in Daw's Cosmic Cocktails, in three consecutive volumes of Pocket Books, Strange New Worlds, and the Mystery Writers of America anthology, The Rich and the Dead, released in 2011.

David is an active member of the Mystery Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers Association. He currently lives in New Hampshire with his family where he's hard at work on a novel featuring Columbus, Ohio-based bounty hunter, Grace deHaviland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drinking it all in..., January 30, 2007

By 

Madelyn Pryor "Goblyn Queen" (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cosmic Cocktails (Paperback)

Cosmic Cocktails is an anthology of 15 tales collected by Denise Little. As usual the stories range in sophistication and quality from the sublime to the bland. All the stories involve a bar somewhere in space, though as usual, these establishments simply provide the backdrop for some interesting character exploration.

The fifteen stories are
** Drink, Drank, Drunk by Loren L. Coleman
** With Unconfined Wings by Sarah A. Hoyt
** Rachel by Steven Mohan, Jr.
** Crossing the road by Phaedra M. Weldon
** I'm Not Ashamed by Greg Beatty
** Favio deMarco by Michael Hiebert
** A Union Against All Odds by David DeLee
** Fortin's Revenge by Lousia M. Swann
** Hanged Man by Leslie Claire Walker
** 2 Drops of Heaven by Dan C. Duval
** Everyone Stops at Boston's by Allan Rousselle
** Spot-Man's Chest by Daniel M. Hoyt
** God Uses a Dishrag by Peter Orullian
** The Hyperbole Engine by Michael Hiebert
** The Galaxy's Most Wanted by Annie Reed

The three stories that stand out the most to me are Drink, Drank, Drunk which is one of the most innovative stories in the volume, a fasinating tale of codependence and alcholicsm. I'm Not Ashamed is Spartacus with a new flare, mixed heavily with Indepence Day. Lastly, Everyone Stops in Boston is a formula story, but formula stories exist because they work. The ending of this was sublime enough to make me smile.

The rest of the stories aren't bad at all. I normally do not go out of my way to read Science Fiction, but I enjoyed this, so you can enjoy it without being a sci-fi fan. On the other hand, nothing in here is "Hard" Sci-fi, so if that's your interest, you might be disappointed.

Over all this is a great offering from DAW and a solid addition to your anthology library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven stories but an easy read, July 1, 2008

By 

Aaron L. Pincus (State College, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cosmic Cocktails (Paperback)

I generally like space opera (e.g., Reynolds), but on planes and poolside, it's nice to have short, easy to read science fiction to pass the time. Some of the stories were innovative, especially the first one: "Drink, Drank, Drunk." However, none of the remaining 14 short pieces are nearly as innovative and challenging. My other favorite was "2 Drops of Heaven" which was rather unique in my opinion. Some of the other pieces were formulaic but entertaining. Some seemed utterly banal, like they were first drafts of underdeveloped ideas. It all depends on what you're looking for. The book is enjoyable in the right contexts.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a toast to neighborhood bars in space, December 8, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cosmic Cocktails (Paperback)

The premise of this anthology is the neighborhood bar as a center of social activity; except instead of the streets of Green Bay, the fifteen tales take place in various cosmic locations. The tales range from drinks on planets in other galaxies rivaling the Star Wars' cantina scene to space stations of the future to saloons where time runs differently for travelers, aliens and human, dropping in for a drink or two during happy hour. The contributions are fun as the bartenders at times seem more way out then the customers. Readers will toast this out of this world collection. Though Spike Jones and the City Slickers have not shown up, the zany and the weird have for "In some secluded rendezvous that overlooks the avenue with someone sharing a delightful chat of this and that and cocktails for two" (Words & Music by Arthur Johnston & Sam Coslow).

Harriet Klausner