The Ancient Ones by David Brin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Yes, David Brin recently wrote a humor SF.

I mean, it being humor is already a hard task to pull off, but what I'm more fixated on is the fact that Brin has put anything ELSE out since Existence or the other short collection in over ten years, and that almost sums up everything in the last 20.

I miss Brin's writing. Of course, this isn't exactly the hard-hitting stuff that I was used to. This is extremely lite-fare that feels like Star Trek had a baby with showtunes, sprinkled with the oldest, goofiest vampire memorabilia, and topped off with a deep look at old folks and young folks and the great abyss that separates them.

It's not bad, but it did feel like an easygoing stroll through slightly skewed fandom with a big emphasis on how old folks feel young, too, and hate the straightjacket of other people's (or alien's) perceptions.

Even I have a hard time taking outright humor all that seriously, and the way this one went, I never quite laughed. I snickered and chuckled a few times, however, but this isn't a classic in any sense of the word.

I wouldn't start here if you're getting your first introduction to Brin.

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