What do you think?
Rate this book
Tales of the Galactic Midway #1
Sideshow
Traveling carnival owner Thaddeus Flint swindles the owner of a freak show into an unlikely business partnership. When Flint discovers that the freaks are a group of undercover alien tourists, he keeps the secret from the outside world and looks for an opportunity to expand his carny tour out to the stars.
153 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
3 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Mike Resnick
813 books550 followersMichael "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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 5, 2020
Може би най-посредствената книга на Резник, която съм чел. Озадачен съм как е успяла да постигне такъв успех, че да има цели три продължения.
Безскрупулен собственик на пътуващ панаир заграбва с измама "уродите" на друг, само за да открие, че те всъщност са извънземни. Останалата част от книгата е заета с усилията му да се научи да се грижи за тях, което пък довежда до неочаквано морално израстване у него.
Като цяло, не е твърде зле, чете се, най-вече заради лекия стил на Резник, но не успя да ме заинтригува особено.
Безскрупулен собственик на пътуващ панаир заграбва с измама "уродите" на друг, само за да открие, че те всъщност са извънземни. Останалата част от книгата е заета с усилията му да се научи да се грижи за тях, което пък довежда до неочаквано морално израстване у него.
Като цяло, не е твърде зле, чете се, най-вече заради лекия стил на Резник, но не успя да ме заинтригува особено.
May 25, 2015
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.
February 3, 2009
I have not been let down by Resnick yet. This is one of his early books. It is set early in his universe. It takes place way before man has discovered space travel. This book focuses on a traveling sideshow that discovers some new talent for there freak show and learns they are more than just freaks. It is also about finding family when you don't have one. It is very character driven for a short book and sets up the rest of the series of four books.
Resnick does not right hard SciFi, but he dose right great stories that force you to turn the page....and read another book.
Resnick does not right hard SciFi, but he dose right great stories that force you to turn the page....and read another book.
August 13, 2009
A cute little yarn about a New England traveling carnival which buys up a competing freak show. These freaks turn out to be aliens. Like many of Resnick's tales, the characters here are rowdy, bawdy, and a hell of a lot of fun. And like your average carny, it doesn't overstay its welcome: a quick 150 pages and you're out.
July 26, 2013
A rather ruthless carnival operator muscles in on a competing show, bribing and extorting the local police long enough to swipe the rather remarkable freak show exhibit. From a three-breasted lady and a lizard-man, these exhibits are out of this world, and are sure to boost profits. Just how far out of this world the exhibits are only emerges when we learn that they are actually a touring company of aliens visiting earth and covering their unusual appearances under cover as sideshow freaks that he has effectively kidnapped.
As their time on earth extends beyond their plans and they start to get sick, our hero finds humanity through this group of aliens, ultimately negotiates to take a few of his favorites from his earth carnival, all of the aliens, and take the show on the road through the galaxy.
I love Mike Resnick.
As their time on earth extends beyond their plans and they start to get sick, our hero finds humanity through this group of aliens, ultimately negotiates to take a few of his favorites from his earth carnival, all of the aliens, and take the show on the road through the galaxy.
I love Mike Resnick.
June 19, 2022
I bought this four-pack series from the 80s at a reasonable price mostly based on the ridiculous covers. Hopefully the next book is much better. This first book in the series was one of the most uneventful books I’ve ever read. I’d feel badly about revealing the plot for future readers but there isn’t one. A handful of “freaks” at a carnival sideshow are “discovered” to be alien tourists. Each of them becomes sick because they are not acclimated to our environment. On the final page they leave on a spacecraft to start a Galactic Sideshow. That is the entire plot of this book. 150 pages of introductory material about the characters. Poorly done and boring.
March 6, 2022
The first book in a four part series, starting with a group of alien tourists kidnapped and put into a circus freakshow.
I knew just looking at this one that it was either going to be a lot of fun or trash. It turned out to be both. It's not heavy on scientific jargon, it doesn't push its morals or themes, and it's entertaining.
The perspective character, a hunchback with a speech impediment that wants to belong, is not the main focus. He serves as the real lead's sidekick, despite his own strong morals, because that character is essentially the villain. He makes constant excuses for him, no matter how many awful things he does. He's a completely passive character and serves more as a set of eyes for the reader.
Thw character of Thaddeus is a horrible sleaze bag. He was pretty much irredeemable after chapter two, even though he never resorts to physical violence. He's a money-loving, amoral manipulator. I had no intention of forgiving him. I wanted him to suffer. That's not the direction the book goes in though, and this is my major complaint. This is a man that has forced people into sex with others for money(for himself), sleeps with minors, treats women like objects, kidnaps sentient beings, and demeans and belittles everyone around him. This stopped me from giving it 4 stars. If this had been a group of decent but desperate down-and-outers it could have been fantastic.
The aliens are endearing, even the ones that get little time. This tiny book juggles a good 20-25 characters and manages to make most of them feel distinct. A lot of fat is cut. There isn't much in the way of descriptions. The second chapter is an exposition infodump. You've got to cut this book a lot of slack. The aliens mostly speak or understand English, depsite being tourists. Many can pass for odd humans. Other planets have televisions and freakshows and marksmen and corporations. It's all very human.
I recommend it if you want to turn your brain off and read some pulp. Particularly in dark times, like the one the Earth is currently plunging into. A little otherworldly escapism.
I knew just looking at this one that it was either going to be a lot of fun or trash. It turned out to be both. It's not heavy on scientific jargon, it doesn't push its morals or themes, and it's entertaining.
The perspective character, a hunchback with a speech impediment that wants to belong, is not the main focus. He serves as the real lead's sidekick, despite his own strong morals, because that character is essentially the villain. He makes constant excuses for him, no matter how many awful things he does. He's a completely passive character and serves more as a set of eyes for the reader.
Thw character of Thaddeus is a horrible sleaze bag. He was pretty much irredeemable after chapter two, even though he never resorts to physical violence. He's a money-loving, amoral manipulator. I had no intention of forgiving him. I wanted him to suffer. That's not the direction the book goes in though, and this is my major complaint. This is a man that has forced people into sex with others for money(for himself), sleeps with minors, treats women like objects, kidnaps sentient beings, and demeans and belittles everyone around him. This stopped me from giving it 4 stars. If this had been a group of decent but desperate down-and-outers it could have been fantastic.
The aliens are endearing, even the ones that get little time. This tiny book juggles a good 20-25 characters and manages to make most of them feel distinct. A lot of fat is cut. There isn't much in the way of descriptions. The second chapter is an exposition infodump. You've got to cut this book a lot of slack. The aliens mostly speak or understand English, depsite being tourists. Many can pass for odd humans. Other planets have televisions and freakshows and marksmen and corporations. It's all very human.
I recommend it if you want to turn your brain off and read some pulp. Particularly in dark times, like the one the Earth is currently plunging into. A little otherworldly escapism.
September 13, 2011
Many years I discovered this delightful series and bought up all the books. Then, I switched from reading science fiction and fantasy to mystery books and discovered I was out of book space. So, I parted with almost all of my sci fi/fantasy books [including :::gulp::: ] all of these books, and almost immediately regretted it.
It took me years to find them again online. My dear husband found the hardbound with all the books for me a few years ago, so now I can cheerfully dip into this delightful tale of a galaxy traveling circus.
Please consider reading all of them. Others have published excellent reviews of the books, so I just wanted mine to be a reminiscence of what NOT to do with cherished books.
It took me years to find them again online. My dear husband found the hardbound with all the books for me a few years ago, so now I can cheerfully dip into this delightful tale of a galaxy traveling circus.
Please consider reading all of them. Others have published excellent reviews of the books, so I just wanted mine to be a reminiscence of what NOT to do with cherished books.
December 13, 2022
This book was a surprise. The cover and back text make this seem like a light-hearted SF adventure. But, it is actually a pretty dark book about exploitation and features a despicable main character. That said, the book is quite engaging with a dark sense of humor. Not quite good enough to rate 4 stars, but I look forward to the sequels.
April 18, 2024
While this is the first volume in the series, and an introduction to the background and characters, I read 2 books in the series many years ago, but not this one.
This book takes place entirely on Earth. The owner of a traveling carnival finds out he's losing business to another carnival - which is inferior to his except for its "freak show." So, he schemes to take that part of the other carnival. It turns out the reason why the "freaks" are so extraordinary is that they're actually a tourist group of aliens from a variety of worlds. Various issues arise about the ability of the aliens to stay healthy in Earth's environment, discontent among the aliens over being held against their will, conflicts between the human carnival members over the owner's actions and lifestyle, etc. Over the course of the book the owner becomes less callous towards humans and aliens - and decides he wants to do extraordinary things like traveling the galaxy with his carnival.
This book takes place entirely on Earth. The owner of a traveling carnival finds out he's losing business to another carnival - which is inferior to his except for its "freak show." So, he schemes to take that part of the other carnival. It turns out the reason why the "freaks" are so extraordinary is that they're actually a tourist group of aliens from a variety of worlds. Various issues arise about the ability of the aliens to stay healthy in Earth's environment, discontent among the aliens over being held against their will, conflicts between the human carnival members over the owner's actions and lifestyle, etc. Over the course of the book the owner becomes less callous towards humans and aliens - and decides he wants to do extraordinary things like traveling the galaxy with his carnival.
May 5, 2024
3.25 One of his earlier books but not one of his best.
September 5, 2025
2,5 ⭐️
July 8, 2016
A nice, capable book. Didn't annoy me, didn't thrill me. It's very straight man (some books just read that way), which is fine, but not 100% in alignment with my taste (I like books that suggest a bit of Noel Coward)--it was hard-boiled, I guess the term is.
There were very few surprises, no real twists-and-turns, the characters were cursory. It was ok, like one of those shows that come on TV after the good show--not bad enough to change the channel on, not good enough to seek out on its own.
All that said, I did like the cumulative effect of the book--it has an air of optimism and goodness, which is rare in something that reads so hard-boiled.
There were very few surprises, no real twists-and-turns, the characters were cursory. It was ok, like one of those shows that come on TV after the good show--not bad enough to change the channel on, not good enough to seek out on its own.
All that said, I did like the cumulative effect of the book--it has an air of optimism and goodness, which is rare in something that reads so hard-boiled.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews