This book has sat, unread, on my shelf for probably twenty years, on the strength of Shepard's novel Life during Wartime. I finally worked my way around to it, and I'm sad to say that I was not overwhelmed. All the stories dated from the late 1980s or early- to mid-90s, and most show their age.

The (Nebula-winning) title story starts out with something of an Expanse-like vibe but was spoilt for me by the pov character and others purporting to be British but talking in appalling Mockney accents, and Shepard thinking that Manchester is in the Midlands. I also quickly began to stumble over Shepard's stream-of-consciousness 100-word sentences. As an occasional device, this could be excused; but not as a habit, especially when they appear in the internal narrative of a character who otherwise presents as an "ordinary bloke". There were also a lot of elements in this story which seemed to have been lifted wholesale from Peter Hyams' 1981 film Outland.

Two of the stories weren't remotely science fiction; one, Beast of the Heartland, a boxing story, might qualify as borderline fantasy, or fantastic realism. Interestingly, both of these stories first appeared in Playboy. Of the others, one (All the perfumes of Araby) is set in the aftermath of the first Gulf War, and although it refers to an early 21st century that never quite happened, it does reflect the current real-world political concerns of the Middle East in a recognisable way, including war in Syria (although Shepard's knowledge of the practice of Islam is a bit lacking). For me, this story and Human History were the stand-out stories of the collection. Human History relates a story of a marginal settlement in Arizona in the aftermath of a (historical) socio-environmental catastrophe. Shepard leaves the backstory open to speculation, which was probably the right thing to do even if I found it mildly unsatisfactory.

The Sun Spider seems to be about a pop philosopher/physicist who discovers life on the surface of the Sun, but is also about interpersonal relationships and revenge. Set on a space station in a close solar orbit, the story has a creepy and villainous administrator who runs the station as a personal fiefdom without anyone turning a hair; in any case, the station seems more like a posh hotel and the whole thing does not convince. And there is a nasty tale, A Little Night Music, which uses a science-fictional idea (a resurrection process for the recently-dead which has the side effect of making the resurrectees into strange jazz musicians) as a framing device for an urban tale of infidelity which turns into misogynistic violence.

Indeed, much of the writing seems to be predominantly masculine, and some modern readers will have difficulty with this. For me, two good stories out of seven doesn't make for a ringing endorsement. ( )

No conocía a Lucius Shepard y tras leer este libro no creo que vuelvaa acordarme de él. Varias historias, siendo la principal una de cifi sobre un recogedor de chatarra espacial al que llaman el percebeiro (barnacle Bill). No fue un suplicio pero no me destacó por nada. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/review-of-barnacle-bill-spacer-and.ht... ( )

The book contains two novellas and five shorter stories taking in SF, fantasy, thriller and mainstream. The title novella has quite the most unsympathetic narrator I think I’ve ever read. He is supposed to be British and Shepard gets the idioms correct but we use “at night” rather than “nights” and (mostly) don’t call the game “soccer.” Full marks for the effort though. It’s a strange tale set on a space station beyond the orbit of Mars, where the usual human venalities and appetites abound.

A Little Night Music’s SF gloss features reanimated musicians but is really about a failed marriage.

Human History is set in a post-apocalyptic world where strange creatures known as Captains exert control over the remnants of humanity. Things do not turn out well.

Sports In America is a straightforward tale about a gangland hit that doesn’t quite come off. The characters rattle on unnecessarily about baseball and American Football.

The Sun Spider is a fantasy/SF cross where a theoretical physicist has discovered life in the Sun.

All The Perfumes Of Araby, a story published in 1992 but set in 1992 and which has been somewhat overtaken by events in the real world - the Middle East has not evolved in quite the way depicted, there are as yet no inoculations against AIDS - has a female Desert Storm veteran wishing to recapture some of that experience by taking up with a smuggler based in Cairo. The smuggling goes wrong.

Beast Of The Heartland is about a declining boxer who has a chance of one last big payday. Shepard manages to find a new angle on this hoary old scenario.

Apart from the two non-speculative ones the stories as a whole show a tendency to start in the real, solid world and part way through shift into a more fantastic milieu. Their narrators are also keen to tell rather than show and to philosophise. Betrayals are common. The collection as a whole is really just what you’d want in fiction. ( )