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Title: The Return of Santiago by Mike Resnick ISBN: 0-7653-4146-8 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 06 April, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Pretty flat
Comment: I loved the original and count it as one of my favorite books (and Resnick as one of my favorite writers). This sequel falls flat and the characters are relatively forgetable. I liked the ending but the trip there was tedious and it seemed like he just wanted to introduce a whole lot of cool characters and then kill them off before they did anything interesting. If you are a fan of Santiago, read the sequel but don't expect too much.
Rating: 3
Summary: Who is Santiago?!?
Comment: Following up one of the best sci-fi adventure novels ever written, especially after such a lengthy absence, shows a lot of courage on Mike Resnick's part. Lucas didn't learn his lesson with Star Wars, and I was afraid that Mike might drop a bomb with the Return of Santiago. Thankfully he didn't. That isn't to say that the book doesn't have its problems, especially in comparison to the first novel, but at least it is a decent read.
The thing I liked the most about the book is that it is not what I expected it to be. What I expected was the further adventures of Santiago and Moonripple (and secretly, I still wish Return WAS that story as I thought Moonripple was fascinating). I truly expected the sequel to pick up right where the first book left off. Instead, Resnick shoots us into the future a hundred years after Santiago's death and begins his story in the heart of the Democracy with a small time crook named Danny Briggs. Danny is hiding from the police in the house of a family off on vacation when he finds the original manuscript of Black Orpheus, the poet of the Inner Frontier. In poring over the poem, he realizes that the part of Santiago had been played by more than one person and, ironically, the king of the outlaws had really been a champion of the rights of the people against the Democracy. In a moment of self revelation, Danny decides to move to the inner frontier, change his name to Dante and continue Orpheus' saga. To write such a poem, however, he needs a central figure, and only one will do--Santiago. Since one does not exist at the time, Danny and his rapidly growing circle of new companions on the Frontier decide to find and recruit one. The universe may need a man like Santiago, but how do you go about recreating a myth for modern times. Dante and his friends soon find it isn't as easy as it seems. Great spin on an interesting concept and a good sci-fi read.
I do have some reservations about the work, though. No matter how bad you want it to be, it isn't the original by a long shot. The pacing isn't as crisp, the story isn't as tight and the writing style just doesn't have the edge the first book possessed. The characters, while still colorful with interesting names, aren't nearly as memorable as the ones in the first work (and many are downright forgettable). The story is clever, but absent of surprise and if you didn't see the ending coming a mile away, well, I just don't see how you could miss it. There is just something missing here that was present in the original work and I'm not sure what it is. Void of the snappy patter and the absorbing moments and the breakneck plot pace, this book just seemed much more tame. There is also, and this annoyed me to no end, a moral to the story which Resnick pounds pretty heavily throughout the book. There is a definite preachy quality about good men standing up and being counted...if not you, whom...if not now, when...the ultimate evil is when good men stand by and do nothing...etc...etc. A little too much of the real world and the current global political situation seeps into this, what is supposed to be, fantasy work. The original book had an adventuresome Robin Hood morality to it that worked very well without beating you over the head with anything. Many times in some of the heavier handed passages, I saw the author's views intruding negatively into this work. Mike could have been a bit more subtle here.
Anyway, this is a decent book. It isn't great as some claim, and it isn't bad like some feared. It is a decent sequel as sequels go, and unlike the original work, this one definitely leaves the door open for a sequel of its own.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Great Read
Comment: If you're not familiar with Mike Resnick's work, Santiago, pick it up and read it before reading this one. Even without reading the first book, this book is a lot of fun. Mike's storytelling is excellent, but it has gotten better over the years and I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan or who wants to read something entertaining.
It's been over a hundred years since the last Santiago surfaced and Danny Briggs, aka Dante Alighieri, discovers Black Orpheus's original poems in a house he broke into. This sets him on a quest of bringing back Santiago, the famed King of Outlaws who worked towards righting injustices.
Along the way, Dante meets people on the frontier such as the Virgil Soaring Hawk, Tyrannosaurus Barnes, the One Armed Bandit, Waltzin' Matilda. Moby Dick, and a host of other unforgetable characters. His search for Santiago takes him up against some of the baddest aliens in the galaxy.
If you're looking for sheer fun, this is the book!
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Title: Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future by Mike Resnick ISBN: 0812522567 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 06 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Outpost by Mike Resnick ISBN: 0312875770 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Branch by Mike Resnick ISBN: 1587151634 Publisher: Wildside Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Birthright: The Book of Man by Michael D. Resnick, Mike Resnick ISBN: 1570900442 Publisher: Farthest Star Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: No Phule Like an Old Phule by Robert Asprin, Peter J. Heck ISBN: 0441011527 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 30 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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