The Callahan chronicals Book

I needed a break from a couple of tomes I'm reading & I've been wondering how the Callahan stories aged. The first are a product of the 1960s - 70s, but that's OK with me as I am too. Even better, Callahan's is located off 25A in Suffolk county, Long Island, NY, an area I grew up in, so I get the local references without his explanations. For instance, "King's Park" is mentioned. It's both an area & a mental hospital, but when someone in the area refers to it, it's generally the latter. It's somewhat notorious, so knowing the place & some inmates adds some depth.

This is a collection of the first 3 books: Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Time Travellers Strictly Cash, & Callahan's Secret. It starts off with 3 introductions that make it worth getting this edition. Robinson's first one was good, the original from the first book. The second by Bova was really interesting, a look into how a young writer made it into the pulps (Analog) late in their day. The third was Robinson's again & was interesting.

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon is excellent. I first read it at the perfect time in my early 20s & the short stories have a lot of heart, a 5 star read even though some aren't really SF. For instance, the first time traveler did so the hard way, one minute at a time in a cell. The point was great, though. Most do have some SF element, but it is used with great effect for the human story. The stories reflect the 1960s-70s, so some references might slip by younger readers. Still, it's a wonderful series of short stories. Highly recommended.

Time Travellers Strictly Cash are decent stories, but the puns that a were nice dressing in the first book took center stage in this one. I didn't care for it much nor were the stories as thoughtful. They reflected the mid 1970s into the 80s, I guess. It's worthy of 3 stars.

Callahan's Secret was first published in 1986 & I've never made it too far into this book. IMO, it's taking what was a fun idea (Callahan's saloon) too far. I think he wrote half a dozen other novels in the Callahan universe after this, but I've never had any interest in them. The magic of the friendly bar is gone. Even worse, Robinson lost his voice & emulates Heinlein's post-1970 style which I detest. (Robinson is a RAH fan boy. He polished & finished a couple of RAH's novels that were published posthumously. One of those was RAH's very first novel which he couldn't sell at the time, but is amazingly similar in style to his books from about 1980 on. They suck & prove that editors can be an author's best friend, IMO.) Anyway, I DNF'd it yet again, so give it 1 star.

The books average out to 3 stars, but I'll add a star for the introductions & the fact that it's a handy way to see if you like the series which many others love in full. Personally, I think if I'd stopped with the first book, I'd have been the happier for it.