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3.14 AVERAGE
3.14 AVERAGE
Sci-fi comedy is tricky. I love Erikson's fantasy works, and I was intrigued by his send-up of Star Trek, but his humor simply did not land with me. The Kirk analogue, as well as the rest of the cast of characters, are simply too unlikable. There's nothing to latch onto, no good characterization, no universe-building, just an episodic mess of a book.
I'm not a Star Trek expert, but I have seen multiple episodes in the past and I see where this book comes from. This truely is a great parody on the series, fun to read and with a lot of hilarious moments. It contains a great mix of silly and thoughtful humor.
It already starts with the starting comments from one Captain Hadrian Alan Sawback:
And from there on out Captain Sawback will bring you and his crew from one strange situation to the next. He's an unlikely captain; he doesn't follow protocol, he has his own views on the big guns in command and he has selected a crew that is just as unusual as he is. They only add to the strangeness of the story.
The book has one major story arc that is intermingled with little episodes in between. It makes for an easy and quick paced read. Don't expect anything as deep or complex as Malazan, just throw youself in it and enjoy.
Conclusion:
I probably wouldn't have read this book if I didn't like Erikson's writing or MBotF as much as I do. It's off course something completely different, but I didn't regret reading this. Definitely recommended if you like Star Trek and you are in for a comic twist on the series and the genre.
Rating: 7.8/10
It already starts with the starting comments from one Captain Hadrian Alan Sawback:
"SPACE ... it's fucking big.
These are the voyages of the starship Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms."
And from there on out Captain Sawback will bring you and his crew from one strange situation to the next. He's an unlikely captain; he doesn't follow protocol, he has his own views on the big guns in command and he has selected a crew that is just as unusual as he is. They only add to the strangeness of the story.
The book has one major story arc that is intermingled with little episodes in between. It makes for an easy and quick paced read. Don't expect anything as deep or complex as Malazan, just throw youself in it and enjoy.
Conclusion:
I probably wouldn't have read this book if I didn't like Erikson's writing or MBotF as much as I do. It's off course something completely different, but I didn't regret reading this. Definitely recommended if you like Star Trek and you are in for a comic twist on the series and the genre.
Rating: 7.8/10
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oy. *sighs* What to say about this? Well ...
Supposedly, this is a satire / parody of several well-known scifi adventures both on screen and on the page. Thus, a number of recognizeable tropes are presented here in what was supposed to be a funny way.
We get a horny ship's captain who isn't really fit for the job but mysteriously always ends up being the hero. Sort of.
We have the snarky ship's AI as well as some hot female and almost stupid male officers on the bridge. We have Space Marines full or corny badass one-liners and disgusting alien creatures. We have tech that is supposedly beyond our understanding while we are still a space-faring civilisation using that same tech now.
As a fan of Star Trek as well as a number of other TV and movie classics, many situations, characters and tropes were highly familiar to me. Of course, I also know of the "problems" of those classic stories (regarding characters as much as dialogues, their "science", props etc). And yes, those usually make me laugh.
Moreover, I'm also known to enjoy this or that nonsensical space adventure that is a satirical look at human society.
The problem here: the author was beating funny/silly situations to death by using them overandoverandoveragain. There is only so many times the captain's horniness and sexism is "funny" and the banter with the ship's AI got old pretty soon as well.
You could compare it to Seth MacFarlane's Orville, which didn't do anything for me either. However, I did enjoy Black Mirror's satirical episode that was also a nod/parody on Star Trek and others.
In short: I think this would have worked much better if it had been much shorter. The concept can work and I wanted it to work, too, but I only smiled once or twice, not even the attack kittens making me laugh. Thus, its humour kinda fell flat for me and left me wholly unimpressed. On the contrary, I was often rolling my eyes because of the afore-mentioned excessive use of tropes and repetition thereof. Too bad, really.
Supposedly, this is a satire / parody of several well-known scifi adventures both on screen and on the page. Thus, a number of recognizeable tropes are presented here in what was supposed to be a funny way.
We get a horny ship's captain who isn't really fit for the job but mysteriously always ends up being the hero. Sort of.
We have the snarky ship's AI as well as some hot female and almost stupid male officers on the bridge. We have Space Marines full or corny badass one-liners and disgusting alien creatures. We have tech that is supposedly beyond our understanding while we are still a space-faring civilisation using that same tech now.
As a fan of Star Trek as well as a number of other TV and movie classics, many situations, characters and tropes were highly familiar to me. Of course, I also know of the "problems" of those classic stories (regarding characters as much as dialogues, their "science", props etc). And yes, those usually make me laugh.
Moreover, I'm also known to enjoy this or that nonsensical space adventure that is a satirical look at human society.
The problem here: the author was beating funny/silly situations to death by using them overandoverandoveragain. There is only so many times the captain's horniness and sexism is "funny" and the banter with the ship's AI got old pretty soon as well.
You could compare it to Seth MacFarlane's Orville, which didn't do anything for me either. However, I did enjoy Black Mirror's satirical episode that was also a nod/parody on Star Trek and others.
In short: I think this would have worked much better if it had been much shorter. The concept can work and I wanted it to work, too, but I only smiled once or twice, not even the attack kittens making me laugh. Thus, its humour kinda fell flat for me and left me wholly unimpressed. On the contrary, I was often rolling my eyes because of the afore-mentioned excessive use of tropes and repetition thereof. Too bad, really.
This book was very silly. Although fun, it was a little long and very frantic. Based on all the references to Star Trek in the reviews that surround it, I suspect that I would have had a greater appreciation for it if I was a fan of the show. Regardless, it was a quick, fun read. Probably not really enough material for the length of book, but what can you do?
It's a bit like Galaxy Quest crossed with Space Balls. Lots of silly gags and digs at the original Star Trek. The humour ranges from slapstick, through references to star trek and all the way over to nerd humour. Much like Scalzi's RedShirts it is a quick read and easily forgotten. Some laugh out loud moments and clever jokes, but mostly slapstick. Almost like Erikson is trying to shake the bleakness of the Mallazan Book of the Fallen out of his system :-)