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The Draco Tavern Larry Niven 9780765347718 Books

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The Draco Tavern Larry Niven 9780765347718 Books

When I first started reading this anthology I commented that it reminded me of the book Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke. Both are anthologies set as stories set in bars (in Clarke's case an English pub, in Niven's an interstellar watering hole). The stories feature the bars owner and a changing cast of alien visitors to earth. The stories were all fun and well written and I enjoyed the book from beginning to end.


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The Draco Tavern Larry Niven 9780765347718 Books Reviews

I've been critical of Niven in my reviews of his most recent works. While some of his earlier works are among the very best science fiction, his more recent novels have been disappointing. With the publication of his Draco Tavern short stories, there's a return to his earlier form. Partly because he is writing to his strengths.

These stories span the period 1977-2006. Some of the older stories seem to have been revised a bit for this collection. But the stories illustrate what Niven has always done best examine strange ideas. Not his limited skills at characterization, or his plotting. He's best at dreaming up ideas and exploring their implications. And his aliens have always been aliens.

Rick Schumann owns the Draco Tavern, and these are his stories. The owner-bartender is the narrative voice, and the adventures mostly, but not exclusively, happen to him. The stories are fairly short - some are very short - and involve the interaction of aliens with humans and with each other. Niven's subjects range from the existence of God to the perils of advanced computing. The last half of the collection focuses on various aspects of terrorism. I have the impression that some of them may have been revised to alter their focus. The refocus is mostly successful. But I wonder why Niven chose to be topical.

Reviewers should keep in mind this is a collection of loosely linked short stories. They were written over a period of nearly thirty years. So they offer only limited continuity, and there are some inconsistencies. But they do not seriously detract. The stories are fun, thought-provoking and offer glimpses of Larry Niven's best writing. Recommended.
These are short stories set in the near future, mostly consisting of stories told in "The Draco Tavern" which is a bar on Earth built to serve alien races. Similar to the one in "Star Wars" or the one Spider Robinson used to write about. The basic premise is that modern-day Earth is discovered and then periodically visited by interstellar space liners run by a powerful but non-aggressive race, and also containing all manner of other races as passengers. Kind of interesting, and not entirely implausible if you think about it.

Some of these stories are Niven at his best, because the stories are so short that they do not at all require much in the way of character development. Instead, some of these stories center around one or more quite imaginative ideas and for that reason are often startling and entertaining. Once the stories started to be about the Draco Tavern and its bartender, and not the aliens themselves and their interaction with humans, I thought that the stories went downhill. I did not at all care for about the last third or so of the collection.

Still, this is a decent collection of short stories representing Larry Niven at or near his best. Niven afficianados will like this collection.
early niven was incomparable, lots of hard science, great returning characters, close knit story connections. late niven? . fell into the bradbury, clarke category. ie. science fiction for the masses. This one? somewhere in the middle, interesting characters but no room in a short story to develop with a whole background. background was the thing that made larry the greatest at one time.
This collection of 27 short stories by Larry Niven is perfect to tuck in the bottom of your computer bag and read while you are waiting for something else to happen. Because the stories are short, straightforward and set in a comfortable and familiar--for Niven fans--setting, you can pop in and out of the book without effort or irritation. For this kind of readability it is nostalgically similar to Isaac Asimov's collections, such as 50 Short Science Fiction Tales and 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories.

Enough about the format--the content is good, too. A series of interesting bar discussions happen in the Draco Tavern. Because the bar is next to Earth's one alien spaceport, it is constantly full of off-planet visitors, consuming exotic drinks and puzzling over the oddities of human culture. Bartender Rick Schumann offers helpful explanations, mediates disputes and cashes in on the occasional million-dollar idea. Readers profit as well, from Larry Niven's fascinating walk-on cast of alien species and his inexhaustible supply of "big ideas."

This book was a 2008 Christmas present from my 13 year-old daughter, Katie, who spent a week's allowance on it for me. It made my Christmas day, as I was able to pop in and out of it while opening presents, cooking Christmas dinner and juggling friendly interruptions from family and friends. Thanks, Katie--a great choice!
When I first started reading this anthology I commented that it reminded me of the book Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke. Both are anthologies set as stories set in bars (in Clarke's case an English pub, in Niven's an interstellar watering hole). The stories feature the bars owner and a changing cast of alien visitors to earth. The stories were all fun and well written and I enjoyed the book from beginning to end.