Big Bang

Hal Spacejock #7

by Simon Haynes

Hal and Clunk have an exciting new job.They must land their 200-ton cargo ship beside a remote, abandoned house and carry the contents to safety.Problem is, floodwaters are rising and there's very little time.Then they discover the ground isn't very stable.In fact, the landscape is about as firm as one of Hal's delivery dates.So, it's not long before Hal and Clunk aren't so much on the job... as underneath it.

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Comedy

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2014

About the author

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock, Harriet Walsh and Hal Junior (MG) series. He divides his time between writing fiction and computer software, with the occasional bike ride thrown in for a laugh.

Simon lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Reviews

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good hahah. Again Ive been continuing this series over the past week. Such an easy read, comedic SF with Pratchett style writing. Good fun. Very easy simple to read.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun and exciting Spacejock adventure. This was originally released in a set of sections, but I preferred to wait and read the whole thing in its entirety. This story was extremely interesting because there was a whole alien race that we get to see, the B'Con, a pig/boar like race of people. There are, of course, many jokes and plays on words about them. Hal is still his normal idiotic self and Clunk is still saving his behind. This book was very action packed, there is always something happening to these two characters throughout the book. There are some things that happen that might be considered a big deal in the overall universe of Hal and Clunk, mostly concerning their ship. Overall, this book is just as funny and great as the other Spacejock books and I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Can't wait for the next in the series and the Peace Force series with Harriet!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading the space jock series of books for a while now. This book was originally available as a series, which just didn't work for me. I waited and waited until it was available as one book. It was well worth the wait. Hal and Clunk at their best. A great story, with comedy, suspense and enough bacon to keep you on the edge of your seat... More Space jock please.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant; it's so much fun to read.

With spaceships; and melty stuff; great alien names; and gags coming thick and fast; you will go a Iong way before you find another comedy scifi book that is as good.

Hal Spacejock and his trusty companion Clunk the robot who is co-pilot to Hal's space ship the Volante, are off on another adventure. With finances always in short supply, they have to take jobs where they can get them, and the jobs must be legal ones otherwise Clunk has something to say about it. This makes getting paid work harder to get as Hal has a rival in the freight haulage business. Unfortunately the rival, Kent Spearman has no issues with taking the jobs Hal can't take, because Spearman has a bigger ship and he has advertising which Hal and Clunk can't afford. So Hal takes the jobs Spearman isn't interested in, the lower paid jobs basically.

Hal and Clunk start this story in such an innocent way, with a job; they've been asked to empty a house that stands on land soon to be flooded because it's in the path of a new dam. The previous owner has died, and the family of the house have no time to deal with the task of emptying the property before it floods. It is not easily accessible via road, and it is in a hard to reach area, and is a big house, full of items; hence the need for a space haulage company. They are to transport the furniture etc, to the nearby spaceport and pick up a tidy sum, plus instructions on where to drop off the items. However, what starts off as a normal job, turns into a life or death battle against a huge body of water.

Hal who is always looking for anything small enough that can fit in his pocket. Not that he's a thief exactly, he considers it 'looking after them till the owner asks for them'. Well unfortunately Hal realises as he and Clunk are quickly emptying the house, that there is a basement and that it hasn't been checked yet. Of course, with the waters rising as the dam starts to fill, he risks going down into the basement as the water is rising around his ankles; then suddently...the next exciting bit you will have to read for yourself! 😉 All I will say is that it's very exciting, heart pounding stuff and I loved it!

Hal and Clunk make a brilliant duo, with disagreements and comedy at every turn, the jokes coming left, right, and center; I really enjoyed this thrilling story.

It left me with a smile on my face and a wish to read more by this author. I really like books that leave me feeling like that.

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 5 out of 5]

kindle unlimited

A house clearance job sounds like easy money, but rising floodwaters, an unstable landscape and a surprise find are going to make life very difficult for Hal and Clunk.

the kindle book {and probably the paperback etc} has as of this reading 42 chapters so seems to be Hal Spacejock 7.1,7.2,7.3,7.4,7.5,7.6,7.7,7.8,7.9,7.10 so for each of these just look back to 7 {no number or .} on goodreads, it's just one on amazon.


There's also a new spin-off series, Harriet Walsh, featuring the popular Peace Force character from Hal Spacejock 4: No Free Lunch.

Hal Junior 1: The Secret Signal: science fiction for ages 8-12
Hal Junior 2: The Missing Case: science fiction for ages 8-12
Hal Junior 3: The Gyris Mission: science fiction for ages 8-12

Hal Spacejock 1: A robot named Clunk
Hal Spacejock 2: Second Course
Hal Spacejock 3: Just Desserts
Hal Spacejock Omnibus One {Hal Spacejock Omnibus One Hal Spacejock #1-3, PLUS a bonus short story: Hal Spacejock Visit/4.2}
Hal Spacejock 4: No Free Lunch
Hal Spacejock 4.1: Framed
Hal Spacejock 4.2: Visit
Hal Spacejock 5: Baker's Dough
Hal Spacejock 6: Safe Art
Hal Spacejock 7.1: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.2: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.3: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.4: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.5: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.6: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.7: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.8: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.9: Big Bang
Hal Spacejock 7.10: Big Ban
Hal Spacejock 8: Double Trouble NOT KU

[Veronik Durocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

How did a simple job of furniture moving almost ended up in an intergalactic war...? Hire The Volante crew, add a dam problem, let Hal Spacejock on the loose and you've got the perfect recipe! 😉

[M L Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

Another great yarn with the dynamic duo of Hal and Clunk, really enjoy the human qualities in Clunk the robot, it's where we would hope to get to as robots develop.

[Peter Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best so far.

[Tsana Dolichva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hal Spacejock: Big Bang by Simon Haynes is the seventh Hal Spacejock book (not counting the spin-off Hal Junior series). Like its predecessors, it stands alone well and the series does not need to be read in order to be enjoyed. I picked it up now after buying it a few years ago (when it came out) because I needed a relaxing and cheerful read during a very stressful time of packing and moving.

The most hilarious thing is that the book I chose to distract me from the horrors of moving opened with Hal and Clunk taking on a job that involved... moving the contents of a house. Oops. But at least Hal's and Clunk's moving tribulations were funny, which is the important thing.

Having read the earlier Hal Spacejock books, I went in with certain humour expectations, which were absolutely met. Hal remains accident-prone, self-interested and lacking in foresight. Clunk remains the long-suffering brains of the operation and the main reason Hal is alive. The Navcom computer aboard their spaceship... seemed more vindictive than I remembered, but then it's been a while since I read the other books.

The story focuses mainly on Hal and Clunk and the trouble they manage to get in doing what should be a fairly straightforward job. A new character is also introduced: Amy, who inadvertently finds herself in a similar mess to the others. The three of them have to work together to survive. Big Bang makes for an entertaining read and had me laughing out loud several times. I particularly appreciate that the jokes are not rooted in disregarding/mocking the laws of physics but rather are more of the comedy of errors school. The physics is reasonably well grounded (with the allowed exception of fancy alien technology).

I enjoyed Big Bang and I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series, when/if it comes into existence. I recommend this book — or indeed any Hal Spacejock book — to fans of comedic SF, or indeed any SF fans in need of a laugh.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.