Second Round: A Return to the Ur-Bar

Ur-Bar #2

by Patricia Bray (Editor), Joshua Palmatier (Editor), Garth Nix

For thousands of years the immortal Gilgamesh has presided over the legendary Ur-Bar, witnessing history unfold from within its walls. Some days it is a rural tavern, others a fashionable wine shop. It may appear as a hidden speakeasy or take on the form of your neighborhood local. For most patrons it is simply a place to quench their thirst, but for a rare few the Ur-Bar is where they will meet their destiny.

Join R.K. Nickel, Rachel Atwood, Kari Sperring, Jean Marie Ward, Gini Koch, Jacey Bedford, William Leisner, Garth Nix, Diana Pharaoh Francis, David Keener, Mike Marcus, Kristine Smith, Aaron M. Roth, and Juliet E. McKenna as they recount all new tales from the Ur-Bar. From humor to horror, from the Roman Empire to Martian Colonies, there’s something to please everyone. Just remember to beware when the mysterious bartender offers you the house special …

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fantasy

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2018

About the author

Patricia Bray is the author of a dozen novels, including Devlin’s Luck, which won the 2003 Compton Crook Award for the best first novel in the field of science fiction or fantasy. A multi-genre author whose career spans both epic fantasy and Regency romance, her books have been translated into Russian, German, Portuguese and Hebrew. Patricia Bray has also spent time on the editorial side of the business, as the co-editor of After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar (DAW, March 2011), The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity (DAW, March 2012), and Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs Aliens (ZNB, June 2014).

Patricia lives in a New England college town, where she combines her writing with a full-time career as a Systems Analyst, ensuring that she is never more than a few feet away from a keyboard.

Reviews

[Pers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly excellent anthology with some terrific takes on Gilgamesh and his time and space-travelling Bar...

Particular faves include: Wanderlust - Juliet E McKenna (set on Mars in the future!); Garth Nix - Welcome to the Jungle Bar (set in Vietnam during the War); Make Me Immortal with a Kiss (set on the eve of the Battle of the Somme - made me bawl); Honorbound - RK Nikel (set during the tail end of the Gallic War); The Wizard King - Kari Sperring (feat Owain Glyndŵr); A Lawman, an Outlaw and a Gambler Walk into a Bar - Gini Koch (set in the 'Wild West'); and The Whispering Voice - David Keener (feat an ordinary mom taking on 2 home invaders with the aid of a minor god).

[Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this collection, but it was nowhere neat as polished or engaging as the first. A couple of mediocre stories and one that was truly bad (it read as if it had been dashed off the night before deadline) brought down the average score. The whole book also would have benefited if the publishing house had employed an editor and a copy editor.

Fortunately, a couple of brilliant tales stopped me writing a negative review.

Despite the uneven writing, I’d recommend this on the basis of nostalgia and the brilliant couple. If you’re not already a fan, however, I say borrow it from the library ... after giving the first collection a go.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is every bit as good as the first one. It is rare for an anthology to not have at least one story that isn't exactly a great tale, but there is not a single tale in this book that is not excellent.
The stories are individual vignettes of the Ur-Bar which is bound by neither time nor space, but overseen by Gilgamesh.
I look forward to future volumes full of stories about this place.

[Trish Graboske · Rating 3 out of 5]

A got this because a friend of mine wrote one of the stories. I then found that the rest of the book was good, too!

[Mark Slauter · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to love about the concept of this collection of short stories: Gilgamesh is tied to a time-traveling bar as its bartender. The authors got creative!