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ISBN:
0-441-00133-5
Read:
December 2011, at age 33
This
was the 6th book in the series that started with Callahan’s
Crosstime Saloon. It looks like
there are about 9 in the series overall.
It’s a light, quick read about what the regulars at Callahan’s do, once
their bar is destroyed. Um. Heavy alcohol use in the book – if that’s an
issue, move along.
From
the back cover:
Opening Night at Mary’s Place is the
hottest ticket in the galaxy – a brand-new bar with some old familiar
faces. Jake’s back, along with Doc, Fast
Eddie, and the rest of the Callahan’s gang.
And just when things couldn’t get crazier, guess who shows up in the
Mick of Time to make sure they do…
My Reactions (after the break):
Overall:
I didn’t find the point of the book. It was fun, but ultimately nothing
happened. Sitting around a bar getting
drunk and slinging puns is fun and all, but if there was a story, I missed
it. Implausible things happen, people
react implausibly (which does fit in with the series), and that’s about it.
It seemed to me that this book was a bit of a vanity
project – look in at the characters: See - they’re doing fine! Now let me put a bunch of people in as
cameos. It normally doesn’t bother me
too much, but when there’s no story to hang the vanity on, it becomes a waste
of time. I don’t know where the series
goes, but if it continues down this track, stop with Lady Slings the Booze. I
have good memories of the first five.
It’s not all bad.
I did enjoy the writing style, and there’s a section riffing on Dean
Martin’s “That’s Amore” which was a lot of fun, but overall, the book didn’t
work for me.
Rating: 2
Characters:
It’s been a long time since I read a Callahan’s book,
and I didn’t really remember much about the characters. This book didn’t help explain them much.
Setting:
The book was set in a bar. The second-best bar in the whole universe,
since the best one got nuked. A lot of
the story was explaining just how good the bar actually was, which got tiring.
Plot:
There were basically three sections to the book –
introducing the Lucky Duck, introducing the Cluricaune, and introducing the
AI. Along the way, they explain a little
bit about what these new characters are, and get Jake hooked up with his soulmate,
and then the book ends. It felt like
there were three short stories bolted together pretending to be a novel. It
didn’t work for me.
Readability:
The best part of the book. I just like reading Robinson’s writing, even
if the rest wasn’t great.
Other Opinions:
I didn’t find any other decent reviews – if you know
of one, please let me know!
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