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Genrenauts #2
The Absconded Ambassador
Fiction is more important than you think. When stories go wrong, the Genrenauts step in to prevent the consequences from rippling into our so-called real world.
When a breach is discovered in Science Fiction World, rookie genrenaut Leah Tang gets her first taste of space flight.
A peace treaty is about to be signed on space station Ahura-3, guaranteeing the end of hostilities between some of the galaxy's most ferocious races, but when the head architect of the treaty is unexpectedly kidnapped, it's up to Leah and her new colleagues to save the day.
At any cost.
121 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 23, 2016
2 people are currently reading
453 people want to read
About the author
Michael R. Underwood
35 books262 followersSupport Mike's writing at https://www.patreon.com/michaelrunder...
Mike's books include:
Genrenauts - a r/Fantasy Stabby Award-finalist science fiction adventure series in novellas. A group of storytellers travel between dimensions to the worlds where genres live to fix broken stories. Starts with The Shootout Solution. Collections available: Genrenauts - The Complete Season One
The Ree Reyes urban fantasy series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek, Hexomancy) about magicians who channel the power of popular culture. Starts with Geekomancy.
Born to the Blade, a political action fantasy about duelist diplomats vying for their nation's interests in a world on the brink of war. Co-written with Marie Brennan, Malka Older, and Cassandra Khaw for Serial Box Publishing. Collections available: Born to the Blade Season One.
Shield and Crocus, a superheroes-meets-epic fantasy novel where an aging revolutionary makes a deal with his most deadly foe to turn the tide of a fifty-year-long fight to free his city.
The Younger Gods, a supernatural thriller starring the white-sheep member of a family of demon-worshippers as he tries to stop his big sister from ending the world.
Mike started telling stories when he learned to talk and hasn't seen a reason to stop yet. He grew up playing video games, CCGs, RPGs, and many other delightful games with acronyms. As a teenager, the friendly local game store was his home away from home, and the site of his apprenticeship in geekdom.
Mike earned a B.A. in Creative Mythology and in East Asian Studies from Indiana University, and a M.A. in Folklore Studies from the University of Oregon. Basically, destined to be a novelist. He is also a graduate of the 2007 Clarion West Writers Workshop.
Properly equipped with lots of ways to develop story ideas, Mike has been a barista, a bear builder, a sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books.
Mike lives with his wife and their dog in Baltimore, MD.
Mike's books include:
Genrenauts - a r/Fantasy Stabby Award-finalist science fiction adventure series in novellas. A group of storytellers travel between dimensions to the worlds where genres live to fix broken stories. Starts with The Shootout Solution. Collections available: Genrenauts - The Complete Season One
The Ree Reyes urban fantasy series (Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek, Hexomancy) about magicians who channel the power of popular culture. Starts with Geekomancy.
Born to the Blade, a political action fantasy about duelist diplomats vying for their nation's interests in a world on the brink of war. Co-written with Marie Brennan, Malka Older, and Cassandra Khaw for Serial Box Publishing. Collections available: Born to the Blade Season One.
Shield and Crocus, a superheroes-meets-epic fantasy novel where an aging revolutionary makes a deal with his most deadly foe to turn the tide of a fifty-year-long fight to free his city.
The Younger Gods, a supernatural thriller starring the white-sheep member of a family of demon-worshippers as he tries to stop his big sister from ending the world.
Mike started telling stories when he learned to talk and hasn't seen a reason to stop yet. He grew up playing video games, CCGs, RPGs, and many other delightful games with acronyms. As a teenager, the friendly local game store was his home away from home, and the site of his apprenticeship in geekdom.
Mike earned a B.A. in Creative Mythology and in East Asian Studies from Indiana University, and a M.A. in Folklore Studies from the University of Oregon. Basically, destined to be a novelist. He is also a graduate of the 2007 Clarion West Writers Workshop.
Properly equipped with lots of ways to develop story ideas, Mike has been a barista, a bear builder, a sales representative, and the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books.
Mike lives with his wife and their dog in Baltimore, MD.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
February 8, 2016
Thanks goes to Tor and the author for the ARC!
A few weeks in to her new life, Leah gets thrown into two, yes, two, major infodumps! Poor girl. I never guessed that managerial duties in a big corporation could sound like so much technobabble and serve all the same functions... but wait!
This Is SF. Of course we have technobabble! Especially when we're getting ready for SPACE OPERA! Woo Woo!
My Genre-loving friends, get ready... we're out of the saddle and back in the Saddle, but this time we've got alien politics, burgeoning alliances, mystery, and enough fast-paced Pew-Pew action to make me think I was in a golden age rocket ship, and indeed, that's the point.
Gotta save the universe by saving the universe. Always the multiple layers. :)
I won't give it away, but there's a special crossover and some special character development. It makes me wonder if the ongoing genre-bending events on both sides of the tracks are going to get us into a lot of epic troubles.
It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it serves as a great continuing story hook that is still self-referential in all the story ways it needs to be if it's going to be a self-respecting meta-Genrenaut.
Be forewarned! Setting is just as important in Space Opera SF as story, so don't blink! :)
A few weeks in to her new life, Leah gets thrown into two, yes, two, major infodumps! Poor girl. I never guessed that managerial duties in a big corporation could sound like so much technobabble and serve all the same functions... but wait!
This Is SF. Of course we have technobabble! Especially when we're getting ready for SPACE OPERA! Woo Woo!
My Genre-loving friends, get ready... we're out of the saddle and back in the Saddle, but this time we've got alien politics, burgeoning alliances, mystery, and enough fast-paced Pew-Pew action to make me think I was in a golden age rocket ship, and indeed, that's the point.
Gotta save the universe by saving the universe. Always the multiple layers. :)
I won't give it away, but there's a special crossover and some special character development. It makes me wonder if the ongoing genre-bending events on both sides of the tracks are going to get us into a lot of epic troubles.
It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it serves as a great continuing story hook that is still self-referential in all the story ways it needs to be if it's going to be a self-respecting meta-Genrenaut.
Be forewarned! Setting is just as important in Space Opera SF as story, so don't blink! :)
January 10, 2016
Episode 2 of Genrenauts - this story takes the team to a region in the Science Fiction world, where they work to rescue a kidnapped Terran ambassador while keeping the political situation on a space station from going critical mass.
Featuring weird aliens, space dogfights, and more about Roman's backstory and Shirin's style of Genrenaut-ing. This episode riffs on my love for Babylon 5, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and more.
Featuring weird aliens, space dogfights, and more about Roman's backstory and Shirin's style of Genrenaut-ing. This episode riffs on my love for Babylon 5, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and more.
March 14, 2016
Mike Underwood is a master of the SFF genre(s); I say that, due to his effortless deconstruction of book archetypes in his Genrenauts series. A brilliant showing on his side for the inner workings, tropes, and habits of the writers and characters of SFF. The Absconded Ambassador continues this trend, this time uninhibited by the need to introduce characters and concepts, able to move forward and focus on story alone. In this case, he breaks down the Science Fiction/Space Opera category, and show a very deft hand in categorizing and deciphering the generic code of the genre, while injecting quite a bit of humor into the situation.
I enjoyed this equally as much as the first, my only complaint being again that I feel as though he could have delved a bit deeper into the deconstruction of the genre, even in the same number of pages he used to present this serial novella. The story itself was entertaining and fun, and very well handled; however, I felt Michael could have fairly easily included more details, tropes and easter eggs than he chose to in the end. The final result is still a wildly interesting and entertaining tale.
I enjoyed this equally as much as the first, my only complaint being again that I feel as though he could have delved a bit deeper into the deconstruction of the genre, even in the same number of pages he used to present this serial novella. The story itself was entertaining and fun, and very well handled; however, I felt Michael could have fairly easily included more details, tropes and easter eggs than he chose to in the end. The final result is still a wildly interesting and entertaining tale.
September 10, 2022
Tempted to say "it's not you, it's me" about this one, but honestly... I'm not sure. I remember thinking the first book was a good bit of unique story-telling fun; this book just bored me to tears. Maybe I'm not as in the mood for sci-fi as I thought I was when I picked this up? I must have technically read this entire thing twice, because I kept rewinding the audiobook, hoping that the information would penetrate better and this plot (an abducted ambassador on a space station) would start getting interesting to me. It did not. I was disinterested all the way through. Maybe I should have done the book a favour and put it down, and picked it back up when I was more in the mood but, oh well. I didn't do that, and I didn't like this. Not that there was anything wrong with it! I remember thinking that this concept would be great for a movie, and that's still my prevailing thought here.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Mary Robinette Kowal; it was once again okay. I mostly just don't vibe with any of the voices she does for the guys, but otherwise, I enjoyed it! I'll probably pass on the rest of this series (though a romcom world sounds interesting...) because this almost put me in a slump. Alas, et cetera.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Mary Robinette Kowal; it was once again okay. I mostly just don't vibe with any of the voices she does for the guys, but otherwise, I enjoyed it! I'll probably pass on the rest of this series (though a romcom world sounds interesting...) because this almost put me in a slump. Alas, et cetera.
January 6, 2016
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Now this was a way to close out 2015 -- the second episode in Michael R. Underwood's Genrenauts delivers on the promise of Episode 1, and demonstrates that his special alchemy of Leverage + The Librarians + Quantum Leap + Thursday Next (just my guess at his secret recipe) has legs -- and will hopefully go a long time.
Leah has had about a week to get used to this new reality since her adventure in Western World -- a week filled with meetings, reading assignments and trying to wrap her head around things. In the meanwhile, everyone at Genrenauts HQ is trying to prepare for the next breach (in the midst of a spike of 15% over the norm, for your corporate types), probably in Romance World. Which obviously means it'll be pretty much anywhere else, like say Science Fiction World.
The station of Ahura-3, in the space opera region, to be specific. I'm sure the similarity between the name of the station and a certain Communications Officer is a huge coincidence. Ahura-3 is everything you want in a space station -- it's a melting pot of very-alien-looking/acting aliens, it's a culture to itself, with strategic location, and very delicate intergalactic politics.
Leah's excitement about being in "honest-to-goodness, Sally Ride is my homegirl zero-g" space was infectious. But even more fun was the amount of SF references Underwood fit into half of chapter 1 -- truly astounding, and didn't feel forced or overcrowded. He deserves a tip of the cap right there. I made it all the way to page 42 without having to Google one of them (I think there was only one other time I had to grab my smart phone). But the fun's not limited to the references and allusions -- it's in the alien cultural practices (and appearances), the various factions (human and otherwise), businesses, and just watching the whole Science Fiction World thing at work.
One thing that's been niggling at the back of my mind with these Episodes is what's to keep Leah from being Ree Reyes 2.0? Underwood seems to be going with keeping Leah from the more Parker/Eliot Spencer-type roles and moving her into the Sophie Devereau/Alec Hardison-type roles. She and Shirin scramble all over the station trying to keep treaty negotiations moving forward. They're thinking on their feet, using their wits, charm and SF knowledge to keep things under control -- Leah's on-the-job training under Shirin helps the readers acclimate to this world, too. The action-hero needs are served by the rest of the team, Roman and King -- whose banter while throwing punches, engaging in dogfights, and so on, kept the fun going (honestly, maybe was a little more fun than the rest).
In Episode 1, I wondered if the pilot nature of the novella kept it from being everything I wanted it to be. The Absconded Ambassador built on that ground work and gave us a solid, fully-formed adventure -- everything I hoped it would be. And that's just in the main story, there's all this other stuff going on: not only do we have a sense of impending doom -- or at least very big crisis -- coming to the Multi-Genre-Verse. But now we've got some sort of secret within the team (not one that's going to cause much trouble, I don't think -- but you never know), and (according to the preview for Episode 3) maybe some intra-team conflict. Underwood just nailed here, and Genrenauts is about half-a-novella away from being his most consistently entertaining work.
I won a copy of this in a drawing on the author's website -- which means I got to read it two months early -- and I got a very nice autograph on the title page. The downside is, I have to wait longer than I'd have had to wait otherwise between Episodes 2 and 3. I still came out ahead, but not by much.
---
Working as a Genrenaut was like being a member of a theater troupe run by a burnt-out hippie who melded Devising with MBA management: the ideas were outlandish and random, but the execution was 100% corporate.
Now this was a way to close out 2015 -- the second episode in Michael R. Underwood's Genrenauts delivers on the promise of Episode 1, and demonstrates that his special alchemy of Leverage + The Librarians + Quantum Leap + Thursday Next (just my guess at his secret recipe) has legs -- and will hopefully go a long time.
Leah has had about a week to get used to this new reality since her adventure in Western World -- a week filled with meetings, reading assignments and trying to wrap her head around things. In the meanwhile, everyone at Genrenauts HQ is trying to prepare for the next breach (in the midst of a spike of 15% over the norm, for your corporate types), probably in Romance World. Which obviously means it'll be pretty much anywhere else, like say Science Fiction World.
The station of Ahura-3, in the space opera region, to be specific. I'm sure the similarity between the name of the station and a certain Communications Officer is a huge coincidence. Ahura-3 is everything you want in a space station -- it's a melting pot of very-alien-looking/acting aliens, it's a culture to itself, with strategic location, and very delicate intergalactic politics.
Leah's excitement about being in "honest-to-goodness, Sally Ride is my homegirl zero-g" space was infectious. But even more fun was the amount of SF references Underwood fit into half of chapter 1 -- truly astounding, and didn't feel forced or overcrowded. He deserves a tip of the cap right there. I made it all the way to page 42 without having to Google one of them (I think there was only one other time I had to grab my smart phone). But the fun's not limited to the references and allusions -- it's in the alien cultural practices (and appearances), the various factions (human and otherwise), businesses, and just watching the whole Science Fiction World thing at work.
One thing that's been niggling at the back of my mind with these Episodes is what's to keep Leah from being Ree Reyes 2.0? Underwood seems to be going with keeping Leah from the more Parker/Eliot Spencer-type roles and moving her into the Sophie Devereau/Alec Hardison-type roles. She and Shirin scramble all over the station trying to keep treaty negotiations moving forward. They're thinking on their feet, using their wits, charm and SF knowledge to keep things under control -- Leah's on-the-job training under Shirin helps the readers acclimate to this world, too. The action-hero needs are served by the rest of the team, Roman and King -- whose banter while throwing punches, engaging in dogfights, and so on, kept the fun going (honestly, maybe was a little more fun than the rest).
In Episode 1, I wondered if the pilot nature of the novella kept it from being everything I wanted it to be. The Absconded Ambassador built on that ground work and gave us a solid, fully-formed adventure -- everything I hoped it would be. And that's just in the main story, there's all this other stuff going on: not only do we have a sense of impending doom -- or at least very big crisis -- coming to the Multi-Genre-Verse. But now we've got some sort of secret within the team (not one that's going to cause much trouble, I don't think -- but you never know), and (according to the preview for Episode 3) maybe some intra-team conflict. Underwood just nailed here, and Genrenauts is about half-a-novella away from being his most consistently entertaining work.
I won a copy of this in a drawing on the author's website -- which means I got to read it two months early -- and I got a very nice autograph on the title page. The downside is, I have to wait longer than I'd have had to wait otherwise between Episodes 2 and 3. I still came out ahead, but not by much.
February 26, 2016
THIS TIME, ON GENRENAUTS!
Space X shuttles are crashing! Technology is going on the fritz! This can only mean a story breach on Sci-Fi World, and a job for…The Genrenauts!
Dr. King and Company are traveling across dimensions to tackle SF story tropes and save an abducted ambassador before she can sign an agreement to form an interstellar alliance aboard the Ahura-3 space station.
As he did with the first installment, The Shootout Solution, Michael R. Underwood has crafted a loving ode to pulp genre fiction set against a slowly developing meta narrative, and peppered it with a few spot-on pop culture references and a whole lot of fun. Fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 should find plenty to enjoy here, the story rife with diplomatic shenanigans, sci-fi action sequences, and lots of loose flowing fun.
One of the things that I’m really growing to appreciate with this still-young series is the character’s own recognition of genre tropes and plot conveniences that define the story worlds they visit, and the ways they harness those familiar storytelling devices to further their own ends. There’s also a nice bit of subtle commentary on how genres overlap, allowing us, the audience, to accept particular tropes as-is thanks to a particular bit of story telling osmosis. The Action Hero mold can fit nicely alongside other familiar tropes in Sci-Fi World due to similar generic devices demanded by the plot. This allows our Earth Prime heroes to defy all kinds of logic in the various story worlds because we the readers are attuned to expect those absences of logic, and it creates a fun bit of meta fiction.
Fun, of course, is of the utmost importance in these stories, and you can tell Underwood is keeping himself mighty entertaining with these characters and the set pieces they encounter. Sticking to the episodic nature of the series, he furthers the overarching narrative in inches and gives us a few new wrinkles and teases character backstories just in time to —
NEXT TIME, ON GENRENAUTS!
December 15, 2015
This novella was provided to me by the publisher at no cost.
I haven't read the first Genrenauts story, so there was a bit of a surprise in the backstory of one of the characters, but nothing game changing. Other than that, it's a straightforward idea - especially if you've read the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books, as I have (well most of them. They lost their appeal after about the fifth book): sometimes there are breaches in what's happening in stories, or genres more broadly, and they need to be fixed before the ripples affect Earth Prime.
This story (and I think the first one too) are largely told from the point of view of a new officer - of course; it makes the storytelling so much easier. This time there's a problem in the science fiction area, so off the crew go in the Firefly-esque mode to a Deep Space Nine-esque station, to figure out what's going on.
I'm really happy with the theory here.
However, I wasn't thrilled with the execution. I thought that the story forgot its genrenaut aspect too often and strayed into straight Science Fiction Action without commentary. There was some very excellent commentary on the idea of the Action Hero and what that archetype is allowed to do, but that wasn't nearly as dominant or as thoughtful as I had hoped. Additionally, it was completely unclear to me whether what was going on in the plot of the in-story story (like the play within the play) was actually a breach, and therefore a problem. This is queried once in the story itself, and I wondered whether this is an ongoing teasing thread throughout the series (there's at least one story to come), but if that's the case then it's neither been set up strongly enough to be intriguing nor set up subtly enough to pack a real surprise at the eventual reveal.
For me, then, this is heavier on the promise than on the delivery.
I haven't read the first Genrenauts story, so there was a bit of a surprise in the backstory of one of the characters, but nothing game changing. Other than that, it's a straightforward idea - especially if you've read the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books, as I have (well most of them. They lost their appeal after about the fifth book): sometimes there are breaches in what's happening in stories, or genres more broadly, and they need to be fixed before the ripples affect Earth Prime.
This story (and I think the first one too) are largely told from the point of view of a new officer - of course; it makes the storytelling so much easier. This time there's a problem in the science fiction area, so off the crew go in the Firefly-esque mode to a Deep Space Nine-esque station, to figure out what's going on.
I'm really happy with the theory here.
However, I wasn't thrilled with the execution. I thought that the story forgot its genrenaut aspect too often and strayed into straight Science Fiction Action without commentary. There was some very excellent commentary on the idea of the Action Hero and what that archetype is allowed to do, but that wasn't nearly as dominant or as thoughtful as I had hoped. Additionally, it was completely unclear to me whether what was going on in the plot of the in-story story (like the play within the play) was actually a breach, and therefore a problem. This is queried once in the story itself, and I wondered whether this is an ongoing teasing thread throughout the series (there's at least one story to come), but if that's the case then it's neither been set up strongly enough to be intriguing nor set up subtly enough to pack a real surprise at the eventual reveal.
For me, then, this is heavier on the promise than on the delivery.
October 4, 2016
This second "episode" in the Genrenauts series is just as fun and funny as the first while sidestepping a couple of issues that cropped up there. It does, however, hit a couple potholes along the way.
The biggest problem is that you have a large-scale plot in a novella, which leads to the story and setting getting short shrift. Yes, I realize that the stories and worlds our heroes jump into are not the focus, but a galaxy-saving treaty being put in jeopardy due to a kidnapping? Epic space operas have been based on less. And the station they visit has too much going on for less than 100 pages to do it justice. Also, the constraints of the form make this whole episode feel rushed. It felt like the author skipped intermediate steps in the plan in order to make page count.
On the other hand, the characters are very well utilized, building on what we learned of them in the first installment. The humor is on point, the action tight, and the overarching plot of the series advanced at what seems a solid pace. Also, since the first story set up the world and central conceits, the exposition isn't nearly as prevalent.
Again, this is a solid, engaging installment in a fun meta-sf series. I'm looking forward to more, though I hope pacing and scale issues are addressed in the future.
The biggest problem is that you have a large-scale plot in a novella, which leads to the story and setting getting short shrift. Yes, I realize that the stories and worlds our heroes jump into are not the focus, but a galaxy-saving treaty being put in jeopardy due to a kidnapping? Epic space operas have been based on less. And the station they visit has too much going on for less than 100 pages to do it justice. Also, the constraints of the form make this whole episode feel rushed. It felt like the author skipped intermediate steps in the plan in order to make page count.
On the other hand, the characters are very well utilized, building on what we learned of them in the first installment. The humor is on point, the action tight, and the overarching plot of the series advanced at what seems a solid pace. Also, since the first story set up the world and central conceits, the exposition isn't nearly as prevalent.
Again, this is a solid, engaging installment in a fun meta-sf series. I'm looking forward to more, though I hope pacing and scale issues are addressed in the future.
October 19, 2016
I read this as an early draft, so it was great to read it again in polished form. Underwood's Genrenauts series pays tribute to scifi crossed with other genres as his heroes work to "fix" broken storylines that create dangerous ripple effects on Earth. This is the most scif-fi of the novellas since they must go to a science fiction world. To me, it reads as a loving send-up to Babylon 5 and other similar shows, and I love it. There's action, political intrigue, and humor galore. Since it's a novella, it's a fast read.
May 24, 2020
Book two takes the rookie Leah Tang and her new teammates to a Space Opera world. And so, as is the case with all space operas, I didn’t care much for it. And no, no one sang. But there was some interplanetary intrigue to solve. The descriptions were fun, some entertaining aliens and so on, seemed very similar to any club or bar on an alien station scene in Star Wars, Star Trek or the like. I’m yet to figure out why space operas don’t sing to me, I like a lot of science fiction, most of it, really, except for military and this ever so popular subgenre. It’s like convoluted in just the wrong way for me to enjoy. But at any rate, like all Genrenauts visits, this one was nice and brief. Kidnapping solved and off they go. On to the next one.
February 28, 2016
Twitter Summary: GalaxyQuest, Redshirts, and now this!
After reading the first book in the Genrenauts series, reviewed here, I thought that being a Genrenaut would be a pretty sweet gig. Mike seems to want to disabuse readers of that notion. The book opens with the line “Genrenaut was like being a member of a theater troupe run by a burnt-out hippie who melded Devising with MBA management: the ideas were outlandish and random, but the execution was 100% corporate.” and that really made me pause for a bit. Don’t get me wrong, being a Genrenaut still seems like it’d be awesome, but now we find out that it’s not all running shoot outs and narrow escapes.
Sometimes there’s PowerPoint.
Mike actually taps into one of my favorite sub-genres, what I call Bureaucracy Porn. Books like The Goblin Emperor, Articles of the Federation (Star Trek), and The Outback Stars peel back the layers and ask questions like “How does the King actually run a kingdom in an Epic Fantasy?” and “What does a junior officer actually do in a Space Opera?”
Mike’s POV character Leah Tang is brand new to the organization. As with most of us starting off, she doesn’t know what the heck she’s doing, relying on her ability to read situations and off her penchant for sarcasm. That’s a character I can relate to.
As with the previous installment, Mike uses his love of genre to spin a story that would feel right at home in a modern day episode of Star Trek, ramping up quickly, doing it’s thing, and then resolving. And just like later season DS9, we get a set of plot threads that we have to tune in next week to see the progression of.
While the plot alone would be a little threadbare, it’s experiencing it through the eyes of genre-savvy characters that really make this series special.
Final Verdict: Thoroughly Enjoyed and I’m definitely in for the next one in Rom Com Land!
Bonus Author Question:
BF: We’ve talked before about your love of Hamilton. Any chance the Genrenauts end up in Broadway Musical land?
Mike Underwood: I want to make this happen really hard, but I’d need to figure out how to convey the feeling of the music and the dancing. If I manage to get a Genrenauts TV show made, that kind of episode would be very high on my priorities.
Other Recommendations:
More unorthodox takes on Genre Tropes:Peacemaker by Marianne de Pierres, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination edit by John Joseph Adams
After reading the first book in the Genrenauts series, reviewed here, I thought that being a Genrenaut would be a pretty sweet gig. Mike seems to want to disabuse readers of that notion. The book opens with the line “Genrenaut was like being a member of a theater troupe run by a burnt-out hippie who melded Devising with MBA management: the ideas were outlandish and random, but the execution was 100% corporate.” and that really made me pause for a bit. Don’t get me wrong, being a Genrenaut still seems like it’d be awesome, but now we find out that it’s not all running shoot outs and narrow escapes.
Sometimes there’s PowerPoint.
Mike actually taps into one of my favorite sub-genres, what I call Bureaucracy Porn. Books like The Goblin Emperor, Articles of the Federation (Star Trek), and The Outback Stars peel back the layers and ask questions like “How does the King actually run a kingdom in an Epic Fantasy?” and “What does a junior officer actually do in a Space Opera?”
Mike’s POV character Leah Tang is brand new to the organization. As with most of us starting off, she doesn’t know what the heck she’s doing, relying on her ability to read situations and off her penchant for sarcasm. That’s a character I can relate to.
As with the previous installment, Mike uses his love of genre to spin a story that would feel right at home in a modern day episode of Star Trek, ramping up quickly, doing it’s thing, and then resolving. And just like later season DS9, we get a set of plot threads that we have to tune in next week to see the progression of.
While the plot alone would be a little threadbare, it’s experiencing it through the eyes of genre-savvy characters that really make this series special.
Final Verdict: Thoroughly Enjoyed and I’m definitely in for the next one in Rom Com Land!
Bonus Author Question:
BF: We’ve talked before about your love of Hamilton. Any chance the Genrenauts end up in Broadway Musical land?
Mike Underwood: I want to make this happen really hard, but I’d need to figure out how to convey the feeling of the music and the dancing. If I manage to get a Genrenauts TV show made, that kind of episode would be very high on my priorities.
Other Recommendations:
More unorthodox takes on Genre Tropes:Peacemaker by Marianne de Pierres, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination edit by John Joseph Adams
February 26, 2016
“Pots of tea so caffeinated you could practically see through time.”
Great fun. Another enjoyable romp through the world(s) with those who charged with keeping the narratives on track. Builds on the first book, but still accessible without having read it.
“A lot of diplomacy is the managing of public image.”
Fast paced and fun. Our protagonist has a backstory, but most of her life is immersed in her job. And what a job it is.
“That’s the problem with pessimism. When I’m right, I still hate the result.”
My main quibble is the story itself: kidnapped ambassadors on the eve of diplomatic breakthroughs is a mainstay opening for space operas. How can that be a narrative breach? Doesn’t make the story any less enjoyable; just not the punch of the first tail, in which the standard denouement to the standard western plot misfired.
“Dawn smiles on the prudent.” “… like a Lao Tzu MBA course.”
“Design shapes narrative.”
Great fun. Another enjoyable romp through the world(s) with those who charged with keeping the narratives on track. Builds on the first book, but still accessible without having read it.
“A lot of diplomacy is the managing of public image.”
Fast paced and fun. Our protagonist has a backstory, but most of her life is immersed in her job. And what a job it is.
“That’s the problem with pessimism. When I’m right, I still hate the result.”
My main quibble is the story itself: kidnapped ambassadors on the eve of diplomatic breakthroughs is a mainstay opening for space operas. How can that be a narrative breach? Doesn’t make the story any less enjoyable; just not the punch of the first tail, in which the standard denouement to the standard western plot misfired.
“Dawn smiles on the prudent.” “… like a Lao Tzu MBA course.”
“Design shapes narrative.”
March 3, 2016
When I read the first of Michael R. Underwood’s new Genrenauts series, I compared it to the pilot of a television show—it was a solid introduction to the series, but it had a lot of pilot episode problems. The Absconded Ambassador is a rather shaky second outing for the series, and it just didn’t work for me. This time the genrenauts travel to science fiction world, which was exciting, but Underwood didn’t really do anything particularly new or interesting with the setting. The Shootout Solution had a sort of twist that, while obvious, was an interesting exploration of western adventure tropes. There’s nothing like that here, which was a little bit of a letdown.
Read the full review at SF Bluestocking.
Read the full review at SF Bluestocking.
May 11, 2017
I picked up this novella, at the library, as something quick to read, while waiting for a couple of reserves that were "en route" from other branches. It's the second, in what appears to be a YA series of novellas, that is about a group of "genrenauts", who travel to various fantasy worlds, of all different genre of books. Their mission, is to fix "breaches" in the storylines of each world. It's kind of a far-fetched idea, but it is rather well-written, with characters that you care about. In this particular "episode"(the author's choice of word), the team travels to a science fiction realm, in outer space, and there is action aplenty. I liked this well enough that I will get a copy of the first book, which has a western setting.
July 30, 2016
Decent addition to the series.
February 8, 2017
Leah Tang is off on her second mission as a rookie Genrenaut, this time to repair a breach in the Science Fiction world. A peace treaty is due to be signed, a boon to life, limb, and trade in a good part of this genre world, but an ambassador who has played a critical role has been kidnapped. If he isn't present for the signing, many of the other intended signatories will back out, because he's the one they all trust. Leah learns a lot about a world that shouldn't exist, a genre she though she knew, and her new colleagues.
She also teaches her colleagues something about the value of lacking preconceptions, otherwise known as significant prior knowledge. Along the way, we get hints that one of those colleagues is something other than what he outwardly seems, too, though everyone agrees Leah isn't ready for that knowledge.
Once again, a lot of fun. Well worth your time.
She also teaches her colleagues something about the value of lacking preconceptions, otherwise known as significant prior knowledge. Along the way, we get hints that one of those colleagues is something other than what he outwardly seems, too, though everyone agrees Leah isn't ready for that knowledge.
Once again, a lot of fun. Well worth your time.
February 9, 2024
"The Absconded Ambassador" is a nicely done second volume for this promising series. Leah, the stand up comic turned inter-dimensional adventuress is back for this fast paced SciFi adventure and there are a lot of opportunities for her character to stand out and shine. The SciFi elements are a lot of fun and will be familiar to fans of space opera and many classic SciFi series. Additionally, there is good world development both in the SciFi genre world the characters visit and the overall series. Expect, a fast paced classic SciFi romp complete with alien races, space stations and weird space politics, more focus on a certain South African tough guy, blue and half-naked alien Chipendales style dancers, Leah getting the hang of the job and for some, not entirely conceivable reason, lots and lots of makeup being worn by the female crew.
March 21, 2018
A fun book taking the genrenauts into the realm of science fiction. You can't really call out this story for all the tropes because frankly that's the basis for the setting. What I have found a little disappointing is the lack of twists or setbacks, at no point in these stories did I ever feel like the bad guys had the upper hand or that our heroes' quest was ever in real danger... I felt that while the characters might have been in real jeopardy there was never any chance of the story going in an unexpected way. This might just be because it's the first couple (short) books in a series and there does seem to be some laying of deep plot elements that'll hopefully play out in interesting ways in subsequent stories.
November 10, 2019
The genrenauts are off to a sci-fi world that is having real world consequences. Someone has kidnapped the ambassador.
888
The audio version has Mary Robinette Kowal doing the narration and she is excellent.
I don’t know… this one didn’t work as well for me as the first episode, perhaps because I didn’t think there was much here to break the common story mechanics… that makes sense within this world. More back story for Roman, Leah is still finding her feet. Some interesting ideas about how expressing doubt within the story can break it.
3 stars.
In the Tor audio collection – the blue one.
888
The audio version has Mary Robinette Kowal doing the narration and she is excellent.
I don’t know… this one didn’t work as well for me as the first episode, perhaps because I didn’t think there was much here to break the common story mechanics… that makes sense within this world. More back story for Roman, Leah is still finding her feet. Some interesting ideas about how expressing doubt within the story can break it.
3 stars.
In the Tor audio collection – the blue one.
November 15, 2017
finished 11/14/17. I think I've found my new "bedtime stories." I am finding the characters to be deeper than expected and I want to know more about each of them. it got a little tiring during the space fighter scene, but I kept switching back to picturing it all like in the old-time arcade game space invaders and got through it. all in all, good story, looking forward to the next in the series.
October 27, 2019
3.5 stars rounded up because I'll read more.
This series is interesting. Basically that Fiction Worlds are real places that can have effects on Earth, so the Genrenauts have to go in and fix things that go wrong in the World. It's a cool premise and though I find the characters lacking, I enjoy the stories well enough to continue reading them.
This series is interesting. Basically that Fiction Worlds are real places that can have effects on Earth, so the Genrenauts have to go in and fix things that go wrong in the World. It's a cool premise and though I find the characters lacking, I enjoy the stories well enough to continue reading them.
February 12, 2018
It was good, but the problem with novellas that rely on action is that they move too quickly sometimes. A big story is squeezed into a limited number of pages, and sometimes it works better than others. In this case, it just manages to work.
October 17, 2018
Still fun.
This was more of a Roman story.
With a sprinkling of intergalactic politics thrown in.
This was more of a Roman story.
With a sprinkling of intergalactic politics thrown in.
May 2, 2019
I liked the premise but the book just couldn't hold my attention. (I think a TV show based on the premise would probably work.)
August 22, 2020
Personal note: the narrator for the audiobook is terrible, can't finish the book in audio form
August 21, 2024
Loved finding more out about roman in this episode. I'm not sure i actually like sci fi maybe sci fi fantasy mixed 😅 very easy to read, glad I have them to dip in and out of
February 26, 2017
In this delightful take on the tropes and styles of different genres, the genrenauts must visit different story worlds and fix breaches that could bleed over into Earth Prime and upset its delicate balance. In this tale, they visit Sci-fi world and must save the ambassador so that the necessary alliance takes place and the treaty is solved.
Michael R. Underwood has come up with a creative story idea. I particularly liked the word play and references to the tropes of science fiction. I felt there were more inside jokes that I would have gotten if I was more familiar with the genre.
These would be particularly interesting to writers as he weaves in different aspects of a particular genre.
Michael R. Underwood has come up with a creative story idea. I particularly liked the word play and references to the tropes of science fiction. I felt there were more inside jokes that I would have gotten if I was more familiar with the genre.
These would be particularly interesting to writers as he weaves in different aspects of a particular genre.
April 30, 2016
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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I really don't have much more to say about the audiobook that I didn't say about the original, but I wanted to get something up -- so if this seems largely familiar, it is. But not entirely ...
The second episode in Michael R. Underwood's Genrenauts delivers on the promise of Episode 1, and demonstrates that his special alchemy of Leverage + The Librarians + Quantum Leap + Thursday Next (just my current guess at his secret recipe) has legs -- and will hopefully go a long time.
Leah has had about a week to get used to this new reality since her adventure in Western World -- a week filled with meetings, reading assignments and trying to wrap her head around things. In the meanwhile, everyone at Genrenauts HQ is trying to prepare for the next breach (in the midst of a spike of 15% over the norm, for your corporate types), probably in Romance World. Which obviously means it'll be pretty much anywhere else, like say Science Fiction World.
The station of Ahura-3, in the space opera region, to be specific. I'm sure the similarity between the name of the station and a certain Communications Officer is a huge coincidence. Ahura-3 is everything you want in a space station -- it's a melting pot of very-alien-looking/acting aliens, it's a culture to itself, with strategic location, and very delicate intergalactic politics.
Leah's excitement about being in "honest-to-goodness, Sally Ride is my homegirl zero-g" space was infectious (especially in this format). But even more fun was the amount of SF references Underwood fit into half of chapter 1 -- truly astounding, and didn't feel forced or overcrowded. He deserves a tip of the cap right there. But the fun's not limited to the references and allusions -- it's in the alien cultural practices (and appearances), the various factions (human and otherwise), businesses, and just watching the whole Science Fiction World thing at work.
Mary Robinette Kowal did another bang-up job. I'm still not crazy about her voice for King, but I listened to this one using my earbuds instead of my car speakers and she's much easier to hear with that voice that way, so it doesn't bother me as much. I liked her alien characters a lot. Shirin and Leah are great (I think I like the audiobook take on Shirin better than the one in my head when reading, actually)
Good way to spend a little time -- very entertaining all around.
---
I really don't have much more to say about the audiobook that I didn't say about the original, but I wanted to get something up -- so if this seems largely familiar, it is. But not entirely ...
Working as a Genrenaut was like being a member of a theater troupe run by a burnt-out hippie who melded Devising with MBA management: the ideas were outlandish and random, but the execution was 100% corporate.
The second episode in Michael R. Underwood's Genrenauts delivers on the promise of Episode 1, and demonstrates that his special alchemy of Leverage + The Librarians + Quantum Leap + Thursday Next (just my current guess at his secret recipe) has legs -- and will hopefully go a long time.
Leah has had about a week to get used to this new reality since her adventure in Western World -- a week filled with meetings, reading assignments and trying to wrap her head around things. In the meanwhile, everyone at Genrenauts HQ is trying to prepare for the next breach (in the midst of a spike of 15% over the norm, for your corporate types), probably in Romance World. Which obviously means it'll be pretty much anywhere else, like say Science Fiction World.
The station of Ahura-3, in the space opera region, to be specific. I'm sure the similarity between the name of the station and a certain Communications Officer is a huge coincidence. Ahura-3 is everything you want in a space station -- it's a melting pot of very-alien-looking/acting aliens, it's a culture to itself, with strategic location, and very delicate intergalactic politics.
Leah's excitement about being in "honest-to-goodness, Sally Ride is my homegirl zero-g" space was infectious (especially in this format). But even more fun was the amount of SF references Underwood fit into half of chapter 1 -- truly astounding, and didn't feel forced or overcrowded. He deserves a tip of the cap right there. But the fun's not limited to the references and allusions -- it's in the alien cultural practices (and appearances), the various factions (human and otherwise), businesses, and just watching the whole Science Fiction World thing at work.
Mary Robinette Kowal did another bang-up job. I'm still not crazy about her voice for King, but I listened to this one using my earbuds instead of my car speakers and she's much easier to hear with that voice that way, so it doesn't bother me as much. I liked her alien characters a lot. Shirin and Leah are great (I think I like the audiobook take on Shirin better than the one in my head when reading, actually)
Good way to spend a little time -- very entertaining all around.
February 20, 2017
This was a GoodReads giveaway provided for review purposes.
In anticipation of reading this book, I found a copy of the first episode of this series. I would recommend you read episode 1, The Shootout Solution, before you start this book. It just sets up the premise for better enjoyment. It is not really necessary to read in order.
This was a fun and humorous story to loose yourself. It pokes fun at itself. It was a quick read and made for a pleasant afternoon read. I tend to more serious science fiction, so I don't see myself continuing with this series (especially since the next one is supposed to be a romance story take off), but this young writer must be multitalented to take on such different genres.
So have yourself a GoodReads.
In anticipation of reading this book, I found a copy of the first episode of this series. I would recommend you read episode 1, The Shootout Solution, before you start this book. It just sets up the premise for better enjoyment. It is not really necessary to read in order.
This was a fun and humorous story to loose yourself. It pokes fun at itself. It was a quick read and made for a pleasant afternoon read. I tend to more serious science fiction, so I don't see myself continuing with this series (especially since the next one is supposed to be a romance story take off), but this young writer must be multitalented to take on such different genres.
So have yourself a GoodReads.
April 21, 2016
There was something bugging me from the beginning of this series, but I ignored it, mainly because I adore the premise and I adored the western setting of the first novella. I don't feel the same about hardcore sci-fi, though, and that thing became more prominent in this second episode. So here goes: telling me that a character is trans or Indian or Middle Eastern or black is most definitely *not* characterization or character development. Diversity is great but this is not a United Colors of Benetton ad, this is literature and literature needs characters. It's great that Mr. Underwood writes this new generation, inclusive fantasy (it really is and I loved what he did with it in the Geekomancy series). But these characters have absolutely no flavor, they have no personality, they all talk the same way and think the same way and all that sets them apart is their... well... their tumblrness. Seriously. A Middle Eastern trans woman with kids, an Indian woman in a wheelchair (we know nothing else about her, really, she's basically just background), a black man who is a literature professor, a Chinese woman who is a stand-up comedian and a South African ex merc. And a generic white woman who likes romance. And these descriptions I give you right here are about all the character development you get. Which makes me think that diversity is used in order to cover up the fact that the characters are cardboard cut-outs. And I feel bad for writing this because this is a truly amazing premise, it would make an excellent TV series or book series maybe but, as a series of novellas is just not working for me.
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