Santiago, a review

When I decided to start this book review blog, there were two titles I knew immediately that I wanted to review. The Redemption of Althalus was one, and Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future was the other. I've owned multiple copies of Santiago because I keep loaning it to people, similar to how an evangelist hands out Bible tracks. They almost never make it back to me, and so I buy a copy every time I find one. As a regular deep-diver of used book stores, I occasionally turn up a copy and squeal with joy every time. Sometimes I have two copies at a time, which is great for my book evangelism scheme.

I have managed to convince at least three people to read Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future, and so far none of them have complained. It's a little hard to explain how resoundingly good it is, but I'll try. If you are interested in a book that can create reader loyalty decades later, keep reading.

Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future by Mike Resnick was first printed in March of 1986. It was nominated for a Locus Award in 1987, but lost out to Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. If you look up the nominee list for 1987, it's practically a who's who of science fiction greats. Also on the nominee list was The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Foundations and Earth by Isaac Asimov, as well as books by Lois McMaster Bujold, Anne McCaffrey and Arthur C. Clarke.

Mike Resnick, though I never see his name on suggested reading, is no slouch either. He's got a list of awards and award nominees longer than my arm and has published in the neighborhood of 80 books and over 280 short stories. He also is a current editor and contributor to Galaxy's Edge magazine, which publishes sci-fi short stories. Needless to say, he's earned his stripes in the publishing world, and fully deserves to be on any sci-fi reader's who's who list!

Okay, but enough about him...let's get to the book!

Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future is a space western. If you're not familiar, this is a somewhat niche genre, but it is a great one. You might have watched some space westerns like Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, or Trigun. If you think those shows were awesome, then space western might be your new favorite genre. It falls under the umbrella of science fiction, it includes a lot of space travel, new worlds, and advanced technology, often in the form of handguns strapped to a muscular thigh. Where space westerns differ from mainstream sci-fi (if such a thing as "mainstream sci-fi" exists) is in the details and the themes.

Space westerns feature new worlds in frontier stages. They are often populated by characters that would be at home in a Wild West saloon or a pioneer romance novel, only they are fighting the terraforming of a distant planet rather than ole' Mother Earth. Inside their log cabins are nuclear generators and laser pistols. There aren't horses (usually), but sometimes there are alien quadruped species that have been tamed for riding. Even the space-bound characters of a space western are often depicted like a lone cowboy out on the range. Instead of beans and chili over a campfire, they gather in cold automated kitchens and instead of native companions or friendly horses, they might have an on-ship android companion or even the ship itself.

Santiago falls neatly in the space western genre both in theme and the particulars. Part of the in-story mythology is a travelling poet named Black Orpheus who has made it his life calling to meet as many interesting people as possible in the Inner Frontier. The beginning of every chapter, and the introduction of every character starts with how and when they met Black Orpheus, and the verse the poet wrote about them. No one is anyone on the Inner Frontier until they've been written up in Black Orpheus's ballad.

The main character of Santiago is no different. Sebastian Nightingale Cain is a bounty hunter who was dubbed "The Songbird" by Black Orpheus, much to his chagrin, because of his middle name. He spends a lot of the book regretting ever telling Black Orpheus about his middle name, and just as much time asking everyone to stop calling him "Songbird." Cain is a romantic figure, though there are no romantic plotlines in the whole of the book. He was a soldier in a couple of revolutions as a young man before deciding there are no really good men. Then he took his fighting skills to the Inner Frontier and began hunting down criminals for the Democracy. He turned out to be pretty good at it.

Santiago is more of a myth than a man. He is wanted for numerous crimes, and his bounty his the highest of any criminal. He's been on the wanted list for decades, and no one knows more about him than rumors. He's attributed with a slew of crimes of different kinds from plain murder to holding up a navy ship and stealing solid gold bricks, all still unaccounted for. Killing Santiago is the highest goal of any bounty hunter, though it's a fool's errand. He's never been caught, and most believe he never will be.

The story begins with Sebastian Cain getting his first real clue about Santiago. He decides to follow it, and see if he can finally kill the greatest criminal the Democracy has ever known. And why? Cain doesn't want fame, he can't stand the notoriety he already has from his name in Black Orpheus's ballad. Cane doesn't want the money, he's already a successful bounty hunter, with no major vices to demand more of the money he already has. Throughout the book, Cain's desire is simply to do something that finally matters. He's spent his life trying to do something meaningful, only to find the wanted boards full of a never-ending supply of new criminals. But killing the galaxy's most dangerous criminal? That would finally mean something.

Along the way, you get to meet a wild range of characters, all with colorful names and interesting stories, from ManMountain Bates and Terwilliger Halfpenny to the Virgin Queen and the Jolly Swagman. You meet other bounty hunters like Father William and the Angel, and learn the rules of etiquette for bounty hunters in the Inner Frontier, often enforced with violent action. You meet strange creatures like Sitting Bull, who isn't anatomically able to sit, and Schussler the Cyborg, who would really rather by dead.

I remember the first time I read Santiago, I was struck by how romantic the story is. There are no tender kisses, and no one falls in love. That's not what I mean. It is romantic in the way that moonlight on snow is romantic, or sunlight on ocean water. It is romantic in its scheme, and for me at least, the story lived in my heart long after I closed the book. One of my favorite type of characters is also one that often isn't done well. I love a good, moral main character, whose conflict is trying to live a good, moral life in a difficult world. Sebastian Cain certainly meets that criteria. He doesn't view himself in any romantic terms, and wouldn't claim to be a good man. However, his is a moral character trying to live honorably in a galaxy determined to treat morality as synonymous with foolishness. At every turn, he encounters characters who have long-since sold their souls to whatever devil tempted them. Still, to the last page, he holds to a higher code. For me, Mike Resnick deserved the Locus Award for writing Sebastian Cain's dilemma alone. Some part of me wishes I could sit on the veranda with Cain for an afternoon and hear stories about his revolutionary days. It's the kind of writing you carry around for years after, and that's good writing, if you ask me.

Also, there is a bit of a twist ending, that I still love just as much now as I did the first time I read it. I won't spoil it though. If you want to know the twist ending, you'll just have to read it yourself!

As always, I try to give some content warnings. This one is definitely not suitable for children, or probably even teens. It is gritty, and in places, a bit gruesome. There is some language, though it is definitely not gratuitous. There is no sex on the page, but there are definite references to sexual activity, and the morality of the most of the characters involved is highly questionable. There are drug references, and a slew of drinking references. The violence is there, as can be expected of a story about bounty hunters. Most of it was depicted rather straightforward, without any gory details. There is one scene that was a bit graphic for my taste. If you are really sensitive to deaths on the page, this might not be a good fit for you. If you don't bat an eye at a little spine-cracking, you'll probably have no issue here. Honestly, you'll see and hear much worse on TV than you'll encounter in this book on all content categories.

It became really apparent to me that I originally found this book before Google while writing this post. Any book I read now, I look up to see if there are sequels. Evidently, I never did that with Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future because I only learned that there is a sequel today. Now I'll have to hunt down a copy of The Return of Santiago! Let me know if you would like me to read and review that book also!

As always, my copy of Santiago will be available on my store here!

Here are some other links to buy the book. The list includes Amazon, because this one is still in print!

Amazon

Thriftbooks

BetterWorldBooks

Ebay