"Space Tripping has all the froody energy of a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy flashback while keeping a style and atmosphere all its own...Grab yourself a towel and a drink and settle in for an enjoyable ride. --San Francisco Book Review
Chuck never thought too deeply about whether aliens existed--not until Jopp, an intergalactic transport pilot, drunkenly crashed on Earth and tried to steal his truck.
Now, Chuck finds himself unwittingly roped into helping Jopp work off a debt to the universe's most powerful corporation, the Prime Partners Intergalactic Consortium. Through a series of mishaps and misfortune, the duo finds themselves in possession of a mysterious black case. In order to survive, they must fend off murderous marauders, an interplanetary police force, a peculiar crime boss, and escape a backwater planet inhabited by alien hillbillies. It's a big and scary universe out there, and Chuck and Jopp will be damned if they're going to face it sober.
I really enjoyed the opening in this novel. It felt quite humorous and quite a corporate nightmare with aliens in portraits and getting stuck with the short end of the wage-stick no matter where you're from or what you plan on doing. Truckers always get it worse than anyone else, and these poor dudes never get a break.
The rest of the novel quickly turns into a straight adventure with a bit of slight drunkenness as they get thrown into a bit of mystery, a bit of fighting, and a bit of hijinx in the greater galactic dirty old town.
The author grew up in Chicago. Just apply that whole idea into a much stranger "business as usual" galactic environment full of sad chuckles and surprising twists and you've got yourself Space Tripping. This is a pretty accomplished adventure that reminds me an awful lot of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet as well as a hint of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with plenty of our geek culture nods because, after all, one of the main characters was just one of us. Just how would you fare when you get stung with a slightly different version of a babel fish? (Thank god he didn't have to swallow that one!) :)
I think this was just plain fun! Plain folks for the win! :)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Futurama meets Guardians of the Galaxy
Although it starts off a little meh, with its blatant Douglas Adams rip-off, Space Tripping finds its footing after a few chapters. Consistently funny throughout the novel, it's interesting, action-packed, and irreverent. But what really makes it work? The characters. The way the four in the core team interact is exactly what you want out of a book like this: joking around with teasing and yet, a touch of some heartfelt moments make their way through.
Wildly entertaining, I'll be on the lookout for any more books by this author. Let's hope Space Tripping 2 comes pretty soon.
This was a pretty fun haphazard space-romp. Chuck is the Luckily-unlucky 'Earth Man' accidentally thrown into the bizarre world of 'the rest of the universe'. As he ends up taking a courier job from the universe's most prolific mega-corps, his travels lead him to those most bizarre situations only an average-joe human can think their way out or. There were plenty of chuckles and eye-roll jokes abound, but that was to be expected. (i mean, look at the title). So yes, if you're looking for that silly space romp with some action, aliens, anomalies, and evil greedy corporate heads, espionage and wit, there have at it!
This was a funny scifi action story where a human accidentally ends up in space and finds out that not only is there life in the universe, but that humans are considered very primitive. There are a lot of different aliens that star in this story, and the circumstance in which the hero finds himself is rather preposterous. However, that is in keeping with the overall tenor of the story as he and his partner find themselves on a world of aliens that glorify human life, but seem to have learned what humans are like from watching Animal House. Overall the story is fun and light and doesn't take itself too seriously as it becomes more and more bizarre.
The reason I didn't give more stars was that there wasn't much world building and the characters didn't grow much. The book reads something like a 'B' buddy movie, which is fun, but not moving.
I received a free copy for review; my comments were my own.
Hilarious and ridiculous and TONS of alcohol! Two drunken idiots-one a human and one an alien-try to outwit the entire universe who are all after them. Really, you just have to read it….I can’t even begin to describe it! The main characters are funny and flawed in so many ways and they are perfectly matched-the rest of the book’s cast is just as amusing & enjoyable. Great world building-it’s good to know the rest of the universe is as screwed up as us! An entertaining and very fast paced plot makes this book a great read! Definitely a top book! (There is a sequel out there that I am looking for and hope to get very soon!)
“Chuck never thought too deeply about whether aliens existed--not until Jopp, an intergalactic transport pilot, drunkenly crashed on Earth and tried to steal his truck. Now, Chuck finds himself unwittingly roped into helping Jopp work off a debt to the universe's most powerful corporation, the Prime Partners Intergalactic Consortium. Through a series of mishaps and misfortune, the duo finds themselves in possession of a mysterious black case. In order to survive, they must fend off murderous marauders, an interplanetary police force, a peculiar crime boss, and escape a backwater planet inhabited by alien hillbillies. It's a big and scary universe out there, and Chuck and Jopp will be damned if they're going to face it sober.” (From the book blurb)
The cover an tagline might make you think this is a riproaring drunken adventure in Space mixed with humor.
Well... it is. It's that, but also about the crushing depression and misery of working off debt and... really, what else are you going to do while you float in the emptiness of space?
Honestly, despite the humor and obvious punch lines, it's actually a total space opera book and I don't think that is often said enough. If you are a fan of the recent space opera rise, you'll enjoy this. It's light, action packed, a bit cliche at times, but that's the point. What the novel excels at is dialogue. I've chuckled while reading before, but I don't often have to hold my gut. Edwards does a really damn good job with his written dialogue, and it really shines through as the excelling part of the novel. It's that good, I actually want to hear it again in audible format.
Okay, this one was definitely not for me. I like SF, I like fantasy, but this didn't work for me.
An alien who crash landed his spaceship on Earth think he takes a ride with some kind of transportation device to where ever. Unfortunately it was not a transportation device but a big truck. Somehow he, the alien and the truck ends up in a large spacecraft.
The characters were okay-ish, but the world building could have been much better.
I received a free copy for review; my comments were my own.
Space Tripping is laugh out loud funny. The characters are fun and the pace is incredibly smooth and fast. This is an easy read that will put a smile on your face. Mr. Edwards' debut novel is an entertaining adventure that will keep you turning pages.
If his (non-existent?) editor had simply required Edwards to delete every !@$* use of the word "Um" to start one of Chuck's sentences, the book would have earned 3 stars in my review. It's some of the clumsiest writing I've seen in print (for an adult audience) in a long time. For goodness sake, man, learn some other trick for communicating how "uncertain" your stock character protagonist is feeling during this stock-scene moment.
A "fun" bro-heist story translated to a generic future-space universe. Earth man gets transported to alien world. All expected clichés appear, including several bar scenes meant to evoke Mos Eisley, a Guardians of the Galaxy-esque cast of misfits on a ship flying around doing a thing, and lots of bro-humor one-liners.
Don't get me wrong, I can chuckle at bro-humor with everyone else on Reddit. But this is a "published" novel (granted, it was crowd-funded/published) and I've been trained by John Scalzi to expect much snappier dialogue from someone who's attempting to ride the line of levity and actual storytelling. I can excuse weak plotting if the dialogue is snappy. I can bear dull dialogue if the plot is engaging. For the life of me, I cannot endure both. (I will say the interrogation scene around the ⅔ point is a high mark in the book. Wish Edwards had spent more time reworking all the other 28 chapters to that level of quality.) It was such a fast read that I decided to see it through to the end, and I guess I'm not particularly mad that I'll never get those minutes back.....
...Won't be nominating this for the 2018 Hugo Awards.
Publishers Description: Chuck never thought too deeply about whether aliens existed — not until Jopp, an intergalactic transport pilot, drunkenly crashed on Earth and tried to steal his truck.
Review: I had some fun reading this. Kind of a cross between Jinx on a Terran Inheritance meets Hitchhiker’s Guide. A real epic space fantasy that is very tongue in cheeky while delivering fun characters wrapped in constant movement. Do not take the science behind the farce seriously and make sure you have a good time. I look forward to the next adventure and more aliens!!
Probably I didn’t get the book, or the humor, or it could have been the previous book fault that was so different from these.
Gave it a shoot, twice. The first time got to the third chapter and didn’t like it. The second time took it as a challenge until I finished.
If a compare the book to what I’m reading now that also has a “funny story” - “the kingdom razed by dragons” I’m having a much better time and really having Laughs from the chapters.
Hope some one else enjoys it. As I said I probably didn’t get it.
Other than the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, I can’t think of many other books that start out more strangely than Space Tripping.
The tale opens when Chuck Higgins is standing by his truck and a drunken alien pilot, Jopp Wenslode, crash-lands on earth and tries to hijack the truck. In short order, the truck, Chuck, and Jopp are pulled skyward inside a huge alien spaceship. All this in less than three pages.
A bewildered Chuck finds himself forced to help Jopp work off a debt to the universe’s oldest corporation, the Prime Partners Intergalactic Consortium. That or be eaten by aliens who don’t think much of human abilities. Chuck and Jopp are chased across the galaxy as Jopp has been assigned the task of transporting a mysterious and apparently valuable black case. What follows is something of a college guy’s sci fi fantasy. There are endless streams of flowing alcohol or similar beverages with equivalent kicks. Chuck is astonished to meet a species called the Griffins who believe earth humans have set the intergalactic standard for partying. Perhaps alluring police officer Rohi Kahpanova can best be described as Omni-sexual as she gets along with various genders and alien species, although we don’t see her, or anyone else for that matter, engaged in that sort of physical activity.
Despite claims made in the book’s publicity, I wouldn’t categorize this quirky tale as comedy. Most of the humor occurs in the bantering, very colloquial dialogue between Jopp and Chuck. There’s one element very reminiscent of the Stainless Steel Rat books, namely the constant stream of escapes from space pirates and interplanetary police.
Patrick Edwards gives us more than a fast-paced if very light read. He has a very descriptive eye, especially detailing the constantly shifting settings and the many types of aliens. Still, this isn’t a romp to take very seriously. It’s like an old-fashioned science fiction adventure story with no attempt to be believable or give readers some sort of social message. If you like your sci fi fun, Space Tripping should be down your alley. Oh yea, it’s just volume one of a new series. There’s a sample chapter from book two to whet your appetite.
This review was originally published at: goo.gl/WK8cUg
The publisher's summary makes this book seem like the story of a couple of booze-hounds bumbling through space-bars and open space and the humorous antics that ensue. It's not. It's more of a sci-fi action adventure, involving a space-napped human and the alien space-hauler pilot, who got him in the whole mess in the first place, as they have one misadventure after another; including being hunted by space-pirates, being declared the most wanted criminals in the galaxy, being arrested, interrogated and imprisoned, by the interplanetary space force, escaping prison and going on the run... all the while, trying to figure out why the only cargo, in their spacecraft's massive cargo hold, is a mysterious black suitcase that they can't open and that everyone seems to want... and why is everyone, they run into, trying to get them liquored up or trying to kill them? All of this interspersed with occasional wisecracks, merciless haranguing, clever comebacks, popular sci-fi references, drunken shenanigans and the odd barroom brawl.
IF you're looking for distant planets, space battles, far ranging corporate plots and drunk aliens doing the equivalent of "hold my beer" then this book is for you. It was amusing and a very quick read. I think I actually knocked it out in a day.
The reason this suffers in my opinion is that I have other drunken adventures that I am much more partial to. Totally not a "fair" thing to this author, but it is how I feel.
If you like this book and you're looking for something else, you will probably very much enjoy the works of the Drunken Comic Book Monkeys in Scary Tales of Scariness (Fortress Publishing).
I enjoyed this book. I found the character development quite good, with the characters acting in a consistent manner throughout the book. I also liked the world-building and pacing. The story was light but with very few laugh-out-loud moments but there was one scene mid-book that was very funny. The banter between the protagonists was also quite good. All these factors made the book enjoyable to read but none of these was good enough to garner 5 stars from me. The writing was not as clever, insightful or funny as Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Still, it is worthwhile reading for some lighter science fiction. Thank you to Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the advance reader copy.
This was a pretty fun haphazard space-romp. Chuck is the Luckily-unlucky 'Earth Man' accidentally thrown into the bizarre world of 'the rest of the universe'. As he ends up taking a courier job from the universe's most prolific mega-corps, his travels lead him to those most bizarre situations only an average-joe human can think their way out or. There were plenty of chuckles and eye-roll jokes abound, but that was to be expected. (i mean, look at the title). So yes, if you're looking for that silly space romp with some action, aliens, anomalies, and evil greedy corporate heads, espionage and wit, there have at it!
For a bad novel, Patrick Edwards' 2017 "Space Tripping" is actually reasonably decent to read. I know that sounds odd, but it looks like Edwards set out to write a parody-ish type of science fiction/action novel and that's what he accomplished. The universe is pretty silly, the science is ridiculous, the plot is far-fetched, and the characters are shallow. But, it's actually decent to read. If he had written it with any kind of cleverness instead of just going for a "Bill and Ted" feel, I'd have been happier. But, as is, I can give it is an OK 3 stars out of 5.
Hilarious! When an alien crash lands on Earth and hides in Chucks semi truck an adventure begins. Lots of booze, cussing!, and an intergalactic delivery since Chuck drives a truck. The author 'tells' the story rather than it unfolding but I didn't mind. It moved right along and had enough twists and turns that I enjoyed the story very much. Needed some editing and tightening of the plot but all in all a nice quick read. Received a copy for review-opinion is my own.
While the world building is interesting, the story is not. The characters where not to my liking. One, an Earthling, the other one an alien. They keep ruining their chances at success at every turn, so you're left wondering if they're unlucky or just plain dumb. Their dialogues are full of quips and half-jokes in a failed attempt at comedy. I didn't enjoyed this adventure as much as I hope I would.
This book is fun wild sci fi adventure anyone could love I think. Chuck the "Earth ape" as he is mostly called in the book a trucker if I remember right learns there is more to the universe than he imagine when he meets jopp a yellow alien that loves to drink who crash landed on earth cause he was drunk. A whirlwind of action comedy adventure loads of drunkenness it is worth reading.
The H2G2 one-random-human-meets-the-galaxy premise and the promise of laughs led me toward this forthcoming science fiction series of capers, but the puns and wordplay delivered more delight than I anticipated! I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration and characterization of new alien species and settlements. Recommended for anyone in the mood for space traveling antics and fun!
This is certainly not a serious story, so don't go here if that's what you're seeking. There's some good humor here, and some zany events, but certainly a fun, light read. Writing comedy is risky, but Edwards pulls it off.
Normal guy, gets beamed up by aliens and dropped into the middle of a very big, bustling universe. Can Chuck survive the chaotic mis-adventure he's just unwittingly become a part of AND make friends along the way? Strap on your Read-Alls, look out for space pirates, and enjoy the ride!