Customer Reviews

Tales from the Spaceport Bar

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An anthology of stories based around the tall tale or bar joke, but of the science fictional or comic fantasy variety, in general. As such, I think it succeeds pretty well in geral. It is short, 20 odd stories in 240 pages means each story is pretty short, as you would expect, being light humour.

The very last tale is clever, and will perhaps clue the more familiar in, with plenty of Silverlocke style easter eggs to be found.


Tales From the Spaceport Bar : The Green Marauder - Larry Niven
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Don't Look Now - Henry Kuttner
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Getting Even - Isaac Asimov
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : What Goes Up - Arthur C. Clarke
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : One for the Road - Gardner R. Dozois
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Elephas Frumenti - L. Sprague deCamp and Fletcher Pratt
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Unicorn Variation - Roger Zelazny
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Strategy at the Billiards Club - Lord Dunsany
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot! - Grendel Briarton
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : On the Rocks at Slab's - John Gregory Betancourt
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Hands of the Man - R. A. Lafferty
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Endurance Vile - Steven Barnes
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : The Centipede's Dilemma - Spider Robinson
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : The Causes - Margaret St.Clair
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : For a Foggy Night - Larry Niven
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : They Loved Me in Utica - Avram Davidson
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : A Pestilence of Psychoanalysts - Janet O. Jeppson
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : The Regulars - Robert Silverberg
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : The Man Who Always Knew - Algis Budrys
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : Infinite Resources - Randall Garrett
Tales From the Spaceport Bar : What's Wrong with This Picture? - Barry B. Longyear and John M. Ford and George H. Scithers


Old tourist fancies a drink.

3 out of 5


Invisible Martian paranoia.

4 out of 5


Supernatural signature stealing.

3.5 out of 5


Antigravity flameout.

3 out of 5


End of the world choices.

3.5 out of 5


Heffascotchaminilump.

3.5 out of 5


Mythological species replacement with sasquatch chess master.

4 out of 5


Atomic bomb story.

3 out of 5


Fan club groaner.

3 out of 5


"well, I figured, at least I could get drunk and ease the pain of my own death.--that was the only advantage left in owning a haunted tavern."

3 out of 5


Comic appendages.

3 out of 5


Out of body running experience can take way too long.

3 out of 5


Telekinetic yearnings shouldn't be employed in a darts game.

3.5 out of 5


Greek deities like kiwiland just like hobbits do.

3 out of 5


Vaguely lost.

3 out of 5


Homer is definitely past it.

2.5 out of 5


Don't p here.

3.5 out of 5


Bar stories, once only, new ones will get you booze.

3.5 out of 5


Secondhand luck sales.

3.5 out of 5


Two of me is too horrible to contemplate.

2.5 out of 5


Bar pastiche.

3.5 out of 5





3.5 out of 5

I purchased this book back in high school in the late 80's/ early 90's after being 'raised' on my older brothers left-over book collection - lots of Asimov, Pohl, Bradbury, Tolkien, etc. with several short story anthologies.

'Tales from the Spaceport Bar' was literally the first sci-fi book I purchased with my own money, and while I can't say that all the stories are the absolute best in the genre, a few of them remain etched in my memory and I smile a bit every time I think of them. The Unicorn Variation by Zelazny in particular just tickled my funny bone then, and still does today.

I've lost or worn out a couple copies of this book over the years... next time I get an order together or find a copy on the shelves, I'll probably snag it. I guess thats about as good of a recommendation as I can give!

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.

This a mixture of (supposedly) science fiction stories written by different authors. In reality, however, there are pure fiction, fantasy and mystery stories here. The two stories written by Arthur C Clarke and Larry Niven Compensate largely for this defect.