Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill (Paperback)

by Steven Brust (Author) "Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille has the best matzo ball soup in the galaxy..." (more)
Key Phrases: sugar bear, nexus points, New Quebec, Monsieur Rudd, Ibrium City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Brust's ( Jhereg ) dynamic, inventive style makes this time-hopping, intergalactic thriller a better book than its plot initially suggests. For all the frills and furbelows--and there are many, each more bizarre than the next--the central conflict is humdrum: a fiendish paranoiac called the Physician decides to destroy his native planet in order to stop the spread of a deadly illness called Hags disease. An unlikely group of heroes goes to work to foil the madman's apocalyptic plans. These white knights double as the house band at Feng's, a bar and grill that features Jewish cooking, a dance floor and--when it takes a direct hit from an atomic warhead--a neat little trick enabling travel through time and space. The often poignant musical allusions as well as the deftly sketched cronies at Feng's contribute to the book's surprisingly subtle depth of feeling. Brust's fantasy landscape seems truer than the backdrops of many realistic novels.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
“Consummate grace and genuine artistry.” —Roger Zelazny

“Steven Brust just might be America’s best fantasy writer.” —Tad Williams
-- Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ace (January 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044111816X
• ISBN-13: 978-0441118168
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,686,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book - it's all about the characters, October 27, 2005

By	David Calkins (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille (Paperback)

All good books are based on characters. No matter how good or bad the plot, if the characters aren't well developed and interesting, the book sucks. This book has great characters, fairly archetypal, but still well rounded and interesting.

As with all Brust books, this a mystery in the Arthur Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes style. Whether set in a fantasy or SciFi, the setting is just local color to flavor the meat of the book - solving the mystery.

This is one of those books I re-read about once a year. I always pick up something new each time I read it. The first time you read it, you might find it hard to keep up with all the characcters (four who work for the bar, four who live in the bar, and four ~bad guys.) With all mystery books, it's a fun read to see who dun it and why - it's not about defining the bad aspects of society who drove some charcters into the story line (although this IS explained...)

I'd recommend this or any Taltos book to anyone - regardless of if you read SciFi/Fantasy or not (I usually don't...) His local color is amazing - refined to the level of Twain or O Henry. The only downside is Brust clear obsession with hungarian cooking, as he pretty much lists each and every meal the charcters have in minute detail. This part gets on my nerves, but I'm not a foodie, so that's a big reason - but regardless, it's not annoying enough to spoil the yarn Brust spins.

This book would make a GREAT movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jammin' Down the Space-Time Continuum, July 15, 2004

By	Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille (Paperback)

Brust is justly known for his Vlad Taltos fantasy series, and he has written several other books outside of that series that are well worth reading. This book is somewhat of a departure for him, being more science fiction oriented than fantasy.

The main building block of this book is a rather unique restaurant that moves itself through space and time whenever a nuclear weapon is exploded in its near vicinity. Inside the restaurant is an Irish folk-song band that accidentally was caught up during the restaurant's first move. As the plot develops and the restaurant makes several moves through time and to other planets, the band begins to realize that they are part of an attempt to change future history by opposing a group that keeps going around starting nuclear wars. Not a bad concept, but it does lead to somewhat episodic patches, rather than being a linear whole.

Much of the characterization comes through as individual flash-backs to defining events in their lives; present time dialogue and interaction with others is somewhat flimsy, but overall there is certainly enough `reality' to these characters to carry the story. Of course, as a band, their music intrudes in several places, which certainly provides some atmosphere, but I found Brust's description of some of this quite a bit over my head, not being a musician myself. I've run into this same problem with Emma Bull (who was a member of the same band as Brust) and Spider Robinson - it is simply very difficult to describe in written language what is almost totally an aural experience, but I'll give him good marks for a decent stab at trying.

While the final resolution of the story made sense and was satisfying, I found that the basic motivation/rationale behind the war starting group just did not seem adequate justification for their actions. As this is central to the basic story, this is a fairly major flaw.

Still, it's an enjoyable read, though not up to the standards he set in the Taltos set.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An unexpectedly sweet and moving story., March 15, 2004

By	Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

An unexpectedly sweet and moving examination of folk-music, young love, life on the road, and the Meaning of Life inside a standard, rather pro-forma sci-fi time-travel adventure. I liked it quite a bit. FENG is a pleasant and entertaining way to pass a few hours. "B+"

Note that the very cool cover (by James Gurney) is a bit misleading as to the actual *contents* (revealing why would be a spoiler), but it did induce me to pick up the book, and it's really neat art, so Gurney (& Tor) get points for doing their jobs right. Whoever is the art director there gets a vote of thanks from me, as even minor Tor authors usually get tasteful, attractive, relevant covers. Not to mention clean and attractive interior layouts. Bravo!

Brust's comment on FENG: "Not one of my better efforts, I think, but there are bits of it I like. It started out to be funny, developed a serious side, and I was never able to get the elements to blend the way I wanted them to. Grumble grumble. It's always pleasent to run into someone who liked this book; it means that I can still do all right when I'm not on my game." --from dreamcafe.com

Happy reading!
Pete Tillman