Against All Odds by Dan L. Hollifield
Posted: February 24, 2015, 01:42:53 AM
Here we have another example of a framing story: a tale of danger and cleverness delivered within the setting of the most famous bar in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Nothing too serious here; it starts with a patron named Septodon delivering an insult to one of the favorite regulars, Kazsh-ak Teir. Kazsh-ak's response is the real story, and he tells of an incident early in his career. A lot of it is humorous, but I especially liked the tactical and technical details. Much of the humor comes from Kazsh-ak's dialog with his ship's AI. There are also some stirring speeches exchanged between him and the beleagured colonists of his species. The scope of the setting (both within the bar itself and within Kazsh-ak's story) is impressive. The ending was unexpected and gave me a good laugh.
If I were to find fault with this story, I'd say that it seemed as though everything happened too easily, both with the details of Kazsh-ak's experience, and with Septodon's change of attitude.
This one's on the house, but if you like the Mare Inebrium universe (and I don't know how you couldn't) Dan has a whole book full of new ones out, all his own.
Nothing too serious here; it starts with a patron named Septodon delivering an insult to one of the favorite regulars, Kazsh-ak Teir. Kazsh-ak's response is the real story, and he tells of an incident early in his career. A lot of it is humorous, but I especially liked the tactical and technical details. Much of the humor comes from Kazsh-ak's dialog with his ship's AI. There are also some stirring speeches exchanged between him and the beleagured colonists of his species. The scope of the setting (both within the bar itself and within Kazsh-ak's story) is impressive. The ending was unexpected and gave me a good laugh.
If I were to find fault with this story, I'd say that it seemed as though everything happened too easily, both with the details of Kazsh-ak's experience, and with Septodon's change of attitude.
This one's on the house, but if you like the Mare Inebrium universe (and I don't know how you couldn't) Dan has a whole book full of new ones out, all his own.