Fishpunk

by Rick Novy

When Wisconsin Territory botanist Calvin Scholz receives a mysterious package from an old friend who recently came to an untimely demise, it sparks a wild adventure. The mid-1840s is a dangerous time, for the Americans are at war with Mexico.

Scholz survives attempts on his life as he tries to deliver the package to his friend's brother, a Savannah ichthyologist interested in fish-powered machinery - ichthyotech. The situation grows increasingly dire, and Scholz finds himself aboard a riverboat in the Amazon Basin wilderness.

While this novel contains a fast-moving, original story, it is also a tasteful parody of the Steampunk movement. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a few compulsory bad puns.

Audible Audio

First published August 2, 2012

About the author

Rick Novy makes his home in a suburb of that great metropolitan desert region of Arizona known as Phoenix. He grew up in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater with a bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics (double major).

He moved to California and lived in the Bay Area for a decade, during which he earned a masters of science in engineering at San Jose State University. In 1999 he moved to Arizona (it’s a wry heat).

Rick spent 14 years as an engineer in the semiconductor industry. He is currently adjunct faculty in the mathematics department at a local community college.

Rick has more interests than he has time to devote. He is a fish keeper suffering from MTS (multiple tank syndrome).

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing concept, but this story needs a lot of work. Avoid the audiobook.

[Mayara Arend · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, everyone knows Steampunk? The first time I've been exposed to Steampunk was with the movie "Captain Sky and the World of Tomorrow" (not sure if that's the original title, but I'm guessing you all know which one it is), where they defined the movie as being "the future as seen from the past". Which is a very interesting and accurate description: it's the future but the future that people living in the steam world could have imagined.

Fishpunk is just that. But with fish. Get it? Fish-punk! Rick Novy writes a very funny parody about the steampunk movement, talking about ichthyotech, biologists, the 1800's USA and the Amazon jungle. Calvin Scholz, a botanic, receives a weird package from a long time friend, an ichthyologist (meaning, a fish expert). He is supposed to take that package to his friend's brother, so off he goes.


After a few attempts on his life, he manages to reach the farm, where he was going either way as he was hired to try and save the plantation from a plague. As he reaches... But no, no, I can't tell you. It's enough to say both brothers were interested in ichthyotech, meaning, technology powered by fish. Yes my people, it's a thing, and it's probably the future. Or the future of the past. Or the past of the future... Anyways...

After that, first the brother and then Calvin depart to Brazil, to the Amazon. And while he spends some time with Mexicans... Having a good time (or not really), just hanging around (well, kind of) and passing time (that's precise). He eventually arrives at the Amazon and, while I'm Brazilian, I've never so much as been to the Amazon. Is more or less like being American and never have been to the Florida swamps. Pretty common and a lot of people simply never do. But we all know some of it and know how it is. I believe it was very well described in the book, which I admire, because not many can do it. It's easy to fall into the "random jungle" description and ignore that the Amazon is huge as hell (or even larger, if legends are real) and forget the language, the rivers, the history. There is a lot there that people tend to get wrong.

And that's where all the magic happens. I can't tell you the story, obviously, the review is meant for you to want to READ the book, peoples! But I can tell you that's a funny story, full of non-intended (or intended) puns, interesting characters, interesting plot development (what's with the Mexicans anyway?) and very good setting. It's a satire, but it's very smart, could be, perfectly, a steampunk novel, but the fish dictate the rhythm.

[Liviu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't make the mistake of going for the audiobook. It's read by the author, but it completely destroys any kind of enjoyment you'd get out of an otherwise bland story with zero interesting characters. There's a really nice premise somewhere in there, and maybe my hopes were a little too high, but I can't recommend this. I could barely pull myself through it to the end.

[Delta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun an interesting concept, but I don't think it was pulled off all that well. The story was quite an adventure, so you have to give it that, but I didn't really get the parody part or much humor. And is it just me or is the ichthyotech never actually explained? How does it even work?

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, light-hearted parody of steampunk that works as a story in its own right. Look for a full review in Tales of the Talisman volume 8, issue 4.

[Pete Aldin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and fresh. The decision fish were an interesting concept. The prose rolled along pleasantly like ... well ... a river. A good read!

[Abby Goldsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute concept. Fans of Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey-Maturin series) might really appreciate the attention to historical detail, and the dry, factual tone. I couldn't get through O'Brian's "Master and Commander" due to the dry details, but I did read Novy's book through to the end, which means I found something about it compelling. I think it was the adventure. There were a few funny moments, but I wouldn't categorize this book as humor or satire at all. It's more like a straight-up derring do adventure of yesteryear.