The Draco Tavern

This book is comprised of connected short stories written from 1977 to 2006. They are presented here ordered by internal chronology, creating a sort of episodic novel. Most of the individual stories are quite short; some are only a few pages.. The main character is Rick Schumann, owner and bartender of the the Draco Tavern, Earth's only multispecies bar, serving the many strange aliens who come to Earth on slower-than-light trading ships. With exception of the story "Folk Tale,"you're not going to get much action and adventure here; many of the stories never leave the confines of the bar, and some are basically just conversations. Despite their sedentary nature, however, these stories are a lot of fun. Using the spaceport bar setup as a way to bring a wide variety of aliens into contact with (almost) present-day humans in a hard science fiction setting, Niven then precedes to examine all sorts of interesting topics with it, usually through the device of discussions in the Tavern. The tone varies from story to story, from the lighthearted ("Playhouse," "The Heights") to the wondrous ("The Convergence of the Old Mind" ) to the horrifying ("Assimilating Our Culture, That's What they're Doing!"). The topics Niven examines likewise varies widely, ranging from religion to artificial intelligence to cosmogony to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Lots of stuff to think about here. I recommend The Draco Tavern very highly for anyone who likes Niven's style, and for anyone interested in idea-focused science fiction. It's an odd book, but a very rewarding one.

It is about time that someone gathered all of Nivens Draco Tavern tales into one compendium. These 27 short stories, written over the past 30 years, form a thought provoking exploration of ideas by Niven--using science fiction to comment on subjects such as technology, anthropology and the human condition. The author's wry humor is not absent here, and helps tell these stories that read as the journal of Rick Schumann, proprietor of the interspecies watering hole known as the Draco Tavern. If you enjoy the stories of Spider Robinson and his Callahan's Saloon universe, you probably will enjoy this collection. The humor is not as slapstick, and these stories are more thought provoking, both being very enjoyable reads.

Although I have read and enjoyed most of his novels (in particular his Barnes/Pournell collaborations), Niven really shines with the short story. Often a neglected form in the novel-heavy world of commercial publishing, the short story has always been a great showcase for ideas that may or may not pan out into novels, but are singular gems in themselves. These tales read as though they were written during the golden age of sf. The science is solid, and the characterization equally so. Few writers few posses such a powerful sense of wonder as the great Larry Niven. Highly recommended.

_________________________________________________________________ These stories date from 1977 to 2006, and feature the very long-lived Chirpsithra, the masters of the galaxy's red-dwarf planets, and the owner-operators of the great interstellar liners that occasionally stop at Earth. The chirps mingle with the locals, and an amazing variety of other star-travelers, at the fabled Draco Tavern near their shuttle landing-ground at Mt. Forel, Siberia. So pull up a really high barstool, so you can look the eleven-foot tall chirps in the eye, and order a tee tee hatch nex ool-compatible cocktail from the Draco's amazingly versatile barkeep.... Boy, are the Draco stories good. Age shall not wither, nor custom stale, the best of these remarkable vignettes: "The Green Marauder," "War Movie," "Limits." They might well become his literary immortality. And some of the newer ones might well join the classics. The collection spans 1977 to 2006, including one or two first published here. There are minor retcons and continuity fixes, which help the flow. Check it out. Happy reading-- Peter D. Tillman

This collection of tales included some that were new to me, and provided me with a single place to go for that Draco Tavern goodness. In this fictional universe, Earth was visited by aliens years ago. As a minor planet, we only get a few visits a year, but the passengers have to have somewhere to go. They dock at Pluto, and the place to go there is The Draco Tavern. Owned and run by a man who got rich with a casual remark by an alien, the Tavern is a place where people (those who can pass the screening and get to Pluto) can meet aliens. These stories are hard science fiction, concentrating on science that is more or less as known today. Nevertheless, there is a reality to the characters, and most of the plots are driven by the differences between cultures. This gives the stories an appeal to those that don't like 'straight' science fiction. I like Larry Niven because he brings a humanity and richness to his stories without leaving behind the good old science fiction.