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Summary: Fun and entertaining in ways STAR WARS can only dream of.
Review: It is just a fantastic book, with an epic scope, intelligence, and a quest that just might snare a few fantasy readers. The adventure features maturity, intelligence, and an amazing range of moods and tones. In particular, I feel that Resnick's main character, Sebastian Nightingale Cain, is one of the most easily likable characters I have ever read about, despite his apparent disregard for human life. His quest to perform a task that means something, if only to himself, is a highly bizarre (albeit fun) one to read about. My personal favorite, though, is the Jolly Swagman, a sort of pirate who enjoys hording artwork from various alien cultures. He is larger-than-life, and a true pleasure to read about. Get this book if you want to read high-quality science-fiction with memorable characters and a few cool villains.
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Summary: fast, slick, elegant action
Review: Read it. The best of Resnick's books about the Inner Frontier, it has an epic feel but moves quickly and surely, and is told with alacrity and skill.
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Summary: Santiago: The Good, the Bad and the Spacemen
Review: Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future reads like an epic Western except the setting is space instead of the Old West. Perhaps one of the best books I've ever read, filled with mythic characters that do bear some resemblance to legendary gunslingers of the West. We see the different characters weave their way through a series of pitfalls and challenges to, in the end, face the "villain" of the story, the semi-mythical outlaw Santiago. But things are not what they seem in this very fascinating and clever novel.
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Summary: Santiago: The Good, the Bad and the Spacemen
Review: Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future reads like an epic Western except the setting is space instead of the Old West. Perhaps one of the best books I've ever read, filled with mythic characters that do bear some resemblance to legendary gunslingers of the West. We see the different characters weave their way through a series of pitfalls and challenges to, in the end, face the "villain" of the story, the semi-mythical outlaw Santiago. But things are not what they seem in this very fascinating and clever novel.
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Summary: I rate it 6 stars
Review: This book is one of the best books I've ever read (and I've read over 1000 books). Just to be sure, I re-read it a few year laters, and it was again one of the best books I've ever read. Like most of Resnick's work, I never feel like I am reading, he is that good.
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Summary: An amazing bok!
Review: This book was amazing! Read it! There is no question about it! You will instantly feel what the other characters feel!
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Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: This is a fun space-opera story that will make you want to read all of Resnick's books. You won't be sorry you bought this one.
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Summary: Songbird and Moonripple -
Review: This is not a love story by a long shot, but it is a story of love. Each personality performs as would be expected under the conditions. Some perform better, some worse, some live, some die. You may not agree with any of them, but you will understand what and why they do what they do.
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Summary: Who is Santiago?
Review: This is one of my top ten all time favorite sci-fi novels and has been since I first read it when I was about 13 (I am more than TWICE that age now and that's all we'll say on that subject). The book has held up through many years and many re-readings and I enjoy it every time. Far from being traditional and technical science fiction, this is one part pulp western, one part space opera, one part Robin Hood type adventure and five hundred parts cool. Here Resnick has peopled a far flung corner of the Universe with more unique and colorful characters than you would normally get in ten such novels, and the dialogue is snappier than any other book of this genre, guaranteed. The book runs very fast and is fun from start to stop. I couldn't put it down almost two decades ago and I still usually read it in one or two sittings.
Santiago is the most notorious criminal in the galaxy with a price on his head like no other man past or present. He is a legend of close to mythic proportions. The only problem is no one has ever seen his face or dealt with him directly in his many years of looting and pillaging. This doesn't, of course, keep every bounty hunter on the galactic rim from trying to hunt him down. Sebastian Cain is one such bounty hunter, a disillusioned freedom fighter who decided to start killing people for profit once he realized all of his fighting to make the universe a better place was futile. The book begins with his receiving a simple tip in a small out of the way bar that puts him on the trail of the most notorious criminal in history. His adventures take him to many ports of call and he crosses paths with gamblers, assassins, a gun toting preacher, a starving artist, a sentient spaceship, alien indians and even a reporter or two. The only problem is that The Angel, the best bounty hunter in the biz, is also close to figuring out the puzzle that is Santiago. The book is a race, a chase, an adventure of the highest order and makes the point that nothing is ever really what it seems. After all, in a world where your name is a description of who and what you are (Poor Yorick, Jolly Swagman, Man-Mountain Bates), the most dangerous man in the universe is named Santiago. Look it up and see what it means.
There was a point when the paperback of this book came with a blurb saying it was soon to be made into a movie. I guess this never came to fruition, but it would certainly make the best animated sci-fi flick I can think of. I also see that Amazon is advertising for the sequel to be published soon. I cannot wait. Like I said, this is one of my favorite fun books ever and if the follow up is only half as good, it will still be an absolute blast.
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Summary: Fun, joyous, lively Sci-Fi!
Review: This was a fun, colorful book, the Sci-Fi style where the galaxy is well-populated and people/creatures have spaceships and zip from planet to planet the way we have automobiles and drive from town to town. Nevermind the physics and the rocket science. This is more fun!"Santiago" is a legend of truly legendary proportions. Someone hijacked the weapons transport of the toughest navy in this part of the galaxy? Santiago did it. The well-defended space mercenary training compound is now a smoldering crater? It was Santiago! The slaves were not only liberated, but resettled... and presented with the wealth of half a planet? Why, it was Santiago and his gang. Someone overturned the police aircar outside a local post office? It was Santiago, hey that guy was just here! Of course someone as popular/infamous/notorious as Santiago is certain to have a long trail of bounty hunters, amateur and professional, after him. And so he does, one of them Sebastian Nightingale Cain (don't use his middle name in his presence), the most feared bounty hunter of them all. There is an obnoxious freelance journalist looking for the scoop of the century. She'll interview Santiago, or at least cover his death/capture at the hands of Cain. There is a thoroughly disreputable art dealer, he wants some art pieces that Santiago is said to have acquired, and besides, the art dealer needs to leave town fast anyway. They all search for Santiago, going from planet to planet, always one or two steps behind Santiago. Many along the way claim to have seen him. There isn't a photograph or a hologram anywhere... Cain has to really work at this one. Even Santiago's men don't *really* seem to know where Santiago is at this very moment. There is a well-liked minstrel who goes from spaceport to spaceport singing of Santiago's deeds, he was a nice touch. Although much of the story was predictable, as were quite a few of the characters, this book was a fast-paced, exciting read. There are memorable characters and locales too, both good and bad. The character Cain is sure to stick in your mind, it's hard to not like the guy. This is the kind of book that gets read in one sitting. This is the kind of story that will make you smile when you finish, and you'll say "That was fun!"
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