Santiago: A Myth Of The Far Future (1992) - Plot & Excerpts
I’m not sure when my desire to be a writer first sparked, but I can tell you when it roared into full flame; it was the day Mike Resnick spoke at my high school. I was a junior, and I’d been a voracious reader for years. I’d even written a short story for my English class, taught by one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Henry. It might have been Mrs. Henry who arranged Resnick’s visit.To be perfectly honest, the thing that sealed the deal for me was Mike talking about how he slept as late as he wanted, stayed up as late as he wanted, and pretty much did whatever else he wanted. It sounded to my adolescent ears as the Good Life, and I wanted in. Coming out of that high school auditorium, I was resolved of two things: to become a writer when I grew up, and to read everything Mike Resnick ever wrote.The first was harder than it seemed. The second was even more difficult; Mike Resnick has written a helluva lot of books.My favorite of his books is Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future. I loved it as a teen, but I hadn’t read it since, so I decided to continue my space opera binge by revisiting an old friend.Santiago is about several people all trying to find (and, in most cases, kill) the infamous titular space pirate. Santiago has plagued the frontier worlds of the Democracy for years, and the price on his head is in the millions. Every bounty hunter wants to bring him down, but no one knows where to find him.The story is made up of several “books,” each one focusing on a different character. On top of that, the entire novel is framed by an epic ballad written by Black Orpheus, the bard of the frontier who immortalizes the most interesting people he meets by giving them a colorful name and writing them into his song. To have a stanza in Black Orpheus’s ballad is a badge of honor (well, in most cases) and an assurance that you will be recognized on just about every frontier planet. There’s the Songbird, the Angel, the Virgin Queen, the Jolly Swagman, Moonripple, ManMountain Bates, and more.While I didn’t love the book as much as my teen self, Santiago is still a lot of fun. I know Resnick has had on-again, off-again offers to make it into a movie, but I can’t imagine how that would work. This myth is meant to be read, and the big screen isn’t big enough for it. There are too many asides and too many fun little treasures that would get lost in translation. (Oddly enough, I can easily see this working as a Borderlands-esque video game.)If you’re looking for a fun science fiction romp, pick up a copy of Santiago. I think you’ll enjoy it.
A friend recommended this to me, saying that "Santiago" reminded him of "Firefly." Being the Joss Whedon obsessed fan that I am, I was immediately intrigued so I picked up a copy of this and the sequel novel, "The Return of Santiago."And now that I've read half of the saga (which, thankfully "Santiago" is a self contained book), I'm not sure I'm in any kind of hurry to pick up the next installment. It's not that "Santiago" is necessarily a bad book--it's not. It's just not necessarily a great book.In the far future, a man known as Santiago is rumored to exist. But the character of Santiago himself isn't necessarily the point of the story, so much as the stories that exist around Santiago and the search to find him. He's the most wanted man in the future universe, existing outside the law as some kind of bounty hunter/do-gooder with a heart of gold. The story quickly makes it clear that it's not so much the fact that Santiago exists but the idea that he could exist that really matters. And while it's an interesting concept to explore the dichotomy of the man vs the myth, the book spends far too long on the quest to find Santiago and not enough time with the actual man himself. In fact, we don't find Santiago until three-quarters of the way through the book, long after Resnick has trotted out a variety of characters who are all either looking for the man or have looked for him.It's a book filled with larger than life characters and maybe that's why I didn't care for it as much as I did. Going back to the recommendation and comparison to "Firefly," it's almost like we're hearing the story of Mal and company from outside and following a group of people determined to bring them down and bring them to justice. It's interesting, but at some point I think it would have been more interesting to find out more on how the myth and the man compared. But again, the point is that it's not the person, it's the idea of who they are that matters.In the end, I was left with an experience that wasn't as satisfying or as complete as I'd hoped it would be. I've read a lot worse books in my time, but I've read a lot better.
What do You think about Santiago: A Myth Of The Far Future (1992)?
Dear Kenny,Thanks for your last letter. Glad I could remind you of a favorite novel from long ago, and I’m glad to have joined the club of “People that read the *%^#ing classics” as you so eloquently put it.Got another one for you, not quite as old, and not quite as famous, but so much fun. Have you heard of Mike Resnick? He’s written quite a few books, none of which I had read before I picked up Santiago. This is another recommendation from Card’s interview with GoodReads. In the interview he talks about how science fiction settings are generally used to replicate historical settings on earth, but in a future/forward looking story. That’s a deep vein of material right there, but I’ll leave it for now.I only mention it because Santiago is a rollicking wild west story with only the thinnest veneer of science fiction painted on: bounty hunters, lawmen, and outlaws running around a space frontier having showdowns in taverns. Don’t get me wrong, it works. I really, really liked this story. I’m disappointed that I can’t find a hardcover copy for my library at home; the copy I read was an old, faded paperback that I left at the hotel in Belize once I’d finished it.Pick it up, if you haven’t; it’s so much fun. I’d be surprised if this novel wasn’t the hidden inspiration for the short-lived and much-loved Firefly.Later,Ben.
—Benjamin Newland
From Amazon, August 27, 2006: If I could give this a 6-star rating, I would. I tend to prefer fantasy, with medieval-type settings, with some magic or things of similar nature. This book doesn't even come close, and yet it is one of my favorite books; one of only a handful that I enjoy re-reading. It starts out as a corny space opera/wild-west style story. You might groan, thinking you have picked up one of the silliest stereotyped stories ever written. (I did, the first time I read it). And yet, at the same time, it's so much fun I couldn't help but continue reading it. Soon it's obvious that there is a lot more to this book than first appears. Fascinating characters and unexpected plot twists make it hard to put the book down. By the end of the book I was in awe with how skillfully Mr. Resnick manipulates the story from corny to something truly meaningful with the reader hardly even aware of it. When you finish the book you realize it wasn't anything like what you expected when you started reading it, and that is what makes it such a great book. Even if you had been looking forward to reading a space opera/space western, you won't be disappointed in the book.
—Diane Chen
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's exactly as mythical as the title implies, a space western in the classic vein of American tall tales. The plot, the characters, the dialog, all go down beat for beat exactly as you'd expect.What makes it good is the way in which this familiar and formulaic story is executed. It's hard to describe, but every character is note-perfect, behaving entirely consistent to their role or archetype. Most books have a moment or two of confusion, where characters are subsumed by narrative convenience and make otherwise poor or illogical decisions. That's not the case here. The characters and the plot are so intrinsically part of the same mold that they work in favor of each-other, rather than ever being at cross-purposes.It's somewhat reassuring to think that no matter how vast and unknowable humanity becomes, we'll still be telling the same stories in the dark at night. I like the slightly meta theme that the story raises occasionally through the never-seen narrative character of the bard, without ever interrupting the flow of the tale itself.
—Brendan
