Tavern Tales

by Kerry L. Hughes (Editor), Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Editor), Dean Wesley Smith (Editor)

Think you know a tavern tale when you hear one? Think again. The seventeen stories in this volume run the gamut of genre and mood. Bars filled with glitter and ghosts stand alongside taverns filled with orcs and adventurers. Exclusive members-only drinks served at the end of the universe war with coffee bars with strange employee policies in the Pacific Northwest. Dive bars, afterlife bars, gay bars-you name it, and you'll find it in Tavern Tales. So, grab a drink and get ready for one of the most entertaining Fiction River volumes yet. ..".remarkable tales...

Table of Contents
Quest for Beer" by Stefon Mears
"Closing the Big Bang" by Michele Laframboise
"Hero #8" by Ron Collins
"Girls That Glitter" by Dayle A. Dermatis
"The Kids Keep Coming" by David H. Hendrickson
"One Last Round at Cozy's Tavern" by Lisa Silverthorne
"Wider Horizons" by Diana Benedict
"Grounds for Dismissal" by Anthea Sharp
"The Next Dance" by Jamie Ferguson
"Schrodinger's Bar" by Kim May
"The Gods Are Out Inn" by M. L. Buchman
"The First Ingredient" by Eric Kent Edstrom
"The Legend of Long-Bow and Short-Staff" by Brenda Carre
"Freedom Unbound" by Dory Crowe
"Killing Spree" by Brigid Collins
"The Hot Eagle Roadhouse" by Chuck Heintzelman
"Death at the Pines" by Annie Reed

Genres: Short Stories

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2017

Reviews

[FW · Rating 3 out of 5]

The First Ingredient by Eric Kent Edstrom is an absolute gem - 5 of 5 stars.

[Mervi · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of these 18 stories happen, mostly, in taverns or bars. Some stories are fun, others quite serious. This time I liked the funny stories more. Some of the stories are fantasy, some science fiction, and some contemporary or set in the past without any SFF elements, so this collection has a wide variety of genres.

"Quest for Beer" by Stefon Mears: As we roleplayers know, many quests and adventures start in taverns. Mysterious men and women, orphans with lockets, people talking in riddles… Tonight, Velec wants to avoid them all and just enjoy one night of peace and quiet and get laid. He’s trying to keep both himself and his three adventuring companions out of trouble. This was a great first story.

"Closing the Big Bang" by Michele Laframboise: The Big Bang is the most lavish tavern in existence. It can travel to any place in the galaxy. But some people just aren’t happy with the rich, powerful, and ruthless people who gather in it.

"Hero #8" by Ron Collins: McCaffrey’s is a firefighters’ bar. The main character is a firefighter but also a former soldier. When a sniper starts taking out people in front of the tavern, he springs into action, hoping that he can save people.

"Girls That Glitter" by Dayle A. Dermatis: The Glitter Room is a famous and popular bar for music and drag queens. The main character has just come out of rehab and she was clinically dead for a few minutes. Thanks to that, she can now see spirits. And it’s a good thing, too, because only she can help the owner of the Glitter Room.

"The Kids Keep Coming" by David H. Hendrickson: The nameless bar is only for black teenagers who have very specific past. The nameless barkeep is fated to greet them.

"One Last Round at Cozy's Tavern" by Lisa Silverthorne: Sam is a police detective who used to be good but after years in the service and a divorce has become a drunk. His captain has given him one last job to get his head together: find the captain’s missing dad. Sam starts at Cozy’s Irish Tavern where he meets the strangest barkeep and piano player ever.

"Wider Horizons" by Diana Benedict: Emilio has just turned 18 and he wants to go to the local disco gay bar for the first time. Kelly is his best friend, so she goes with him even though she’s unhappy about the bar and about Emilio being gay. Will that change him and their friendship?

"Grounds for Dismissal" by Anthea Sharp: Julie Anne Lamont works as a barista at Caffe Profondo. She considers it just a job, but her employers take coffee and customer service far more seriously.

"The Next Dance" by Jamie Ferguson: Nelle works in a saloon. She gets men, mostly miners, to dance with her and buy drinks, but nothing more. The girls drink only sugar water. Then she starts to talk with one of the regular gamblers.

"Schrodinger's Bar" by Kim May: Myla (and her semi-wild jungle cat Issan) are from the planet Rannia. She’s now a refugee on Jovian Station and hasn’t eaten in a week. But then the owner of Schrodinger’s Bar gives her an opportunity.

"The Gods Are Out Inn" by M. L. Buchman: In the Gods Are Out Inn, the deities, witches, and other immortals can’t hear the prayers and pleadings of the mortals, so more and more of them are coming in. But the goddess Freya has a problem.

"The First Ingredient" by Eric Kent Edstrom: Tyler is moderately successful sales man. Recently he realized that he needs a wife and he approaches dating as aggressively as sales. Somehow, that doesn’t seem to work and he wanders into Hamilton’s barn bar. There he meets another salesman.

"The Legend of Long-Bow and Short-Staff" by Brenda Carre: a ditty about the Hangover bar.

"Freedom Unbound" by Dory Crowe: Only 14, Clementine is an indentured servant at Franklin Turnpike Inn where a magistrate has come to judge cases. He brought the accused as well. While feeding the pigs, Clementine finds a young man at the stable. He’s trying to free his sister but needs help from Clementine.

"Killing Spree" by Brigid Collins: Spriegan has a dark past. She and her girlfriend came to the small town to start again. But now her girlfriend is dead and her past have come back to haunt her.

"The Hot Eagle Roadhouse" by Chuck Heintzelman: Jalinda Washington is a tall and strong black woman. She’s always felt out of place. But then she comes to the Roadhouse.

"Death at the Pines" by Annie Reed: The hostess of the Tavern in the Pines is found murdered. The tavern is part of a larger “divorce ranch” where women, and some men, stay so that they can get a quicker divorce. Deputy Cavanaugh is on the case.

Many of these stories are low-key character studies rather than high adventure. I liked most of them. “The Gods Are Out Inn”, “The Hot Eagle Roadhouse”, “Freedom Unbound”, and the first story are my favorites. However, in some of the stories, like the last one and “Hero #8” the tavern is only tangentially related to the story, could have been any place. "The Kids Keep Coming" is quite a moving piece but I suspect more so to USAians.

A nice collection of stories.

[Anne H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quickly drawn into, and became engrossed by, Tavern Tales, the Fiction River anthology. I began reading Michele Laframboise's "Closing the Big Bang", and found myself quickly turning the pages to find out what would happen next. The characters made me smile, want to know more about them, and made me keep reading. A superb tale.
Other notable tales were "Quest for Beer" by Stefon Mears and "Hero #8" by Ron Collins.
I recommend this anthology as a very satisfying way to enjoy great stories, which can be returned to again and again.

[David Macpherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love bar stories. I can spend all day reading John McNulty and Joseph Mitchell, so when this edition came, which promised nothing but Tavern Tales, I was excited. And here I am disappointed. Most of the stories were fine. THey were enjoyable and kept company with me. None of them were spectacularp. I think my problem is that none of the stories were about the bar itself or people who want to define themselves by the bar they drink at. I guess that is not what a tavern tale is, but that is the thing I like. The best story was about a coffee bar, that one was very clever. I have to take marks from it because it was a coffee bar and not a bar bar (as BIlly Collins would say). The problem I had with many of the stories is that some of them had the tavern pushed in to a tale that would been fine without the bar. Going to a bar is an important thing to many, to have treated as a plot device was a little disengenous. Still a good series. Maybe I got to find an anthology called Drinks at the Bar. Those are the stories for me.