What do you think?
Rate this book
Pay Me, Bug!
Grif Vindh, Captain of the Fool's Errand, just pulled off the job of a against all odds, he and his crew smuggled a rare anti-aging drug out of Ur Voys, one of the most secretive and secure facilities in the Empire of the Radiant Throne. It was every smuggler's dream, the "Big Score," and they find themselves filthy rich as a result. But their good fortune attracts exactly the wrong kind of the Alliance of Free Worlds has been trying to infiltrate Ur Voys without success, so they conscript the only man who Grif Vindh. The Radiant Throne, desperate to know how their security was so easily thwarted, send one of their best to track him down and learn the truth... by any means necessary. Grif and his crew must perform the impossible a second break into Ur Voys, steal something so secretive their employers don't really know what it is, and get away clean. Along the way they'll have to deal with deadly spies, psychotic telepaths, vicious cyborgs, inconvenient family ties... and a hyperintelligent bug who always bets against its captain.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Christopher B. Wright
26 books17 followersWriter, former musician, occasional cartoonist, and noted authority on his own opinions, C. B. Wright's weakness for tilting at windmills has influenced every facet of his adult life. He enjoys reading and writing fiction. He also enjoys writing about himself in the third person. He refuses to comment on whether writing about himself in the third person also qualifies as fiction. He currently lives in Alabama with his wife, daughter, dog, and his overpoweringly large ego.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 16, 2017
I said it in a few status updates, but after I finished the book last night I was even surer in my convictions, this should be animated. Why not live action? Well, as we've seen in all the super hero movies, actors hate having their faces obscured - it's their biggest asset. So they keep it visible even if it doesn't make sense in the context of the plot. In this book, the characters spend 1/3 to 1/2 of the book sporting completely different faces. That wouldn't fly in Hollywood. Also, Hollywood tends to think you're dumb so they'd resist it thinking the audience would get confused. The success of the Adult Swim shows and Archer have shown that there's an audience for animation that falls outside the realm of an animated sitcom. With the tone of the book, it could succeed in an Archer animation style - perfect by that team when they worked on Sealab 2021 for adult swim. It could also beautifully work with Watanabe's Cowboy Bebop style. (Although that would perhaps be too expensive for American TV? Maybe Netflix would do it?)
So what is this book? It's essentially a heist tale - like Ocean's Eleven. Only good and in space like Cowboy Bebop or Firefly. Like those shows, we've got a plucky, motley crew on a rickety ship and a captain with Lady Luck strongly on his side. The title drop comes early on when you learn that the gunner and Ktk (a "bug" - centipede-looking alien) always bet on whether the Captain's crazy scheme is going to work. When Ktk (who always bets against the captain) loses, "Pay Me, Bug!" is heard on the ship intercom.
Why so highly rated? First, there's the tone. This book's got that sarcastic tone I love so much. Similar to Scalzi, Douglas Adams, and many others. Captain Vind is a smartass and Christopher B. Wright has a lot of fun writing him. It's also a very well realized world. Essentially known space is split up between an empire based on Catholicism, a secular alliance, and the usual independent trade plants called the Baronies. I'm not 100% sure how we could have another story with the crew of the Fool's Errand or if it would get boring to have them "always" winning. However, I would love to see more stories in this universe. Maybe even a story that presented the holy empire in a good light by focusing on one of their ships. Or a story that follows some of the spies we meet in this book. I think if Mr. Wright has any intention of continuing in this universe, he's got a multitude of stories he could tell. Of course, there's also the "Wild Cards" route. He's created the universe - he could always have others play in his playground.
So what is this book? It's essentially a heist tale - like Ocean's Eleven. Only good and in space like Cowboy Bebop or Firefly. Like those shows, we've got a plucky, motley crew on a rickety ship and a captain with Lady Luck strongly on his side. The title drop comes early on when you learn that the gunner and Ktk (a "bug" - centipede-looking alien) always bet on whether the Captain's crazy scheme is going to work. When Ktk (who always bets against the captain) loses, "Pay Me, Bug!" is heard on the ship intercom.
Why so highly rated? First, there's the tone. This book's got that sarcastic tone I love so much. Similar to Scalzi, Douglas Adams, and many others. Captain Vind is a smartass and Christopher B. Wright has a lot of fun writing him. It's also a very well realized world. Essentially known space is split up between an empire based on Catholicism, a secular alliance, and the usual independent trade plants called the Baronies. I'm not 100% sure how we could have another story with the crew of the Fool's Errand or if it would get boring to have them "always" winning. However, I would love to see more stories in this universe. Maybe even a story that presented the holy empire in a good light by focusing on one of their ships. Or a story that follows some of the spies we meet in this book. I think if Mr. Wright has any intention of continuing in this universe, he's got a multitude of stories he could tell. Of course, there's also the "Wild Cards" route. He's created the universe - he could always have others play in his playground.
January 17, 2014
I enjoyed this enough that I considered giving it four stars, but there were enough issues that I rounded down to three.
The good, first of all. This is a heist novel. I love heists, rogues and capers, and this was an amusing one, with action, banter, daring, unlikely plans and protagonist haplessness. The dialogue was fun, and the relationships between the characters were varied and convincing. It's also a space opera in the classic mold, and although the genre is starting to show its age I still enjoy it on its own terms.
Now, the issues. There's a list.
I'm currently reading How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide, and one of their pieces of pithy advice is "If there is a plan, events should not go according to it." The reason is that you lose tension when the protagonists succeed all the time. This is probably the biggest, certainly the most widespread, of the issues I spotted in Pay Me, Bug. The author writes himself into a bit of a corner with it, in fact, because there's a schtick where everyone in the crew dreads the captain's Plan Bs. They're terrible, everyone says. So, for most of the book, Plan A succeeds, and therefore there's not much tension. When a Plan A finally did go wrong, I'd been conditioned to expect that it would work out OK anyway, and so there still wasn't as much tension as there could have been - and the Plan B worked perfectly fine, and had obviously been at least partly prepared in advance, even though it was described as "improvising".
There's a similar inconsistency with the captain's ability to shoot. At one point, he's escaping with some other characters and his fire is incredibly inaccurate. It's at Star Wars Stormtrooper levels of inaccuracy. Yet in another fight later, he shoots very competently and successfully. It's as if the author was setting up a flaw in the character's abilities to keep him from being a total Gary Stu, and then had to drop it later for plot reasons. By the way, whenever the crew and another group, even a larger group, get into a firefight, the crew all come out fine and there are multiple deaths on the other side.
The pacing is generally good, things keep moving, except for one scene where we get a blow-by-blow description of transferring between two ships. It's the kind of detail that a good editor would advise a writer to cut. It has no importance to plot or character, and it's not inherently fascinating, so it's just taking up space.
Now, the jarring moment. The significance of the title is that an alien crew member, referred to as Ktk or "bug", keeps betting against the captain with one of its colleagues, and losing. It's a kind of superstitious thing with Ktk, like taking out insurance. (There's a nice bit of writing skill, by the way, with Ktk's dialog. Because it's kind of a Chewbacca character, who can't physically speak English but can understand it, and the rest of the crew understand its language without being able to speak it, all of its dialog is in free indirect speech rather than inside quotation marks. I enjoyed that.) At one point, Ktk manipulates events to produce a win for itself which seriously endangers the captain and delays their rather time-critical mission, indirectly leading to considerable problems, but the captain is completely unbothered, giving as his reason that he was also betting against himself. I found this jarring and unlikely.
Something else I found, not jarring exactly, but annoying. The bad guys, the Radiant Throne, are uptight Christian hypocrites. Now, I realize that in the USA at the moment, at least in certain circles, this is a shorthand way of characterizing bad guys, like having the villain kick a puppy. I'll even admit that there's some justification for the stereotype. But it is a stereotype, and as someone who's indirectly slurred by association, I find it mildly offensive. The fact that they're Christians has no other significance to the story, it's purely a quick way to cast them as unimaginative and humourless villains, and it reminds me of 1930s pulps, where making someone Jewish or dark-skinned achieved something similar. It struck me as a cheap shot. I may be misreading it completely, but that's how it seemed.
Finally, I'll mention the editing. The sentence-level writing is above the standard of most indie novels. It's vivid, fresh and vigorous. But the author doesn't know exactly when to use a comma, writes "discrete" when he means "discreet", and has a few other similar issues scattered through the text. As indie books go, it's in the top 20%, maybe 15%, but that actually isn't a very high bar, sadly.
In summary, I enjoyed it, but could have enjoyed it so much more if there'd been more tension, more consistency, less facile villainizing, and better editing. As it is, it's a toss-up whether I'll bother reading a sequel.
The good, first of all. This is a heist novel. I love heists, rogues and capers, and this was an amusing one, with action, banter, daring, unlikely plans and protagonist haplessness. The dialogue was fun, and the relationships between the characters were varied and convincing. It's also a space opera in the classic mold, and although the genre is starting to show its age I still enjoy it on its own terms.
Now, the issues. There's a list.
I'm currently reading How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide, and one of their pieces of pithy advice is "If there is a plan, events should not go according to it." The reason is that you lose tension when the protagonists succeed all the time. This is probably the biggest, certainly the most widespread, of the issues I spotted in Pay Me, Bug. The author writes himself into a bit of a corner with it, in fact, because there's a schtick where everyone in the crew dreads the captain's Plan Bs. They're terrible, everyone says. So, for most of the book, Plan A succeeds, and therefore there's not much tension. When a Plan A finally did go wrong, I'd been conditioned to expect that it would work out OK anyway, and so there still wasn't as much tension as there could have been - and the Plan B worked perfectly fine, and had obviously been at least partly prepared in advance, even though it was described as "improvising".
There's a similar inconsistency with the captain's ability to shoot. At one point, he's escaping with some other characters and his fire is incredibly inaccurate. It's at Star Wars Stormtrooper levels of inaccuracy. Yet in another fight later, he shoots very competently and successfully. It's as if the author was setting up a flaw in the character's abilities to keep him from being a total Gary Stu, and then had to drop it later for plot reasons. By the way, whenever the crew and another group, even a larger group, get into a firefight, the crew all come out fine and there are multiple deaths on the other side.
The pacing is generally good, things keep moving, except for one scene where we get a blow-by-blow description of transferring between two ships. It's the kind of detail that a good editor would advise a writer to cut. It has no importance to plot or character, and it's not inherently fascinating, so it's just taking up space.
Now, the jarring moment. The significance of the title is that an alien crew member, referred to as Ktk or "bug", keeps betting against the captain with one of its colleagues, and losing. It's a kind of superstitious thing with Ktk, like taking out insurance. (There's a nice bit of writing skill, by the way, with Ktk's dialog. Because it's kind of a Chewbacca character, who can't physically speak English but can understand it, and the rest of the crew understand its language without being able to speak it, all of its dialog is in free indirect speech rather than inside quotation marks. I enjoyed that.) At one point, Ktk manipulates events to produce a win for itself which seriously endangers the captain and delays their rather time-critical mission, indirectly leading to considerable problems, but the captain is completely unbothered, giving as his reason that he was also betting against himself. I found this jarring and unlikely.
Something else I found, not jarring exactly, but annoying. The bad guys, the Radiant Throne, are uptight Christian hypocrites. Now, I realize that in the USA at the moment, at least in certain circles, this is a shorthand way of characterizing bad guys, like having the villain kick a puppy. I'll even admit that there's some justification for the stereotype. But it is a stereotype, and as someone who's indirectly slurred by association, I find it mildly offensive. The fact that they're Christians has no other significance to the story, it's purely a quick way to cast them as unimaginative and humourless villains, and it reminds me of 1930s pulps, where making someone Jewish or dark-skinned achieved something similar. It struck me as a cheap shot. I may be misreading it completely, but that's how it seemed.
Finally, I'll mention the editing. The sentence-level writing is above the standard of most indie novels. It's vivid, fresh and vigorous. But the author doesn't know exactly when to use a comma, writes "discrete" when he means "discreet", and has a few other similar issues scattered through the text. As indie books go, it's in the top 20%, maybe 15%, but that actually isn't a very high bar, sadly.
In summary, I enjoyed it, but could have enjoyed it so much more if there'd been more tension, more consistency, less facile villainizing, and better editing. As it is, it's a toss-up whether I'll bother reading a sequel.
January 13, 2015
The best word to describe "Pay me bug" is "unoriginal". The protagonists form the same set of loveable space outlaws we have seen many times before and the setting is one of the "two empires and some rough between"-affairs that allows our heroes to thrive. The same has to be said for our antagonists which boil down to two evil bureaucrats and the neutral parties complete with the young female leader who is as competent in her job as she is beautiful.
And yet none of this really matters, because the book is wonderfully written and often better than the universes that inspired it. Every setpiece has its own character and details that set it apart from the template. Some of the characters get a similar treatment but these are rare and only give glimpses which tease future developments but in the end reveal very little. Nevertheless the characters still manage to be nuanced and develop their own bonds and feuds.
The plot flows briskly and in the main strand resolves nicely. Unfortunately there are a few minor plots that get no resolution which makes the ending doubly disappointing. The final confrontation feels out of place and clashes with the tone like dropping a gunfight in a heist story. The pacing becomes frantic and shifting perspectives lead to a muddled mess that is made worse by the rather abrupt ending. It does not so much feel rushed as it feels surprising, taking the minimal steps that is necessary to make it an ending and doing nothing else.
None of the flaws really fall that heavy and for the most part they tend to increase my interest in the sequel. While "Pay me bug" may be another rehash of the smuggler in space, it is a very good rehash and even if you knew the genre well you could still find new aspects and details that shine a new light on this genre.
And yet none of this really matters, because the book is wonderfully written and often better than the universes that inspired it. Every setpiece has its own character and details that set it apart from the template. Some of the characters get a similar treatment but these are rare and only give glimpses which tease future developments but in the end reveal very little. Nevertheless the characters still manage to be nuanced and develop their own bonds and feuds.
The plot flows briskly and in the main strand resolves nicely. Unfortunately there are a few minor plots that get no resolution which makes the ending doubly disappointing. The final confrontation feels out of place and clashes with the tone like dropping a gunfight in a heist story. The pacing becomes frantic and shifting perspectives lead to a muddled mess that is made worse by the rather abrupt ending. It does not so much feel rushed as it feels surprising, taking the minimal steps that is necessary to make it an ending and doing nothing else.
None of the flaws really fall that heavy and for the most part they tend to increase my interest in the sequel. While "Pay me bug" may be another rehash of the smuggler in space, it is a very good rehash and even if you knew the genre well you could still find new aspects and details that shine a new light on this genre.
September 25, 2013
Pay Me, Bug! is a textbook example of Space Opera. There are dashing smugglers, bizarre aliens and aliens that are very human-like, lasers, spaceship dog fights, and so on. That's not to say that these tropes are bad, or that they make the book bad; in fact the book isn't bad at all. But, it isn't particularly good either.
Pay Me, Bug!, is well written, if a bit weak during the action scenes, the characters are fun for the most part, and there is a lot of snappy dialogue. What really weakens this book is that it doesn't do anything new. All of its settings and aliens, and even some of its characters, feel overly familiar.
If an over-reliance on the tropes of its genre was the only problem I had with, Pay Me, Bug! I would still recommend it, unfortunately there are a few glaring issues with this work. One, is that there is a lot of exposition. And I do mean a lot. For such soft sci-fi (not that there is anything wrong with soft sci-fi) I wasn't expecting how much exposition was crammed in here. And it was rarely useful or very central to the plot. It felt like the author wanted to take a break from the story every now and then so he could tell me how great and original his universe was. Needless to say, this killed the pacing when it showed up.And pacing was a problem in this book. Aside from the bloated exposition, the entire book felt rather uneven.
All that said, Pay Me, Bug!, isn't a bad book. In fact, there's a lot to love here if you really enjoy space opera. The dashing smugglers are dashing, the aliens range from bizarre to something a forehead alien from Star Trek, and the dogfights are exciting. If you can look past the exposition, and the unevenness of the pacing, then give this book a look.
Pay Me, Bug!, is well written, if a bit weak during the action scenes, the characters are fun for the most part, and there is a lot of snappy dialogue. What really weakens this book is that it doesn't do anything new. All of its settings and aliens, and even some of its characters, feel overly familiar.
If an over-reliance on the tropes of its genre was the only problem I had with, Pay Me, Bug! I would still recommend it, unfortunately there are a few glaring issues with this work. One, is that there is a lot of exposition. And I do mean a lot. For such soft sci-fi (not that there is anything wrong with soft sci-fi) I wasn't expecting how much exposition was crammed in here. And it was rarely useful or very central to the plot. It felt like the author wanted to take a break from the story every now and then so he could tell me how great and original his universe was. Needless to say, this killed the pacing when it showed up.And pacing was a problem in this book. Aside from the bloated exposition, the entire book felt rather uneven.
All that said, Pay Me, Bug!, isn't a bad book. In fact, there's a lot to love here if you really enjoy space opera. The dashing smugglers are dashing, the aliens range from bizarre to something a forehead alien from Star Trek, and the dogfights are exciting. If you can look past the exposition, and the unevenness of the pacing, then give this book a look.
March 5, 2017
I quite enjoyed this. It was, in some ways, your standard honorable thief in space story, but, it felt pretty novel. There were aspects of the world building that seemed new, and I thought the character development was well done.
I thought about putting it up to a 5 - I can't really find flaws to call out. On the other hand, it just wasn't quite exciting enough to feel like I want to do that.
I thought about putting it up to a 5 - I can't really find flaws to call out. On the other hand, it just wasn't quite exciting enough to feel like I want to do that.
October 30, 2022
On the lighter side and this doesn’t take itself too seriously -- but it delivers solid, entirely enjoyable galactic hijinks. As far as I could tell, this is not part of a series -- and for a change, I’m sorry about that. I’d love to read more about the further adventures of the captain and crew of the interstellar vessel “Fool’s Errand”... Will look into more of Wright's writing in the future.
January 30, 2019
couldn't put this down. omg. so good.
February 26, 2021
Great space opera. This tics all the boxes of the genre, is well written, humourous, and everything I love about the genre.
September 13, 2024
It took me 9 years to finish this book. But it is WAY better than the title suggests it should be. I enjoyed this immensely. But I am an admitted sucker for a heist story.
May 9, 2012
Pay Me, Bug! is my first venture into the realm of “Space Opera.” Don’t get me wrong, I love science fiction, but the word “opera” alone conjures visions of stuffy old men and women in powdered wigs, begging for attention. Not exactly an exciting vision, even with the word “space” in front of it. This book, however, is anything but boring—it kept me interested, from the first page to the very last. It’s not just entertaining; it’s witty and smart, with sophisticated ideas that are easy to read.
The crew of the Fool’s Errand, captained by Grif Vindh, are smugglers on a good day, but they’re also a collection of friends, ex-lovers, adventurers, and bad asses—both human and alien. Some of my favorite parts of this book involve those where the narration follows Ktk—Chief Engineer and “bug” of the story. Due to a complicated reproductive cycle, Ktk prefers the gender-neutral “it” over being classified male or female. It’s at the heart of the story, and no matter how often it loses, Ktk always seems to bet against the Captain—hence the name, Pay Me, Bug! While the title is an optimistic one, this story is unpredictable and will keep you guessing until the very end.
For a book about smugglers who bet, drink, and fight their way out of sticky situations, the language is pretty clean. It has the right amount of description without being overly wordy or too sparse to get a good visual. The dialogue is a perfect companion to the narration—it’s punchy and seamless, and balanced with action scenes.
What I Loved: While Pay Me, Bug! is classified as a Space Opera, a sub genre of Science Fiction, it doesn’t saturate the reader with complex technology—it focuses on its characters and telling the story. Don’t get me wrong, the technology is there, it just doesn’t take center stage.
What I Didn’t Love: In the beginning, I was a bit overwhelmed by the cast aboard the Fool’s Errand, but this corrected itself as the story progressed. Characters that weren’t pertinent to the story seemed to fade into the background, allowing the stronger characters to move the story forward.
Overall: I really enjoyed this book–it’s unique story and original characters made this an incredibly fun read. If I had to bet, I’d say that you’d love Pay Me, Bug! just as much as I did.
(originally reviewed at EasilyMused.com
The crew of the Fool’s Errand, captained by Grif Vindh, are smugglers on a good day, but they’re also a collection of friends, ex-lovers, adventurers, and bad asses—both human and alien. Some of my favorite parts of this book involve those where the narration follows Ktk—Chief Engineer and “bug” of the story. Due to a complicated reproductive cycle, Ktk prefers the gender-neutral “it” over being classified male or female. It’s at the heart of the story, and no matter how often it loses, Ktk always seems to bet against the Captain—hence the name, Pay Me, Bug! While the title is an optimistic one, this story is unpredictable and will keep you guessing until the very end.
For a book about smugglers who bet, drink, and fight their way out of sticky situations, the language is pretty clean. It has the right amount of description without being overly wordy or too sparse to get a good visual. The dialogue is a perfect companion to the narration—it’s punchy and seamless, and balanced with action scenes.
What I Loved: While Pay Me, Bug! is classified as a Space Opera, a sub genre of Science Fiction, it doesn’t saturate the reader with complex technology—it focuses on its characters and telling the story. Don’t get me wrong, the technology is there, it just doesn’t take center stage.
What I Didn’t Love: In the beginning, I was a bit overwhelmed by the cast aboard the Fool’s Errand, but this corrected itself as the story progressed. Characters that weren’t pertinent to the story seemed to fade into the background, allowing the stronger characters to move the story forward.
Overall: I really enjoyed this book–it’s unique story and original characters made this an incredibly fun read. If I had to bet, I’d say that you’d love Pay Me, Bug! just as much as I did.
(originally reviewed at EasilyMused.com
April 21, 2014
When Grif Vindh and his crew pull into the Tylaris system to celebrate after pulling off an impossible heist, all hands begin dreaming of what they'll do next. But the one thing nobody expected was that they'd have to go back and do it all over again. And worse: this time, the mark knows they're coming.
If you told me that Mike Resnick was going to adapt The Sting, and set it in space, this is the book I'd expect him to deliver. Quite simply, it's one of the best indie books I've ever read - and I've read hundreds. The only blight on the entire experience was the odd choices for title and cover art. Once you've read the book, the title makes perfect sense, as it's a reference to a running gag in the story, but it sets entirely the wrong tone for what the story is actually about, which is probably causing a lot of potential readers to skip on past it. And the cover art, while professional looking, fails to convey the frenetic drama of the grown up action adventure that lies inside. (IMO, Resnick's covers offer much better examples of how this kind of story should be packaged.)
But ignoring the issues of packaging, if you like cocky heroes, witty banter, a fast moving plot, and enough twists to braid a yak, then your reading list is incomplete until you've put this one on it.
If you told me that Mike Resnick was going to adapt The Sting, and set it in space, this is the book I'd expect him to deliver. Quite simply, it's one of the best indie books I've ever read - and I've read hundreds. The only blight on the entire experience was the odd choices for title and cover art. Once you've read the book, the title makes perfect sense, as it's a reference to a running gag in the story, but it sets entirely the wrong tone for what the story is actually about, which is probably causing a lot of potential readers to skip on past it. And the cover art, while professional looking, fails to convey the frenetic drama of the grown up action adventure that lies inside. (IMO, Resnick's covers offer much better examples of how this kind of story should be packaged.)
But ignoring the issues of packaging, if you like cocky heroes, witty banter, a fast moving plot, and enough twists to braid a yak, then your reading list is incomplete until you've put this one on it.
October 16, 2015
In this space opera/con job/heist adventure, the stakes are always perilously high, but the mood says everything is going to work out all right. After going terribly wrong for a while. Which is actually great, because you’ll want to see just what trick Captain Vindh has up his sleeve next.
What impressed me most about the writing is that the crew of the Fool’s Errand really seemed like they had a long history together. The banter, trust, and camaraderie amongst the crew really made me believe that they’d been through plenty of adventures already, and some of them were probably more harrowing than the stuff they’re dealing with now. By extension, this made me feel like they were my old friends. That, somehow, I’d been there for the earlier shenanigans, and though I couldn’t really remember any of the details, seeing the crew as they are now gave me nostalgia-fueled warm fuzzies.
This fast-paced space opera is a fun ride all the way through.
What impressed me most about the writing is that the crew of the Fool’s Errand really seemed like they had a long history together. The banter, trust, and camaraderie amongst the crew really made me believe that they’d been through plenty of adventures already, and some of them were probably more harrowing than the stuff they’re dealing with now. By extension, this made me feel like they were my old friends. That, somehow, I’d been there for the earlier shenanigans, and though I couldn’t really remember any of the details, seeing the crew as they are now gave me nostalgia-fueled warm fuzzies.
This fast-paced space opera is a fun ride all the way through.
August 12, 2014
This was a fun read but also quite exhausting. At times, I found the casual tone of the book very annoying. Also, the pacing was extremely fast which was partially good (I couldn’t stop turning the pages) and partially problematic (in some places I would have liked a little more world-building to better “see” the scene – I simply felt out of breath in places).
The story itself is complex and filled with very interesting characters. My favorite being the title-inspiring bug. However, due to the intended casually humorous kind of voice, the author kept me from getting really close to the characters. I missed a little more emotion.
Still, it was an extremely well written book, and the flaws I noticed are merely a matter of personal taste. So, if you enjoy funny, fast-paced, intelligent SciFi, this book is definitely for you.
The story itself is complex and filled with very interesting characters. My favorite being the title-inspiring bug. However, due to the intended casually humorous kind of voice, the author kept me from getting really close to the characters. I missed a little more emotion.
Still, it was an extremely well written book, and the flaws I noticed are merely a matter of personal taste. So, if you enjoy funny, fast-paced, intelligent SciFi, this book is definitely for you.
November 17, 2014
We received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review to be posted on The Review Hart
This is a book for people who enjoy light-hearted sci-fi where classic characters are given a fresh twist. The range of characters is familiar, yet the author brought them to life and made them entirely his own. The races that were represented within the finely woven world were clearly given a lot of thought and are different to the stock that has come to be expected. The plot is well-paced, and the author makes the most of the world and characters to bring about interesting twists and multiple facets that lead to a very enjoyable read. All in all, this is a book that many sci-fi fans will love.
Full Review Available Here
This is a book for people who enjoy light-hearted sci-fi where classic characters are given a fresh twist. The range of characters is familiar, yet the author brought them to life and made them entirely his own. The races that were represented within the finely woven world were clearly given a lot of thought and are different to the stock that has come to be expected. The plot is well-paced, and the author makes the most of the world and characters to bring about interesting twists and multiple facets that lead to a very enjoyable read. All in all, this is a book that many sci-fi fans will love.
Full Review Available Here
July 11, 2015
This book was part of the Immerse or Die bundle. I wish I had liked it better, but I felt it was a bit too formulaic. Basically this is a caper story where a crew of rogues is coerced to steal a McGuffin - some sort of alien artifact which is pretty much irrelevant besides motivating the plot - from a facility belonging to a religious police state run by telepaths. The story is furnished with long-established science fiction tropes. It is smoothly written but I never felt fully engaged - I was just going through the motions while reading it.
While the prose was generally flawless I noticed one instance of "athiest", which is a surprisingly common misspelling. I thought of referring to it as the superlative of the adjective "athy", but Google tells me that other people have beat me to it repeatedly. There was also a "captian" near it; maybe the author was having an off day.
While the prose was generally flawless I noticed one instance of "athiest", which is a surprisingly common misspelling. I thought of referring to it as the superlative of the adjective "athy", but Google tells me that other people have beat me to it repeatedly. There was also a "captian" near it; maybe the author was having an off day.
October 14, 2015
This book describes itself right off the bat as being space opera, and it means it. It's a book with no pretensions of being serious science fiction: it just wants to be an adventure tale with space ships and aliens and technology so advanced that it is indistinguishable from magic, and it is.
I found the writing terrific, hitting its target exactly. It's not a literary masterpiece, but the dialog is snappy and fun, and there were no dull parts to slog through. I read the whole thing in about two days because it was just so much fun and moved so quickly. If you're looking for serious literature or serious science fiction, keep moving. If you want a fun space adventure with occasional science fiction flourishes, I don't think you can do much better than this.
I found the writing terrific, hitting its target exactly. It's not a literary masterpiece, but the dialog is snappy and fun, and there were no dull parts to slog through. I read the whole thing in about two days because it was just so much fun and moved so quickly. If you're looking for serious literature or serious science fiction, keep moving. If you want a fun space adventure with occasional science fiction flourishes, I don't think you can do much better than this.
November 4, 2018
This was an excellent space opera - and quite possibly the best self-published title I've purchased for kindle.
The dialogue is funny and witty without quite crossing the line into excessive. The plot is fast-paced, and the tone of the book is very fun.
Wright does a great job with the crew, creating from the first page the sense that this group of people have a long (and colorful) history. It's certainly irreverent - I stopped counting the number of "noodle incidents" that appeared - but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
It's a little bit Firefly, a little bit Ocean's Eleven in space, and a lot of fun! If you're looking for something in that vein, check it out.
The dialogue is funny and witty without quite crossing the line into excessive. The plot is fast-paced, and the tone of the book is very fun.
Wright does a great job with the crew, creating from the first page the sense that this group of people have a long (and colorful) history. It's certainly irreverent - I stopped counting the number of "noodle incidents" that appeared - but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
It's a little bit Firefly, a little bit Ocean's Eleven in space, and a lot of fun! If you're looking for something in that vein, check it out.
December 5, 2015
I got this book in a bundle, so I wasn't at all familiar with the author when I started reading, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The plot moves along at a consistently good clip; the characters, while occasionally reliant on genre archetypes, are enjoyable in their interactions; and the worldbuilding is actually pretty smooth.
Aside from a few typos, it's hard for me to find much to complain about, given how quick and satisfying a read this was. It left me wanting more, which is by far the preferable outcome for a book.
Aside from a few typos, it's hard for me to find much to complain about, given how quick and satisfying a read this was. It left me wanting more, which is by far the preferable outcome for a book.
May 30, 2014
Space opera!
I haven't read a space opera since... well, since I was a wee bit younger. This is fast paced, colourful and such an easy read that it's hard to put down. I'm looking forward to more adventures of Capt Grif and his crew.
This is an homage to the Golden Age of science fiction, sure, but it's also a fine read in and of itself. That the author chose a classic model to work with is to his credit.
Well done!
I haven't read a space opera since... well, since I was a wee bit younger. This is fast paced, colourful and such an easy read that it's hard to put down. I'm looking forward to more adventures of Capt Grif and his crew.
This is an homage to the Golden Age of science fiction, sure, but it's also a fine read in and of itself. That the author chose a classic model to work with is to his credit.
Well done!
October 12, 2024
Captain of an independent trader ship is blackmailed into stealing the unstealable from ones of the galaxy's superpowers.
Pretty tropey. Galaxy is split in half by two opposing superpowers with a buffer of independent traders and criminals between. What sets this apart is the humour. The captain isn't your typical battle hardened genius who always overcomes the odds with quick whit and a quicker trigger finger. Nope, it's mostly luck and bluff with a solid crew behind him.
Pretty tropey. Galaxy is split in half by two opposing superpowers with a buffer of independent traders and criminals between. What sets this apart is the humour. The captain isn't your typical battle hardened genius who always overcomes the odds with quick whit and a quicker trigger finger. Nope, it's mostly luck and bluff with a solid crew behind him.
May 18, 2015
It's hard to decide between three and four stars, so I went with four.
This isn't exactly "space opera" as some have called it, but I don't know what else I'd call it.
There are some pacing issues, even during some of the action, but overall it manages to be amusing and interesting enough to be worth reading.
This isn't exactly "space opera" as some have called it, but I don't know what else I'd call it.
There are some pacing issues, even during some of the action, but overall it manages to be amusing and interesting enough to be worth reading.
May 16, 2015
Despite the unfortunate title, this is a fun science fiction novel about stealing a mysterious something from a group of telepathic religious fanatics. No character building was done. No real world building was done. But there are lots of clever lines and amusing scenes. This is not fine fiction, but it is a lot of fun.
July 19, 2016
Comedic science is hard to pull off, but that's just what this book does. I was laughing aloud at various scenes -- it doesn't take itself too seriously, some of the set up is clear homage or parody of certain well-known series, but it keeps its tone consistently through while delivering an exciting adventure.
December 28, 2012
Imagine Firefly done by Robert Rodriguez or maybe even Quinton Tarantino.
May 28, 2015
If, like me, you're a Firefly fan, you're going to love this book. Conversely if you "didn't get into" Firefly, you might just want to move along.
August 3, 2015
Fast pace space opera which makes for fun reading. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
December 23, 2015
Fast paced and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
June 14, 2015
веселе чтиво у стилі серіалу "firefly"… але до справжньої, твердої четвірки не дотягує.
August 12, 2015
Quick read, great characters and good natured humor. Love the dialog and the interactions between the characters.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews