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The Amazing Conroy #4
Barry's Deal
Barry's Deal is the fourth novella-length adventure from multiple Hugo and Nebula nominee Lawrence M. Schoen and the next installment in the ongoing tales of galaxy-travelling stage hypnotist, the Amazing Conroy, and Reggie, his alien companion animal, a buffalo dog who can eat anything and expels pure oxygen when he passes gas. In this sequel to BARRY'S TALE (2014 Nebula nominee) Conroy and his buffalito, Reggie are travelling to Triton, to a casino hotel with old friend LeftJohn Mocker, a professional gambler with a double Coltrane rating. Why Triton? Well, there is an illegal auction scheduled there where Conroy hopes to win a bottle of Stonefish liquer, and the Mocker was on his way there anyway at the request of the Probability Guild to investigate allegations of cheating. It looks like everyone will get what they want except... the cheater turns out to be none other than Angela Colson, an eleven-year old girl of incredible power. Conroy saved her life five years earlier with her plushie buffalito, Barry. Somehow she is back, somehow appears to be in her late teens, and somehow has taken the casino for over ten million bucks! Throw in an evil psychometrist portmaster with a grudge against LeftJohn Mocker, a stinky alien with a secret, and a terrorist with a suitcase-sized nuke, and the state is set for hypnotic hijinks and some fine dining as only The Amazing Conroy can command.
- GenresNovellaScience Fiction
124 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2017
6 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence M. Schoen
125 books233 followersLawrence M. Schoen holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, is a past Astounding, Hugo, and Nebula, nominee, twice won the Cóyotl award for best novel, founded the Klingon Language Institute, and occasionally does work as a hypnotherapist specializing in authors’ issues. He is a chimeric cancer survivor.
His science fiction includes many light and humorous adventures of a space-faring stage hypnotist and his alien animal companion. Other works take a very different tone, exploring aspects of determinism and free will, generally redefining the continua between life and death. Sometimes he blurs the funny and the serious. Lawrence lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife and their dog.
His science fiction includes many light and humorous adventures of a space-faring stage hypnotist and his alien animal companion. Other works take a very different tone, exploring aspects of determinism and free will, generally redefining the continua between life and death. Sometimes he blurs the funny and the serious. Lawrence lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife and their dog.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 14, 2017
I love reading new novellas about the Amazing Conroy and his delightfully flatulent buffalito. It feels like revisiting an old friend. In this case, Conroy visits a world to attend an auction for a particularly rare bottle of liquor. Things are considerably more complicated than that, of course, and it makes for a fun romp.
September 17, 2019
This was technically part of the first Conroy story I ever read, as Schoen read from it at a reading at a convention a couple years ago, so it was nice to finally put what I heard then into context now! Conroy and his friend LeftJohn Mocker head out to a casino/port on the moon Triton and encounter old friends and enemies. In addition to Mocker from "The Matter at Hand," we also revisit some stonefish liqueur from "Yesterday's Taste" (both stories from Buffalito Bundle). A fun light story with some good amount of humor.
March 23, 2018
A clever and fun Casino Royale-like adventure in which a hypnotist con man and his alien buffalo dog (an alien dog that eats literally anything and expels oxygen) gets involved with an auction to sell one of the galaxy's rarest liqueurs. Full of set-ups and double crosses, it's an engaging story with a satisfying ending.
May 20, 2018
*2.5 stars
May 15, 2018
The Half Price Books store in my town used to be in a rundown house, with a few cats running around underfoot. I’d go to the science-fiction/fantasy section, blow dust off of the yellowed pages of the paperbacks, and try to find some hidden gem by an author I had never heard of before.
Past-me would have loved to have discovered Barry’s Deal by Lawrence M. Schoen in those stacks. It’s about a chaotic good stage hypnotist con man that travels around the universe with a pet dog/buffalo/alien/thing that eats anything (ANYTHING) going to an auction for a rare bottle of liquor on a shady casino outpost on Triton. Shenanigans ensue.
Barry’s Deal (apparently) continues the adventures of The Amazing Conroy, the aforementioned chaotic good stage hypnotist con man. I say apparently because I haven’t read any of the previous books involving that character or this universe. This review will therefore be a lot more useful to those new to the series than long-time fans because there is no way that I can compare the quality of Barry’s Deal with, say, Buffalito Destiny. So, newbies….
You can read and understand Barry’s Deal without reading any of the other books in the series. It feels a little like turning on any random episode of Doctor Who. You are able to perceive that the characters have prior relationships and that you’re missing some nuances here and there, but you are provided enough information to get up to speed pretty quickly. While reading Barry’s Deal, I never felt lost or frustrated due to a lack of information, only that I needed to see some previous “episodes” to find out how X happened.
It’s lighthearted but not really funny. It’s got action without being violent. It’s well-paced, providing enough characterization that you care how the (relatively) non-violent action turns out. There are mysteries, but they are usually resolved by deux ex machinas or random info dumps. The main character gets by on his wits and a little help from his friends (and buffalo dog alien thing). So, pretty much exactly like Doctor Who….
It’s not a very deep book, but it does provide some interesting insights into the way humans think and frame information, without being super-technical or pedantic, which is an achievement in itself given that the author holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology.
Past-me would have loved to have discovered Barry’s Deal by Lawrence M. Schoen in those stacks. It’s about a chaotic good stage hypnotist con man that travels around the universe with a pet dog/buffalo/alien/thing that eats anything (ANYTHING) going to an auction for a rare bottle of liquor on a shady casino outpost on Triton. Shenanigans ensue.
Barry’s Deal (apparently) continues the adventures of The Amazing Conroy, the aforementioned chaotic good stage hypnotist con man. I say apparently because I haven’t read any of the previous books involving that character or this universe. This review will therefore be a lot more useful to those new to the series than long-time fans because there is no way that I can compare the quality of Barry’s Deal with, say, Buffalito Destiny. So, newbies….
You can read and understand Barry’s Deal without reading any of the other books in the series. It feels a little like turning on any random episode of Doctor Who. You are able to perceive that the characters have prior relationships and that you’re missing some nuances here and there, but you are provided enough information to get up to speed pretty quickly. While reading Barry’s Deal, I never felt lost or frustrated due to a lack of information, only that I needed to see some previous “episodes” to find out how X happened.
It’s lighthearted but not really funny. It’s got action without being violent. It’s well-paced, providing enough characterization that you care how the (relatively) non-violent action turns out. There are mysteries, but they are usually resolved by deux ex machinas or random info dumps. The main character gets by on his wits and a little help from his friends (and buffalo dog alien thing). So, pretty much exactly like Doctor Who….
It’s not a very deep book, but it does provide some interesting insights into the way humans think and frame information, without being super-technical or pedantic, which is an achievement in itself given that the author holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology.
April 21, 2018
The Amazing Conroy is back! This is the fourth caper of the galaxy-traveling stage hypnotist and his super-cute alien companion animal, a truly omnivorous buffalo dog. He comes to a hotel-casino that is planning an illegal auction, runs into some people he knows, and discovers a sinister criminal scheme. What the story may lack in depth it makes up for in fun.
May 31, 2018
A quick and fun space romp. I was not familiar with the characters, but the novella was easy to follow any way. I had minor problems with some of the plot and grammar, but nothing that made me dislike the book overall.
September 6, 2020
This story was nominated for a Nebula award in 2018 in the novella category. I read it as part of my attempt to read all winners and nominees for each of the short story categories in a variety of the major SFF awards. A very quick read. I love Reggie the buffalito.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews