Just About Half of the Callahan Saga

I first encountered Spider Robinson in the pages of Analog, when I purchased it from a local newsstand (one that I had to walk about 4 miles to get to, ah, the "good old" days!). So I've been reading the Callahan tales since the initial appearance of The Guy With the Eyes. I haven't read all of the books, there's a few of the later novels that I have bought and not gotten to. This re-read is part an encounter with old, beloved friends and part getting me up to speed so that I finish all the books.

Overall, from the few novels that I have read, I prefer Callahan (or Lady Sally or Mary's Place) as a series of shorter works than novels. The impact has usually been greater and I still think that Spider Robinson is weaker as a novel writer than a writer of shorter works. I've read a number of his other novels, only the Stardance sequence has been a set that I've wanted to re-visit (other than the Callahan tales).

The Callahan tales are wonderful. I urge you to seek them out, at least the first three (all collections, sometimes available in an omnibus). Imagine a bar where time travelers, aliens, mutant dogs, punsters, tellers of tall tales and more can all gather and are freely accepted. Imagine a place that actually cares about their regulars (and strangers) and tries to help those who need it. Good stuff, those tales, I actually wept the first time I read The Mick of Time and XXXXXXXXX (censored for those who haven't read it) happened. Seek them out. Pain shared is pain lessened.

Off the Wall at Callahan's: This one is actually not a Callahan novel or collection, per se. It is a collection of sayings, filk songs, tall tales and the like that have appeared in the various stories and novels. Not recommended until you have read some of the other collections or novels.

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon: The book contains Introduction (Ben Bova); The Guy With the Eyes; The Time-Traveler; The Centipede's Dilemma; Two Heads Are Better Than One; The Law of Conversation of Pain; Just Desserts; "A Voice Is Heard in Ramah..."; Unnatural Causes; The Wonderful Conspiracy. Counts as ten contributions to the 2005 Short Story Project.

Of these, The Time-Traveler and "A Voice Is Heard in Ramah..." have the most impact. Interestingly, according to Spider Robinson's notes, The Time-Traveler resulted in one subscriber threatening to stop getting Analog because it "wasn't science fiction". Ben Bova apparently replied and nothing was heard back, so I guess he or she still subscribed!

Time Travelers Strictly Cash: Contains a mixture of Callahan tales and independents. It seems that Spider Robinson promised a second collection, but when the book came due, he didn't quite have a second collection's worth of stories. So he filled it up with a mixed bag of other items. The non-Callahn material is made up of Soul Search (short story, has some interesting ideas); Spider vs. the Hax of Sol III (his first book review column, a couple of books that have stood the test of time since it was published plus one author that sank from sight); God Is An Iron (a chapter from a non-Callahan novel that could stand on its own as a story); Rah Rah R.A.H.! (an essay about Robert A. Heinlein that I have used here in this blog to counter critics of the Grand Master); Local Champ (a fantasy tale, possibly his only contribution to that genre, and fairly weak); The Web of Sanity (a speech to a SF convention, marginal value); Serpent's Teeth (a tale of young society gone amok, also fairly weak). The Callahan tales in this collection are Fivesight; Dog Day Evening; Have You Heard the One; and Mirror/rorriM Off the Wall. Counts as twelve contributions to the 2005 Short Story Project.

These are all excellent tales. Dog Day Evening introduces my second favorite Callahan character and Have You Heard the One introduces my favorite (sadly non-recurring) character. Good stuff.

Callahan's Secret: Foreword; The Blacksmith's Tale; Pyotr's Story; Involuntary Man's Laughter; The Mick of Time. Counts as four contributions to the 2005 Short Story Project.

A very good quartet of tales, especially, I think Involuntary Man's Laughter and The Mick of Time. Can such a place as Callahan's exist in our increasingly weird and fractionalized work? One hopes so!

For a while, with The Mick of Time, it appeared that we saw the end of the Callahan stories. That hasn't turned out to be true, luckily. The series was expanded to include the Lady Sally tales and the tales of Mary's Place. I'll start working on them and let you know what I think as I either read or re-read the books.

Callahan's Lady: Contains A Very Very Very Fine House; Revolver; The Paranoid; Dollars to Donuts. Counts as four entries in the 2005 Short Story Project.

Callahan's Lady is the first of two books set in the Lady Sally sequence, a kind of spin-off of the Callahan's series. Instead of a bar, we have a house of "ill repute". As with the bar in Callahan's, the House is not what you'd expect, the "artists" are treated decently, as are the "clients" (unless they misbehave). Some characters from the Callahan sequence show up in these stories such as Eddie (the piano player) and Ralph (the talking German Shepherd). There are some amusing nods to Heinlein here, especially with the fourth tale (Dollars to Donuts). However, overall, I haven't found the Lady Sally stories as appealing as the Callahan stories. Too strange a setting? Characters not as sympathetic? I'm not sure. This book was a series of interconnected long stories, the next in the sequence (Lady Slings the Booze) appears to be a novel. So I'll reserve final judgment until I see how the sequence develops. After that will come the Mary's Place sequence to wrap up this little corner of the universe (for now).

Lady Slings the Booze: The second book that takes place at (and around) Lady Sally's place. A tad better than the first in that the first of two tales is long enough to do a better job of developing a major new character. Hints are dropped of further tales in the sequence.