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dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
Isambard Smith, former captain and current file clerk, gets tapped to take captaincy of the John Pym and transport Rhianna Mitchell from New Fransisco to the British Empire. Helping him are Carveth, a renegade sex droid, Suruk the Morlock, and a hamster named Gerald. Unfortunately, both the Ghast Empire and the Republic of New Eden also have their eyes on Rhianna as well...
Sometimes, I run into a book that feels like it was written specifically for me. Space Captain Smith is a comedic space opera, like Christopher Moore sat down with the surviving members of Monty Python and attempted to write an episode of Battlestar Galactica. The humor is dry and sarcastic with nods to Bladerunner, Predator, Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Matrix, among other things. Smith and crew are hilarious but the story never falls into a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy level of absurdity. Although, there is a redneck planet and a hippie planet...
I'd recommend this to all fans of Christopher Moore, Red Dwarf, and fans of British Humor in general.
Sometimes, I run into a book that feels like it was written specifically for me. Space Captain Smith is a comedic space opera, like Christopher Moore sat down with the surviving members of Monty Python and attempted to write an episode of Battlestar Galactica. The humor is dry and sarcastic with nods to Bladerunner, Predator, Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Matrix, among other things. Smith and crew are hilarious but the story never falls into a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy level of absurdity. Although, there is a redneck planet and a hippie planet...
I'd recommend this to all fans of Christopher Moore, Red Dwarf, and fans of British Humor in general.
noortje_l's review against another edition
1.0
Boring and misogynistic, didn’t even bother to finish it
m4marya's review against another edition
4.0
This book made me laugh out loud. That doesn't happen very often. I made my bf put down the book he was reading and read it right after I did. If I had waited I would have ruined the book by reading him all the funny bits, which would have been most of the book. I loved it, and loved the writing, the characters, and was impressed the with sheer amount of silly sexual innuendo. This book is Brilliant!
rhexis's review against another edition
5.0
This is a very silly book. Very reminiscent of Terry Pratchett and just as funny. A rip roaring adventure through space that takes itself just seriously enough. Well worth a read.
hoperu's review against another edition
3.0
Not a great piece of literature or satire, but a fun read. Some hilarious innuendo and skewering of all sorts of stereotypes, with some nudge, nudge, wink, wink, references to great works of sci-fi.
wyrmbergmalcolm's review against another edition
5.0
Written very much in the vein of The Stainless Steel Rat but with an Imperial British rather than American flavour. Isambard Smith himself is written very much tongue-in-cheek as a stright-laced Imperial Officer (albeit not very good one) with the attitude and sensibilities from the heights (and depths) of the British Empire of old complete with the sexism and racism that comes with the territory.
The story was an enjoyable adventure, however it was the collection of parodies, satire and laugh-out-loud moments that made it from me. His best friend is a parody of the Yautja (from the Predator films), his crew and ship had a strong Firefly vibe to it and the humour was very much in the vein of Red Dwarf, Douglas Adams and Tom Sharpe (though not as crude).
Quintessentially British, so may not come across as well from foreign lands.
Need to read the rest of this series!
The story was an enjoyable adventure, however it was the collection of parodies, satire and laugh-out-loud moments that made it from me. His best friend is a parody of the Yautja (from the Predator films), his crew and ship had a strong Firefly vibe to it and the humour was very much in the vein of Red Dwarf, Douglas Adams and Tom Sharpe (though not as crude).
Quintessentially British, so may not come across as well from foreign lands.
Need to read the rest of this series!
martinjonesnx01's review against another edition
4.0
A great start to a series with a really interesting concept. The characters are all interesting and unique. It has a great sense of humour utilising sci-fi references and British humour, which is always a good thing. Enjoyable to read, with lots of adventures, which allowed me to get through it quite quickly.
eclipse777's review against another edition
2.0
Tries to hard to be funny. I believe it would work better as a short story rather then a novel
mothwing's review against another edition
2.0
It was ok, really. You will most likely enjoy this book if you already like action comedies and using the words "romp" and "tongue in cheek".
I don't, really, so I didn't. The British Space Empire parts were a fun premise, but the cardboard characters didn't deliver, for me. Also, I didn't get all the pop culture references, which I didn't think mattered that much, though. I don't think that pop culture references alone don't necessarily make things funny. The humour also wasn't always right for me- I don't think "does my butt look big in this?" is always funny, for one.
I don't like books that are trying hard to be funny, and this one did in occasions. The unrealistic action scenes were funny, but too over-the-top, some of the main character's convictions on being right about things like the inferiority of female characters and entities or their role weren't dealt with as funnily as the author may have intended. Complex characters this book doesn't have, but I still found myself caring about them enough to finish the book.
I don't, really, so I didn't. The British Space Empire parts were a fun premise, but the cardboard characters didn't deliver, for me. Also, I didn't get all the pop culture references, which I didn't think mattered that much, though. I don't think that pop culture references alone don't necessarily make things funny. The humour also wasn't always right for me- I don't think "does my butt look big in this?" is always funny, for one.
I don't like books that are trying hard to be funny, and this one did in occasions. The unrealistic action scenes were funny, but too over-the-top, some of the main character's convictions on being right about things like the inferiority of female characters and entities or their role weren't dealt with as funnily as the author may have intended. Complex characters this book doesn't have, but I still found myself caring about them enough to finish the book.