Paperback, 286 pages
English language
Published Feb. 10, 2017 by Dark Horse Books.
A not-quite epic science fiction adventure about a down-on-his luck galactic pilot caught in a cross-galaxy struggle for survival! Space travel just isn't what it used to be. With the invention of Quantum Teleportation, space heroes aren't needed anymore. When one particularly unlucky ex-adventurer masquerades as famous pilot and hate figure Jacques McKeown, he's sucked into an ever-deepening corporate and political intrigue. Between space pirates, adorable deadly creatures, and a missing fortune in royalties, saving the universe was never this difficult!
From the creator of Mogworld and Jam!
Benjamin Richard "Yahtzee" Croshaw is a British-Australian comedic writer, video game journalist, author, and video game developer. He is perhaps best known for his acerbic video game review series, Zero Punctuation, for The Escapist.
Made it 10% off the way through, but it just didn’t grab me. Also, I thought I was picking up on some homophobia and fat-hate, so I looked at some of the other reviews. Yep. There’s more of that. And then some. So, it’s a no from me.
Как знакомый с Zero Punctuation человек, я взялся за эту книгу в начитанном автором аудиоварианте с единственной чисто исследовательской целью: проверить, в какой точке повествования головная боль станет нестерпимой.
Оказалось, что Яцзы способен работать со своим голосом так, что этого не случилось вовсе (и вообще, честно говоря, играть достаточно выразительно, чтобы это было самым интересным элементом всего повествования), а книга в целом представляет собой достаточно сносное выступление в жанре "человек с очевидно большим количеством нейронов в голове успешно делает вид, что их у него всего два"; разительный контраст с книгами Скальци по так сказать каждому параметру.
I’ve been a fan of Yahtzee’s Zero Punctuation video game reviews for years, so when this came out I grabbed it without thinking twice.
A friend of mine read the print version and found it derivative, predictable and boring. I think he missed the point and the medium: Yahtzee’s charm is how he says what he says, and so the audiobook read by the author is, I expect, the intended method of consumption. Also, understanding that it’s supposed to be satirical helps. If you miss those two points, I can see why it mightn’t make your favourites list.
I enjoyed this audiobook. It is indeed derivative and trope-filled (not by accident), but the narration style means that doesn’t matter. Get the audiobook and get ready for a laugh. It’s light entertainment, not a space opera.
Clearly inspired by Douglas Adams, but falls short as Yahtzee Crowshaw applies his Zero Punctuation technique-using similes in excess to describe and exaggerate a game's flaws for comedic effect-and also puts too much emphasis on details in general. The misfortune of the former star pilot turned Jacques McKeown impersonator had a good liftoff, but sputters near the end. The satirical elements focus on those who were hailed as heroes, veterans, and economic drivers in generations past struggling in a universe where their talents are no longer needed at large.
Crowshaw himself does a decent job at audio narration though. A decent space adventure through and through.
