Will Save the Galaxy for Food | Yahtzee Croshaw | Review
Summary:
The glory days of space piloting have been over ever since mathematicians discovered Quantunneling, allowing people to travel astronomical distances instantly. As a result, many out of work space pilots resort to taking bored tourists on small trips for pennies. The hero of this story is one such space pilot who thinks he's getting a quick, cushy gig playing the role of space hero, only to suddenly find himself on the run.
Review:
This was an entertaining read that kept me up all night. In the entirety of the book, there was only one thing that I was able to predict and it was in the first part of the book. The rest of the book kept me engaged because I honestly didn't know what to expect next. We only get to read the book from the main character's perspective so we only know what he knows. Turns out, he's out of the loop on a lot of things.
In a previous book by this author, Mogworld, I enjoyed his playing around with words. And this book is similar. Because mathematics created Quantunneling, and Quantunneling put the space pilots out of business, mathematical terms became dirty words. As a result, this is a very clean book with only one or two dirty phrases. After the first couple of chapters, hearing someone referred to as a "bracket" no longer seems out of place. It's a rather natural linguistic turn that helps to create and sell the world.
I really don't think there was anything in this book that I didn't like. Yahtzee covers a lot of fictional and science fictional tropes within this satire, but they feel like they are a natural part of the world. From Angelo, a space pilot who'd gone native on another world until the princess dumped him, to evil corporate overlords with spoiled children. This book takes place outside of our world, but everything that Yahtzee put into it felt like a natural addition. Nothing was added or mentioned for no purpose and nothing felt out of place. And I STILL couldn't predict anything!
The ending for this book wasn't the grand boss battle that I usually like for my sci-fi books. Instead, I got an ending that I didn't know I wanted until I got it. It was a great way to end the book and leave me with with a satisfied smile.
So, if you are at all interested in satirical sci-fi novels, I highly recommend you pick this up. Yahtzee has an amazing sense of humor that is complimented by his intelligent story telling. I greatly enjoyed this book and am very glad that I bought it. I will be picking up more of Yahtzee's books.
This post was written by Rachel.
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