Cowboy Feng's

I forget exactly where I ran across the name Steven Brust. But I remember thinking it was a positive mention. So when the astounding library here in town had Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille with the new books (it was published in 1990...) I picked it up.

Brust has a very pleasant narrative style that made reading through Cowboy Feng's relatively simple. Part conversation, part detective noir and maybe a touch of Spider Robinson. The book is broken up into the story itself and a series of Intermezzo chapters that delve a little deeper into the main characters and their motivations. The story follows Cowboy Feng's Bar and Grille as it travels through space and time courtesy of the most recent nuclear strike. Ostensibly a mystery the deeper story revolves around people and their ideals and prejudices. Considering the timing of the book, I suspect it's a fantasy/sci-fi parable about AIDS and the way it was viewed at the time (and to some extent still today). Fortunately the material isn't terribly preachy and the story is interesting enough that it's pretty easy to read in a couple sittings. I should note that there is quite a bit of talk about music throughout the book as several of the main characters comprise an Irish/blues/what have you band. Each chapter starts with a bit of lyric from an Irish folk song as well. It was a nice touch. But if you're not familiar with music to some extent, some of the passages will just blow right past you. The only truly odd thing about the book is the cover art. I was reading the trade paperback and the cover does a delightful job of portraying some other novel entirely... So strange.

I also feel the need at this point to state that the trade paperback is probably the best form of book in existence. Large enough to get a grip on and soft enough to be a real pleasure to read. So there you go.