This book is on the short
side. It contains about 25 short stories. As one might conclude from those
two facts, each story tends to be short as well.
The stories are held together
by a basic premise. Sometime around the present, aliens came to Earth and
established a post in Siberia. There are a number of alien races, but one
plays a central role in establishing the post on Earth and in interstellar
trade. That alien species has been around for hundreds of millions of years
and inhabits red dwarf star systems throughout the galaxy (or so they tell us
at least). An inter-species bar, The Draco Tavern, has grown up near the
alien's post in Siberia. The stories in the book are conversations at the bar,
stories told by those at the bar, or (occasionally) human characters from the
bar dealing with aliens at some other location.
The stories provide a variety
of different kinds of aliens, some alien viewpoints, inter-species
relationships, etc. One might wonder about the plausibility of certain alien
species, but we don't really get to know most of the alien races well enough
for that to be clear. (It could also be argued that some of the alien races,
such as a jellyfish-like species, might not have been able to develop a
technological society themselves, but have been assisted by other aliens.)
Some of the stories are like
parables.
While the stories have
interesting aspects, their shortness does put limits on how much the story can
develop. Readers who find this a concern in short stories may find the book
less rewarding.
Insights On Alien Bodies
On the whole, I wouldn't say
the stories are intended to be thoughtful about what real aliens might be like
physically. However, there are some interesting bits on that question. For
instance, there's a story about wolf-like aliens. Apparently, animals from
their planet have anatomies generally like Earth mammals. One difference is
that their eyes are below their jaws rather than above them. Human characters
wonder about that fact, questioning whether that means their planet had no
flying predators or predators that might otherwise attack from above. It is
also noted that this has worked out well for the wolf-like aliens. With a
protruding wolf-like face, if the eyes were on top it would be hard for them to
see what their hands were doing for tool use. However, with the eyes below the
jaw, it is easy for them to watch their hands.