CALLAHAN'S LEGACY

First novel-sized entry in Robinson's series of tall stories (the first collection appeared in 1976) about Callahan's Bar (Callahan's Lady, 1989, etc.). Though the original Callahan's is gone, the tradition continues—alcohol-lubricated jokes, puns, histrionics and all—at Mary's Place, where Callahan's daughter, Mary, and her husband, the retired alien assassin Mickey Finn, preside, and proprietor/bartender Jake Stonebender's partner, Zoey Berkowitz, is an uncomfortable nine and a half months pregnant. The patrons include: Naggeneen, an Irish psi-powered leprechaun; the probability-bending Lucky Duck; Ralph von Wau Wau the taking dog; Solace the Artificial Intelligence; and various aliens, machines, and reconstituted personalities, such as the scientist Nikola Tesla. Even the time-traveling Mike Callahan himself shows up, to warn the company of an impending alien invasion by a three-eyed, three-legged purple cyborg Lizard. So as Jake pours drinks and coffee with a liberal hand, and Zoey at last gives birth, the assembly must figure out how to defeat the invader. After, that is, the bar's roof has been ripped off by a tornado, only to be replaced moments later by another, better roof—it's that sort of place. A riot for Callahan addicts; newcomers may find it to be an acquired taste.