The Best Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gunslinger in the Whole Damned Galaxy

Tales of the Galactic Midway #4

by Mike Resnick

The greatest attraction of the Ahasuerus and Flint Traveling Carnival and Sideshow is their sharpshooter Billybuck Dancer who hates his life and wishes he lived thousands of years earlier when he could test his skills against legendary gunfighters like Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid. The carnival arranges more and more difficult tasks for him many of them putting his life in jeopardy but he breezes through them with no discernable effort and finally Thaddeus Flint agrees to let his sharpshooter fight a duel to the death against a perfect facsimile of Doc Holliday. And the day the fascimile is completed they time it and realize it's faster on the draw than their star performer. What happens next brings the 4-book Tales of the Galactic Midway series to an thrilling and memorable conclusion.

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

ebook

First published October 4, 1983

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given the premise of this series, this is a pretty mundane book. The gunslinger, Billybuck Dancer, finally gets to face off in deadly gunfights. While most of these are disappointing to him because they lack challenge, he eventually gets to face a worthy foe. At this point in his career, Resnick could not really handle aliens very well. The cast of alien characters are quite colorful, and a writer like Simak could have created genuine aliens with a sense of humanity. In contrast, Resnick's alien usually come across as human in simple costume. A disappointing series.

[Zach Gibeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great sci Fi book, nice quick read with a sweet little story. Love the characters but I wish their backgrounds were more clear. I still don't know where the aliens came from. Some cool alien concepts in the book and the main characters are quite lovable if difficult at times.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The circus is traditionally and historically one of the most fun and enjoyable places that mankind has come up with. Who doesn't love the circus? Resnick took that idea and ran with it and the result was these lightest and most amusing of his Birthright Universe novels. The Best Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gunslinger in the Whole Damned Galaxy (title of the fourth volume) says it all, right? Grab a bag of peanuts, play some calliope music, and settle in under the big top.

[Marko]

I have the german translation.