Reviews

Gate Crashers by Patrick S. Tomlinson

noondaypaisley's review against another edition

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4.0

great silly fun.

scottlukaswilliams's review against another edition

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4.0

The good people at Tor sent me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review and I’m so glad they did because I quite enjoyed it.

Gate Crashers is like a cross between Galaxy Quest and Hitchiker’s Guide. Tomlinson has a dry wit and sarcastic voice that make this work very entertaining. One can enjoy the humour but still be caught up in the suspense of a sci-fi thriller.

The plot concerns the crew of a future earth exploration vessel who are the first to encounter an alien civilization. The characters are relatable 21st century types and they are interesting enough that you want to see them succeed and survive. I find myself eager to read about what happens to them next.

I look very forward to reading the next novel in this series and I will seek out other work by Tomlinson in the future.

bogo_lode's review against another edition

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3.0

Decent but Starship Repo is a massive level up.

lightiron's review against another edition

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funny

3.0

aerialcataloger's review against another edition

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The tone and humor isn’t landing for me, and on a few occasions it has fallen back on gender stereotypes and anti-fatness in ways that feel very jarring and unrelated to the events on the page.

eldermax's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this book. It pretty much hits everything that I enjoy in SF: good story, interesting characters, well done hard science and military action, and wonderful humor.

Here is my full review:

It's 2345 and the American/European Union Starship Magellan has just passed the 30 light year mark on it's way to explore Solonis B. This is the fathest from earth mankind has travelled. While the crew are in their peoplecicle state for the long journey, the ship's AI, known as Maggie, monitors the ship and surrounding space. Maggie detects an anomalous object that gnaws at her processors. What makes the object unusual is that it is completely at rest, something that should be impossible what with Newton's laws of motion and all. She awakens Capt. Allison Ridgway to authorize a flyby but when Maggie detects radio emissions from the object, Ridgeway knows they need to get their hands on the object and the entire crew is awakened. With the object in the shuttle bay and authorities alerted by the instantaneous QER (quantum entanglement radio), the Magellan heads back to earth. And then things go from weird to dangerous to life-threatening.

Tomlinson pretty much hits all the major SF tropes. We get: first contact, space opera, space marines, space combat, space poop, girl shy nerd, mad scientists, enterprising scientists and engineers, hard science, galactic politics, aliens with an unsettling knowledge of English (it's easy to learn) and Earth TV shows, a effective and stable civilian captain, an infuriatingly capable navy captain named Maximus Tiberius who falls somewhere between Star Trek's James Tiberius Kirk and Blackadder's Lord Flashheart, a snarky ship's AI who decides she must be female because she has to nurture so many helpless children, and lots of humor. You might also note some Star Trek and maybe Heinlein here.

Military action isn't a major theme of Gate Crashers but Tomlinson handles it realistically and very well. Likewise, the hard science is handled nicely so that you can read it thinking, okay, that works.

The humor is decidedly Douglas Adams-esque which is a major plus for me. In fact, alert readers will notice a direct homage to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The humor ranges from clever wordplay to downright silly. Kind of like throwing pasta at the wall, some stick, some don't. I could quote something that made me chuckle from most pages but here are two examples:

It was a cold, dark night in deep space. Of course, that's the sort of night experienced spacers preferred. A hot, bright night meant you'd flown into an uncharted star. Such nights were known for their brevity.


And then the silly

The Teskin are one of the most specialized carnivores in the known galaxy. They evolved over the millennia to infiltrate cocktail parties, wedding receptions, and class reunions. Once inside, they corner their unsuspecting prey and regale them with hours of banal anecdotes about office politics, family vacations, and medical issues. A successful hunt ends when the target kills itself out of desperation.


Gate Crashers is a fun and satisfying SF that I enjoyed so much I read all 414 pages in one sitting.

Fortunately, there is a sequel titled Starship Repo so I don't have to wait for more of this universe. It features features a female protagonist named Firstname Lastname due to a clerical error so I anticipate the same level of humor.

jrosenstein's review against another edition

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3.0

An enjoyable space action romp, though I found all the jokes terribly clunky and unfunny.

mbcovarrubias's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed the book. There were elements of Douglas Adams in the book, but where the book fell short was trying to only stay slightly with one foot in the silliness and one foot in serious satire. I don't feel like the two could be reconciled as one. It was entertaining, but it really just wanted to build tension which I wasn't feeling at all. This of course may just be a personal taste, but It was only a 3 out of 5 star read for me.

keen23's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved it!
Slow start, but once it got going, it was fabulous.

faileskye's review against another edition

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4.0

I recommend this book to fans of satire, dry humor, and John Scalzi books.

This novel is effectively three books in one, but not in a bad way. To elaborate, it’s roughly spit into a discovery, an exploration, and an intergalactic “relations” phase. This structure effectively keeps the story and plot from becoming stale or outstaying it’s welcome.

The wry humor is topical in a timeless way that pokes fun at things that always seem ripe for satire through the ages. I chuckled, I laughed, and was always entertained throughout. The characters, settings, and writing were all objectively solid.

At the end of the day, like many comedies, Gatecrashers is ultimately forgettable, but remains well worth your money.
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