This is one of my favorite books of all time. After reading it I got hooked on Mike Resnick, even though (I.M.H.O.) none of his other books quite measures up to Santiago. It’s a space opera. In the far future, the Democracy runs the galaxy. It’s the government of Earth morphed several times as it has maintained control over most of known space and many alien races. It’s basically a huge bureaucracy, and for the most part it’s a benign, but rigid government. But it’s huge and it doesn’t really adjust well to individuals.
On the edges of their control, on the Outer Rim and Inner Frontier of the galaxy, the planets are somewhat like the wild west. Nominally subject to the Democracy, these planets are home to outlaws and fabulous characters. And this is where the story starts. Sebastian Nightingale Cain, otherwise known as The Songbird
is a bounty hunter. The outlaw with the biggest price on his head is Santiago. Santiago’s vast criminal enterprise rakes in huge amounts of money, but insulates its leader very well. No one even knows where he lives.
But the Songbird gets a bread crumb of information, and decides to follow it to its source to collect the bounty. Oddly enough, there’s not a lot of action in the book. BIts and pieces, though when it happens it’s fun. Santiago is about the characters. Think of Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill or Annie Oakley. All the characters are larger than life. Comparatively speaking, the characters in another Campbell hero tale, Star Wars are boring.
Our cast
- Sebastian Nightingale Cain,
The Songbird
- He’s a former soldier who has killed thousands. Now he kills for money, but he really only goes after people he feels are truly criminals.
The Angel
- Another bounty hunter, the Angel is the best. No one comes close to his record of bringing in criminals. But he’s recently moved in from the Outer Rim to the Inner Frontier in search of Santiago. Essentially he starts a rush among the trade to really get Santiago.
- Virtue MacKenzie,
The Virgin Queen
- She’s a drinking swearing sleeping around reporter. She wants to interview Santiago, to be the first to ever report on him. It’s her ticket to fame and fortune.
The Jolly Swagman
- He runs his own frontier world, which he finances mostly by dealing in stolen goods. Particularly art. He wants to get Santiago because of all the loot.
- Father William
- Father William is an itinerant revivalist preacher, wandering the worlds of the Inner Frontier preaching hellfire and redemption from tents and temporary grounds. And killing wanted criminal along the way.
Black Orpheus
- Black Orpheus wanders the frontier, assembling a massive poem about the characters and people he meets along the way. Simple poetry really, but you measure your worth on the frontier by how many stanzas are devoted to you.
It’s a fast, but fun read. If there’s any moral to the story, it’s that even a benign government needs to be kept in check if it gets too large. Though it isn’t a lesson so much a theme that runs throughout the characters’ stories. And I will reveal one spoiler… someone finds Santiago. But which bounty hunter does? And does the bounty hunter turn him in for the money, or does Santiago get the best of him? Read to find out.
Author: Mike Resnick
Title: Santiago: a myth of the far future
Imprint / publisher: Tor
Format: Mass market paperback
Publication date: March 1986
Length: 376 p.
ISBN-10: 0-812-55112-5
