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Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille
Steven Brust's Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille is a time-traveling, science fiction thriller and a rollicking, fun read.
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille serves the best matzoh ball soup in the Galaxy, and hires some of the best musicians you'll ever hear. It's a great place to visit, but it tends to move around―just one step ahead of whatever mysterious conspiracy is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. And Cowboy Feng's may be humanity's last hope for survival.
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille serves the best matzoh ball soup in the Galaxy, and hires some of the best musicians you'll ever hear. It's a great place to visit, but it tends to move around―just one step ahead of whatever mysterious conspiracy is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. And Cowboy Feng's may be humanity's last hope for survival.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
33 people are currently reading
838 people want to read
About the author
Steven Brust
99 books2,303 followersSteven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede, and also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
May 30, 2014
A group of folk musicians find themselves in a bar. The city the bar is in gets nuked, but somehow the bar jumps to another city in another time and place in the galaxy. Sometime later, the new city is nuked again. Who is doing this, and why? And what does it have to do with great cooking, traditional music, the Grateful Dead, and dysfunctional romantic relationships? That's what Cowboy Feng's is about, and fortunately for me, almost all of Brust's bizarre obsessions align fairly nicely with mine, so I thought this was alot of fun. The fact that Brust weaves all of this into a traditional Western plot only makes it better.
I will call foul on a couple of points. At one point he talks about a computer program falling back into Bach's seventh sonata after failing at an improvisation in G. There is no such thing. Also, he writes brilliantly about what it's like to play in a quasi-improvisational band, but he is not quite so good when he tries to give detail about guitar or banjo playing. Drums are his thing, and I had the distinct impression at times that he was in a bit over his head when trying to describe other instruments. His writing about food is first rate. There's a description here of making scrambled eggs that had me wanting to go to Feng's and get in on the Breakfast. And then there's the ending, which didn't work for me. It wrapped things up nicely, but I didn't buy it.
This book is only the second non-Dragaera book I've read of Brust's, and even here I'm not so sure. It's entirely possible that this book is, in Brust's twisted mind, a very ancient history of Dragaera, and that Feng's people ultimately go on to found the Dragaeran world. But that's pure speculation on my part. I like to think that Brust has been working, all along, on a very, very big picture for the world that he created.
It's been a while since I have read any Brust, and I had sort of forgotten how much fun he can be.
I will call foul on a couple of points. At one point he talks about a computer program falling back into Bach's seventh sonata after failing at an improvisation in G. There is no such thing. Also, he writes brilliantly about what it's like to play in a quasi-improvisational band, but he is not quite so good when he tries to give detail about guitar or banjo playing. Drums are his thing, and I had the distinct impression at times that he was in a bit over his head when trying to describe other instruments. His writing about food is first rate. There's a description here of making scrambled eggs that had me wanting to go to Feng's and get in on the Breakfast. And then there's the ending, which didn't work for me. It wrapped things up nicely, but I didn't buy it.
This book is only the second non-Dragaera book I've read of Brust's, and even here I'm not so sure. It's entirely possible that this book is, in Brust's twisted mind, a very ancient history of Dragaera, and that Feng's people ultimately go on to found the Dragaeran world. But that's pure speculation on my part. I like to think that Brust has been working, all along, on a very, very big picture for the world that he created.
It's been a while since I have read any Brust, and I had sort of forgotten how much fun he can be.
November 23, 2014
I do not know the number of times I have read this book over the last couple of decades. We shall call it many.
The only correct review for this book is:
“I laughed. I cried. I fell down. It changed my life.”
The premise is pretty unique, even while perhaps a stretch. And there are plot holes. But I love it. It brings together all of the things I love about Brust’s writing into one tight bundle: dialogue that is fast sharp and witty, characters with personality, a story line to unravel, and food. I don’t know why, but Brust manages to pull food into a narrative in a way that only strengthens a scene and characters better than many that try. He even effectively channels his personal love of music into prominence (in a way that does not put off this non-musician). It is perhaps the most Brustian of Brust books, and for that it needs to be approached like an old friend from time to time just to laugh, and cry, and fall down again.
The only correct review for this book is:
“I laughed. I cried. I fell down. It changed my life.”
The premise is pretty unique, even while perhaps a stretch. And there are plot holes. But I love it. It brings together all of the things I love about Brust’s writing into one tight bundle: dialogue that is fast sharp and witty, characters with personality, a story line to unravel, and food. I don’t know why, but Brust manages to pull food into a narrative in a way that only strengthens a scene and characters better than many that try. He even effectively channels his personal love of music into prominence (in a way that does not put off this non-musician). It is perhaps the most Brustian of Brust books, and for that it needs to be approached like an old friend from time to time just to laugh, and cry, and fall down again.
August 26, 2013
A minor work from a great writer, perfectly symptomatic of Steve's refusal to stand still and do the same thing over and over again. Not a patch on nearly everything else he's ever written; the characters are strangely unlikeable, their response to the situation around them is frustratingly flat, bordering on suicidal, and the worldbuilding is threadbare. Our heroes are up against a time- and space-spanning conspiracy that can loose five thousand nuclear missiles on a whim but has serious trouble getting even a handful of guys with guns to have a competent go at the protagonists. Even Steve's usually slick dialogue is inert and confusing. Still, how many people can point to the worst book they'll ever write and say that it's merely bemusingly mediocre rather than actively bad? Steve can, the jerk.
May 15, 2022
The bar, the band (Irish folk) and the staff the only survivors of nuclear war that engulfs the Earth by jumping to the colony on the moon. Soon they're jumping again to Venus this time (written I'm guessing before we discovered the true nature of the planet). Who's trying to wipe out humanity on ever inhabited world? That's what Feng's crew is trying to figure out and the rest, mostly the band, are along for the ride. Jumping through space and time just ahead of the explosions. Will they solve the mystery before they're killed by the enemy? Only time will tell.
Good book, I read the paperback ages ago and decided to do some more re-reading.
Good book, I read the paperback ages ago and decided to do some more re-reading.
November 10, 2018
Not terribly deep, but lots of fun
October 19, 2024
This was a silly little read that I picked up randomly one day in a used section of a bookstore. Kind of gave me the vibe of what a "beach read" would be in the sci-fi genre. Randomly absolutely loved the ending, though.
February 12, 2025
3 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Four musicians in a folk band chance to travel with a restaurant that jumps in space and time whenever it's hit by an atomic bomb - which happens a lot.
Review
I remember those days in the late ’80s and early ’90s when Steven Brust was a fun writer, and I’d buy almost anything of his on name value alone. I think this book may have been the very end of that period, though I did continue to buy his books for a long period afterward, more and more sceptically, and becoming more and more disillusioned.
Feng’s is a novel idea, but Brust uses it more to present a collection of attitudes than a story. The characters are mildly engaging, and I guess Brust has fun talking about and quoting traditional tunes, but frankly it comes across less as fun hobby than as deliberately exclusionary – if you don’t agree with me that this is cool music, you’re not cool. I’ve seen this same hobby explored better, frankly.
The plot is thin; it doesn’t really hold together well, and there’s not much to hold together. The end feels like a cheat. Brust is still a good writer, so the prose is smooth, and the one thing he does fairly well is the emotional notes of the story. But by now, the sardonic asides are beginning to feel more tic or affectation than clever and fun. I liked this a lot less on this go-round, perhaps because the interim has been 35 years of Brust doing the very same thing, and I’m longer giving the benefit of the doubt that perhaps I did back when.
If you’re new to Brust or a Brust completist, it’s fine to read. But if you’re a casual Brust fan, look elsewhere for his best work.
Summary
Four musicians in a folk band chance to travel with a restaurant that jumps in space and time whenever it's hit by an atomic bomb - which happens a lot.
Review
I remember those days in the late ’80s and early ’90s when Steven Brust was a fun writer, and I’d buy almost anything of his on name value alone. I think this book may have been the very end of that period, though I did continue to buy his books for a long period afterward, more and more sceptically, and becoming more and more disillusioned.
Feng’s is a novel idea, but Brust uses it more to present a collection of attitudes than a story. The characters are mildly engaging, and I guess Brust has fun talking about and quoting traditional tunes, but frankly it comes across less as fun hobby than as deliberately exclusionary – if you don’t agree with me that this is cool music, you’re not cool. I’ve seen this same hobby explored better, frankly.
The plot is thin; it doesn’t really hold together well, and there’s not much to hold together. The end feels like a cheat. Brust is still a good writer, so the prose is smooth, and the one thing he does fairly well is the emotional notes of the story. But by now, the sardonic asides are beginning to feel more tic or affectation than clever and fun. I liked this a lot less on this go-round, perhaps because the interim has been 35 years of Brust doing the very same thing, and I’m longer giving the benefit of the doubt that perhaps I did back when.
If you’re new to Brust or a Brust completist, it’s fine to read. But if you’re a casual Brust fan, look elsewhere for his best work.
February 18, 2022
First, huge props to having one of the best titles possible. The title suggests lots of wackiness with out of time anachronisms, and half way delivers. This book is about being out of time as well as time travel, but more of a medium speed uncontrolled jaunt from one doomed planet to another. The expected wackiness, however is missing. that being said, CFSBaG is an interesting and fun book. It spends a lot more time about the main characters, an Irish folk quartet who somehow just got caught up in things by being in the right place at the right time. Lots of the book is about them, Irish folk music, drinking, dating, food and cooking, personal relationships, and multiple nuclear wars. You know, typical things a band that hangs out at bars are involved in.
They slowly start to more actively get involved with the greater mystery of what the hell is going on, instead of just rolling with things as they happen. None of the main characters really have too many special skills which help them in figuring this out, but they have some help from the staff, who in fact has an odd assortment of skills for bartenders, cooks, etc. However, the band being more under the radar and more integrated in the interpersonal side of connecting with the city they find themselves in which begins to open up interesting things about what's going on behind the scenes.
Overall, this is a fun character study of what might happen if a band which is thrown into highly unusual circumstances has to deal with them, beyond playing the banjo and fiddle to calm themselves down. The plot and mystery is a bit non-standard and interesting, not your typical fare, but worth a read, sheerly for being so different and unexpected.
They slowly start to more actively get involved with the greater mystery of what the hell is going on, instead of just rolling with things as they happen. None of the main characters really have too many special skills which help them in figuring this out, but they have some help from the staff, who in fact has an odd assortment of skills for bartenders, cooks, etc. However, the band being more under the radar and more integrated in the interpersonal side of connecting with the city they find themselves in which begins to open up interesting things about what's going on behind the scenes.
Overall, this is a fun character study of what might happen if a band which is thrown into highly unusual circumstances has to deal with them, beyond playing the banjo and fiddle to calm themselves down. The plot and mystery is a bit non-standard and interesting, not your typical fare, but worth a read, sheerly for being so different and unexpected.
April 23, 2014
Start with Spider Robinson's Callahan's Crosstime Saloon. Dial back the obsession with puns a bit, and replace it with a similar obsession with good food. Replace the episodic vignette style with a coherent plot. The result will somewhat resemble Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille. (The obsessions with booze and music stay about the same. ^_^)
Brust, as usual, is a bit overfond of letting the plot roll over the reader without a great deal of explanation. Characters often seem to know things (important, relevant things) that they don't bother to tell the audience. And the inevitable twist at the end is mildly telegraphed-- it's pretty clear that it's coming, and you have a rough idea of what it'll end up revealing, but some of the details still caught me by surprise in a satisfying way.
Overall, a tight, well-paced sci-fi adventure/thriller, that I'd be happy to recommend to anyone who likes such things.
Brust, as usual, is a bit overfond of letting the plot roll over the reader without a great deal of explanation. Characters often seem to know things (important, relevant things) that they don't bother to tell the audience. And the inevitable twist at the end is mildly telegraphed-- it's pretty clear that it's coming, and you have a rough idea of what it'll end up revealing, but some of the details still caught me by surprise in a satisfying way.
Overall, a tight, well-paced sci-fi adventure/thriller, that I'd be happy to recommend to anyone who likes such things.
April 22, 2018
Eh
The first half of the book was boring, I didn't like any of the characters, and I found some things to be lazy writing like "But I won't go into those details" or "because that didn't change over time." It had an original premise but was not executed well.
The first half of the book was boring, I didn't like any of the characters, and I found some things to be lazy writing like "But I won't go into those details" or "because that didn't change over time." It had an original premise but was not executed well.
November 7, 2025
I found this book to be quite interesting. It started out as a simple humorous time travel sci fi story but turned into a layered complex tale. The characters were all very distinct from each other and full of heart. The world that Steven Brust built was revealed slowly and seemed small at first but then opened up to a much wider reality. I loved the bar and all of the humor. The mystery was very intriguing and rather unique. Fun & very entertaining read with lots of emotion and heart. But one complaint was that the ending seemed a bit quick and rather pat. I think the conclusion to the adventure needed to be less abrupt. But still a really good book! One of my top books of the year-I actually found it to be quite surprising-I thought I was reading one kind of thing and it turned out to be a much different thing!
From the book blurb: “Steven Brust's Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille is a time-traveling, science fiction thriller and a rollicking, fun read.
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille serves the best matzoh ball soup in the Galaxy, and hires some of the best musicians you'll ever hear. It's a great place to visit, but it tends to move around―just one step ahead of whatever mysterious conspiracy is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. And Cowboy Feng's may be humanity's last hope for survival.”
From the book blurb: “Steven Brust's Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille is a time-traveling, science fiction thriller and a rollicking, fun read.
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille serves the best matzoh ball soup in the Galaxy, and hires some of the best musicians you'll ever hear. It's a great place to visit, but it tends to move around―just one step ahead of whatever mysterious conspiracy is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. And Cowboy Feng's may be humanity's last hope for survival.”
June 28, 2018
A-, strange characters, good writing [from my 1991 booklog] Wonderful cover art!
February 2, 2025
Interesting read if you're into sci-fi. Too boring to read anywhere but on my metro commutes but just interesting enough to finish. Disappointed that the vibe of the book didn't match the cover.
August 22, 2021
I didn't love this book, as I couldn't quite like the characters. However it had a good ending that fit.
December 2, 2021
Man, i'm giving this book a 2 and that's GENEROUS.
I found this book for $2 at a Half price books, and honestly, i think i paid too much.
The cover looked pretty cool with a cyberpunk-ish bar and grill with aliens and robots. Spoiler warning. There are no aliens and robots. It's one of the most misleading covers i've ever seen in my life. I of course could forgive this if the book was good. Once again spoilers, it wasn't.
I shall do my best to explain the positives and negatives
Positives
- It was short.
That's it.
Now for the negatives.
1. I didn't care about a single character. they were incredibly interchangeable and half the time i didn't know who was speaking or care.
2. the author was just terrible at world building. This is supposed to be a bar and grill that travels through space and time. like a nuclear powered TARDIS. that premise sounds really cool. However, it hardly travels anywhere and almost the entire book takes place in a location that looks like french-canada. Very..exotic? The problem is, i didn't even KNOW it was supposed to look like french canada until about 1/3 of the way through when he flat out said so. The author was too busy playing music and name dropping songs (so bad that he actually has a legend in the back of the book that describes what songs he references there's so many) He'll talk about his and his pals' instruments for 3 pages and then jump right to the next event. no world building at all.
3. it was BARELY sci-fi. 90% of the book was just normal stuff like playing music or guns (regular guns not sci-fi). Barely any of it was related to sci-fi.
4. The romance aspect was shoe-horned in and felt unnecessary and forced due to the length of the book. You already have enough to do in a 220 page "sci-fi" book explaining the world, the mechanics, introducing 10+ main characters, create a problem and defeat the evil without adding a love interest. Not to mention your ridiculous amount of talking about your music. there just wasn't enough time and felt very tacked on.
I could keep listing, but i think you get the point. This book feels like to me like someone had a REALLY cool idea. like someone walked up to a publisher and went "hey, how about a book where a TARDIS is a diner?" and then after the publisher greenlit it, he then read it and went "oh....oh god this isn't what i wanted AT ALL" But it was too late and published it.
This has first draft written ALL over it. the First 1/3 is so boring and terrible, i nearly dropped it 70 pages in. But hearing it got better later, i pressed on, and the final 1/3 kept me to want to finish it. it ended up not being great, but it kept my interest enough to finish it. so there's that.
If i could give halves, this would ABSOLUTELY be a 1.5. However since i can't, i can't give it a 1 as i didn't actively HATE it, but it was not a good book and i didn't really enjoy hardly any of it. I can't understand people who would ever read this again as i could barely get through it once i was so bored for the first third.
2 out of 5 and that's a GIFT.
I found this book for $2 at a Half price books, and honestly, i think i paid too much.
The cover looked pretty cool with a cyberpunk-ish bar and grill with aliens and robots. Spoiler warning. There are no aliens and robots. It's one of the most misleading covers i've ever seen in my life. I of course could forgive this if the book was good. Once again spoilers, it wasn't.
I shall do my best to explain the positives and negatives
Positives
- It was short.
That's it.
Now for the negatives.
1. I didn't care about a single character. they were incredibly interchangeable and half the time i didn't know who was speaking or care.
2. the author was just terrible at world building. This is supposed to be a bar and grill that travels through space and time. like a nuclear powered TARDIS. that premise sounds really cool. However, it hardly travels anywhere and almost the entire book takes place in a location that looks like french-canada. Very..exotic? The problem is, i didn't even KNOW it was supposed to look like french canada until about 1/3 of the way through when he flat out said so. The author was too busy playing music and name dropping songs (so bad that he actually has a legend in the back of the book that describes what songs he references there's so many) He'll talk about his and his pals' instruments for 3 pages and then jump right to the next event. no world building at all.
3. it was BARELY sci-fi. 90% of the book was just normal stuff like playing music or guns (regular guns not sci-fi). Barely any of it was related to sci-fi.
4. The romance aspect was shoe-horned in and felt unnecessary and forced due to the length of the book. You already have enough to do in a 220 page "sci-fi" book explaining the world, the mechanics, introducing 10+ main characters, create a problem and defeat the evil without adding a love interest. Not to mention your ridiculous amount of talking about your music. there just wasn't enough time and felt very tacked on.
I could keep listing, but i think you get the point. This book feels like to me like someone had a REALLY cool idea. like someone walked up to a publisher and went "hey, how about a book where a TARDIS is a diner?" and then after the publisher greenlit it, he then read it and went "oh....oh god this isn't what i wanted AT ALL" But it was too late and published it.
This has first draft written ALL over it. the First 1/3 is so boring and terrible, i nearly dropped it 70 pages in. But hearing it got better later, i pressed on, and the final 1/3 kept me to want to finish it. it ended up not being great, but it kept my interest enough to finish it. so there's that.
If i could give halves, this would ABSOLUTELY be a 1.5. However since i can't, i can't give it a 1 as i didn't actively HATE it, but it was not a good book and i didn't really enjoy hardly any of it. I can't understand people who would ever read this again as i could barely get through it once i was so bored for the first third.
2 out of 5 and that's a GIFT.
September 13, 2008
Very few books connect with me to the point that I feel deeply about the action in the book. This one struck a chord with me at the end: not really sure why, but to this day it still stands out as one of those books that I identify so closely with that I'm sometimes not sure whether I was in the story or just reading about it.
Overall, a very good book (Brust is a superb author, and has fun and bold writing styles) and well worth a read if you're in the mood for something a little wacky.
Overall, a very good book (Brust is a superb author, and has fun and bold writing styles) and well worth a read if you're in the mood for something a little wacky.
Read
September 7, 2021Unique storyline and great Steven Brust blunt storytelling... I was familiar with Vlad Taltos series and always loved the wit and acerbic humor. I picked this up for fun and loved it right up until the end. I expected such a twisted storyline to have a more interesting, and less anti-climatic, ending.
December 5, 2011
I tried very hard to like this book, but I just wasn't sold on it. I did finish it so I gave it two stars rather than one. It wasn't as funny as I'd hoped and I found the ending lacking. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this one. Perhaps I'll give it another try and see if my opinion changes at all.
February 25, 2018
Space, time travel, music, food and comedy. This may be the strangest book I've ever read. It had a good conclusion though.
August 4, 2024
I purchased this book from Barnes and Noble.
“Cowboy Feng’s Bar and Grill” by Steven Brust, PJF ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Sci Fi/Time Travel. Location: It tends to move around. Time: 1980s to the future.
Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grill is a great place to visit, but it moves around in time and space―just ahead of whatever is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. There’s Fred who cooks and sort of manages it. Libby tends the bar. Rich does maintenance, and Eve helps wherever. Then the best Irish music band you'll never hear starts playing (and crashing) at Cowboy Feng’s. There’s Billy the banjo player (and narrator), Jamie (guitar), Tom (mandolin), and Rose (fiddle). These 8 friends may be humanity's last hope for survival. Why? After the band wandered in to Cowboy Feng‘s, it jumped to London-5 months before an atomic bomb hit. Then it jumped to a lunar colony 6 years in the future. A few days later, another atomic bomb, and they landed 20 years in the future on Jerrysport, Mars. Another atomic bomb, and now they’re in New Quebec on the colony world of Laurier (local year 61). And here the plot thickens. Billy falls for a mysterious local named Souci, who is not a nice person. Also, someone is trying to kill Billy, and everyone around him. And who the heck is Sugar Bear?
Author Brust has written a space-traveling ScFi plus western adventure story that’s both funny and sad. He inserts lots of past references and nuances, and adds short “Intermezzos” which provide insights into characters’ backstories. The Intermezzos each begin with a verse from a traditional folk song. Brust’s style includes lots of info about music, and a fair amount of philosophizing. The last part turns into a full-blown western blowout. It’s full of interesting concepts, although the story itself sometimes drags. It’s 3 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼♀️ #cowboyfengsbarandgrill #stevenbrustauthor
“Cowboy Feng’s Bar and Grill” by Steven Brust, PJF ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Sci Fi/Time Travel. Location: It tends to move around. Time: 1980s to the future.
Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grill is a great place to visit, but it moves around in time and space―just ahead of whatever is reducing whole worlds to radioactive ash. There’s Fred who cooks and sort of manages it. Libby tends the bar. Rich does maintenance, and Eve helps wherever. Then the best Irish music band you'll never hear starts playing (and crashing) at Cowboy Feng’s. There’s Billy the banjo player (and narrator), Jamie (guitar), Tom (mandolin), and Rose (fiddle). These 8 friends may be humanity's last hope for survival. Why? After the band wandered in to Cowboy Feng‘s, it jumped to London-5 months before an atomic bomb hit. Then it jumped to a lunar colony 6 years in the future. A few days later, another atomic bomb, and they landed 20 years in the future on Jerrysport, Mars. Another atomic bomb, and now they’re in New Quebec on the colony world of Laurier (local year 61). And here the plot thickens. Billy falls for a mysterious local named Souci, who is not a nice person. Also, someone is trying to kill Billy, and everyone around him. And who the heck is Sugar Bear?
Author Brust has written a space-traveling ScFi plus western adventure story that’s both funny and sad. He inserts lots of past references and nuances, and adds short “Intermezzos” which provide insights into characters’ backstories. The Intermezzos each begin with a verse from a traditional folk song. Brust’s style includes lots of info about music, and a fair amount of philosophizing. The last part turns into a full-blown western blowout. It’s full of interesting concepts, although the story itself sometimes drags. It’s 3 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼♀️ #cowboyfengsbarandgrill #stevenbrustauthor
October 1, 2024
I had been looking for this book for quite some time. There is not a single copy of it in any of the libraries in the state that share items through the Prospector system, neither physical nor e-book. (No audio book was ever made of it). I *finally* stumbled upon a copy at a used book store.
Perhaps the closest comparison would be Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson, which I read many years ago. It’s quirky, funny, and ironic, but also dark and laser-focused on human nature in all its vicissitudes. But whereas Callahan’s has a more vignette style to it, this one has a more obvious, focused, and much darker plot, which is this: Billy belongs to an Irish folk rock band that regularly plays at Feng’s, and they find themselves and Feng’s safely and repeatedly transported through space and time, before various nuclear strikes happen on a number of humanity’s worlds. The band tries to figure out what the heck is happening.
There is a LOT crammed into 223 pages; commentary on human nature, relationships, guns, war, disease, time travel, music, fear, anger, love. And for this the novel deserves heaps of praise. But the vehicle through which that commentary hits us — in other words, the plot itself — is a little thin and willowy. The enormity and gravity of the situation all just happens too fast, and there isn’t much buildup or tension drawing the reader in. I suppose it’s meant to be a fun story of musicians “saving the day” with witty repartee along the way — and it is that for sure — but I was hard pressed to find myself caring about how it ended.
Perhaps the closest comparison would be Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson, which I read many years ago. It’s quirky, funny, and ironic, but also dark and laser-focused on human nature in all its vicissitudes. But whereas Callahan’s has a more vignette style to it, this one has a more obvious, focused, and much darker plot, which is this: Billy belongs to an Irish folk rock band that regularly plays at Feng’s, and they find themselves and Feng’s safely and repeatedly transported through space and time, before various nuclear strikes happen on a number of humanity’s worlds. The band tries to figure out what the heck is happening.
There is a LOT crammed into 223 pages; commentary on human nature, relationships, guns, war, disease, time travel, music, fear, anger, love. And for this the novel deserves heaps of praise. But the vehicle through which that commentary hits us — in other words, the plot itself — is a little thin and willowy. The enormity and gravity of the situation all just happens too fast, and there isn’t much buildup or tension drawing the reader in. I suppose it’s meant to be a fun story of musicians “saving the day” with witty repartee along the way — and it is that for sure — but I was hard pressed to find myself caring about how it ended.
August 1, 2023
I really want to give this book a 5, but I can't. Feng's is extremely character driven, with the plot revolving around our reluctant protagonist Billy. The cast of additional side characters feel both real and fictional due to the way Brust has expressed them. Fred is emotionally reclusive, hardened by warfare; Libby is a sex addict with some real attachment to Fred, as is the somewhat awful Souci; Rich is mister technology and generally just a pal; Tom cracks bad jokes and has anger issues; Jamie is perfect; Rose is an alcoholic and far too in love with Jamie, you get the point. This novel, however, does a lot with this ragtag group of friends and turns a seemingly goofy slice-of-life style murder mystery into a battle to save humanity, it's impressive that it's even possible in the mere ~220 pages.
I love how the tech is barely explained, never elaborated upon - the characters and reader are given just enough information to understand the premise but it doesn't go too deep into specifics..
The only holdup I have is the plot, the seeming lack of one on a first read. On my second read, the plot adds up a lot faster, taking notes may have helped add the plot faster.
For me, it's a strong 4. While there are plenty of flaws, it's very fun and takes itself way more seriously than I thought it could; while there's some tonal whiplash here and there the premise is fun yet familiar feeling, the world both lived in and feels very real, very local.
I love how the tech is barely explained, never elaborated upon - the characters and reader are given just enough information to understand the premise but it doesn't go too deep into specifics..
The only holdup I have is the plot, the seeming lack of one on a first read. On my second read, the plot adds up a lot faster, taking notes may have helped add the plot faster.
For me, it's a strong 4. While there are plenty of flaws, it's very fun and takes itself way more seriously than I thought it could; while there's some tonal whiplash here and there the premise is fun yet familiar feeling, the world both lived in and feels very real, very local.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2020
One of those books where I feel I should have liked it more than I did. The concept, the world, the set dressing - all stuff that trips my trigger. The more-than-passing similarities to a certain favorite Crosstime Saloon should have been a sure-thing... Except it wasn't because, while this book had a number of things going for it, it failed to have the most important part that my beloved punny-pub never runs out of -heart. Despite its lush descriptions of music and food, the clear love the author has for both of those art forms, there is a stunning lack of heart and soul everywhere else... And a stunning lack of likeable characters or even clear-cut characters.
When you barely pause at a death in a story, that's not a good sign.
When you barely pause at a death in a story, that's not a good sign.
January 2, 2025
I picked this book up because it's one I purchased on a whim for the name and cover art alone. Going into this blind, I had no idea this would contain multiple layers that hit sentimentally, such as Irish folk music being played at a time hopping restaurant, humor that struck personal chords, and philosophy that resonated deeply. It’s very much a product of its time, published in 1990 and reflecting some key values of the previous decade: sex, drugs, and music, all while surviving The epilogue surprised me when Billy I wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did, what a great book to start the new year with!
lost-interest
September 19, 2018He got to the part where the narrator who didn't know how to describe what a gun looked like suddenly knew the exact makes and models of a whole pile of guns and I realized that I just wan't interested in these eight undifferentiated people and their love/apocalypse lives.
Anyway, it's fine. I only picked it up because I got it confused with Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, a book a nice old fellow in a bar once insisted was very good but I am finding more difficult to procure than anticipated.
Anyway, it's fine. I only picked it up because I got it confused with Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, a book a nice old fellow in a bar once insisted was very good but I am finding more difficult to procure than anticipated.
March 4, 2023
Nominally a science fiction adventure. As in all good adventures, the party (an Irish band) find themselves at a strange bar… Unlike many SF books it is carried more by the characters more than the plot or gimmicks, and the mood is bittersweet - things and people pass away.
I found the structure of the book really worked - it balanced the story progression (with a single cohesive narrator) with short background chapters written from viewpoints of other characters. In contrast, the ending, while coherent and foreshadowed, seemed almost an afterthought.
I might reread it, if I feel like thinking about loss again (ouch.)
I found the structure of the book really worked - it balanced the story progression (with a single cohesive narrator) with short background chapters written from viewpoints of other characters. In contrast, the ending, while coherent and foreshadowed, seemed almost an afterthought.
I might reread it, if I feel like thinking about loss again (ouch.)
January 2, 2019
Imagine Doctor Who but instead of a mysterious British alien with a time traveling police box and a band of assorted quirky British people that go around saving the universe, you have a mysterious Asian cowboy with a time traveling bar and grill and a band of quirky and promiscuous but highly skilled 20-somethings that go around trying to stop nuclear explosions from going off around time and space.
December 16, 2020
If this were a YELP review it would be five stars straight.
Amusing goofball SF book, pretty funny. Great concept: worlds keeps ending & the bar & grill keeps surviving by reappearing somewhere else. Musicians play. Soup is great.
Plus: lots happening & the cover is the GOAT of goofball SF covers.
Minus: characters aren't too appealing, and the story starts to fall apart.
See the twist coming?
Yo, me too.
Still, would eat there.
Amusing goofball SF book, pretty funny. Great concept: worlds keeps ending & the bar & grill keeps surviving by reappearing somewhere else. Musicians play. Soup is great.
Plus: lots happening & the cover is the GOAT of goofball SF covers.
Minus: characters aren't too appealing, and the story starts to fall apart.
See the twist coming?
Yo, me too.
Still, would eat there.
December 29, 2022
Aspects really are charming, and I wanted to like this novel more than I did. I can't fault it for reading like 1980s/early 1990s sci fi, given that's exactly what it is. Beyond that, though, I found the pacing uneven and the characterization often a little weak (mostly, I mean I had a hard time differentiating characters by anything beyond which instrument they played until nearly the end of the book).
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