Rating: 
Summary: Space Cowboys
Review: When I bought SANTIAGO, I was expecting a "space opera" type of novel. That is, a melodrama typified by shallow characterization, simple plot line and lots of action. What I wasn't quite prepared for was a "space western". That's what this is, though. It reads like a cowboy story complete with bounty hunters, a lawless frontier culture, and aliens calling themselves "the sioux nation" and living in teepees.My first reaction was to laugh. The parallels are so blatant that it seemed comical. Resnick posits a galactic "frontier" where cheap, personal inter-stellar transportation is available and goes the whole nine yards in comparing it to the western frontier of the U.S. in the second half of the nineteenth century. It's like Dodge City goes galactic. The surprising thing here is that Resnick actually pulls this off. It may seem a little corny at first (at least, it did to me), but overall it's entertaining and fun to read. Not only does the story move along at a good pace, but it is populated with some of the oddest and most intriguing characters imaginable. They aren't deep, but each is quirky and VERY different in his/her own way. Some are likable, some are at least sympathetic, some are downright despicable, but they're not boring. This progression of wierd characters is enough to keep the book from getting dull all by itself. SANTIAGO isn't a deep, thought-provoking tale, but it is entertaining. I enjoyed it. It's fluff, but it works. If that works for you, give it a try. I recommend it as a good, light scifi read.
| 
