Robot Captain

by Doug Bedwell

Aboard the starship Undertoe , a skeleton crew of misfits takes orders from a smugly bureaucratic computer which couldn't care less if they live or die. The Undertoe is part of the Galactic Freedom Corporation , a huge interstellar conglomerate whose owner -- the inconceivably wealthy Largo Foote -- has a cunning scheme to seize control of the galactic economy. Unaware that their ship is a key pawn in Largo's master plan, the crew just try to do their jobs, despite the fact that their assignments rarely make sense, and deadly peril seems to stalk them at every turn. As things go from bad to worse, the ship and crew are inexorably drawn to the astonishing Footesphere , Largo Foote's vast and top-secret private residence, where something sinister is afoot... ------------------------ Set in a future that is both weird and weirdly familiar, Robot Captain is a comic sci-fi adventure filled with reluctant heroes, strange aliens, lunatic machines, and more than a few twisted surprises. ------------------------ About the Doug Bedwell has written over fifty plays, which have been presented at professional, academic, and community theatres nationwide. In 2015, Space Bear Press published a two-volume set of his collected works. Robot Captain is his first novel.

Genres: Science Fiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2016

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, that was a quick, and easy and fun (and mostly funny), read ... and, if you are intrigued by the idea of AI ("artificial intelligence") as an oxymoron, or if you're curious about what robot stand-up comedy might sound like, well, you ought to give it a try.

Ultimately, I didn't love it, but I found it more-than-sufficiently entertaining. (Alas, I fear, as I get older, I'm losing more and more of the unadulterated aspects of my sense of humor.) It's much lighter than, say, Hitchhiker's Guide, far less serious than, say, Weir's The Martian, and my gut says it's sillier than Scalzi's more thematic (but to me, more gratifying) Red Shirts or even Agent to the Stars.... It's definitely sci-fi rather than fantasy, so I don't think the analogy to Christopher Moore's stuff works. So, in retrospect, I have to give the author and the book high marks for originality.

For me, the most gratifying moments were often the beginning-of-the-chapter epigraphs, quotes, quips, verses, sayings, morsels, or, more accurately ... inanities. They frequently made me smile. And since the chapters are very short, there are plenty of them.

If, in light of current events and economic trends, you find yourself increasingly offended by (global or domestic) wealth disparity and the social (and environmental) ills that result from unrestrained capitalism (or, say, corporate greed run amok), this might push some of your buttons.

Full disclosure: I can't for the life of me figure out why I bought this book (on Amazon) and downloaded it onto my Kindle, but I can only assume it must've been recommended to me - by some form of AI algorithm (which, is kind of ironic, eh?) - based on other stuff I've read.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of purchasing this book directly from the author as he sat in his booth at GenCon2017. I was immediately drawn to his table by the graphic of a little gerbil with a laser gun, I'm a sucker for a rodent in a space suit. The quotes on the bookmarks laid out in front of him amused me and I read the blurb on the poster behind him with piqued interest. Paging through the book I read a few sentences here and there and loved his writing style. This book had to be mine!
I consumed the majority of the book in one day. It was funny, unexpected and very original. There was an inferred statement on politics and human nature that made this absurd far off future seem not so unimaginable. The pacing was good but I would not have minded if a little length was added to increase character development. I hope for an opportunity to read future adventures involving this ragtag crew.
There were a thousand something booths at GenCon and I feel so lucky to have stumbled across this one! And let me be honest, he had me with the gerbil.

[Jason Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think Douglas Adams meets Philip K. Dick with less pretension . . . Doug Bedwell's Robot Captain is a timeless, extraordinarily relevant, expedition into, what could be, our future. I've used Bedwell's theatrical work in my Secondary classroom for several years and Robot Captain offers his voice in a new format, as a classically constructed novel. My students responded as favorably to RC as any of Bedwell's previous work. They found the content personally relevant, timely, interesting, fun and the narrative is "easy to get lost into" said one 17 year old. This year, we used Robot Captain in our AP English and Theatre classes along side the likes of Shakespeare, Luis J. Rodriguez, Henry David Thoreau, John Keats, Josefina Lopez and others. Capturing the interest of and inspiring teens is no easy feat. Bedwell writes in an easy, colloquial fashion conjuring the "everyman" and this allows adult and student readers time for reflection as we read and discuss his larger thematic elements. Beyond its educational applications . . . Robot Captain is just really f-ing fun to read!

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Robot Captain" by Doug Bedwell was a really good book. Sci-Fi isn't usually my cup of tea, but this was very reminiscent of Douglas Adams and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not often a book grabs me by the nose and has me turning pages quickly, and it's usually a Stephen King book that does it. Doug managed it with this book and I was taken hook, line, and sinker. I could not stop reading once I started and believe me, I am sad there's not more to read.

I was a little off-put by the formating of the text at first, as it seemed jarring, but that quickly grew on me and I found a certain cadence to reading it. There were no less than a few chuckles had during my journey through the book and I'm really sad the story is over already.

Needless to say, I want more.

[Mark Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's as if Douglas Adams wrote a corporate management manual! Hilariously cynical.

[Heather Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird read. It took me a bit to get into it but it was definitely interesting. It kind of reminded me of a satire about a big corporate office and the bigwigs “running” the place and the regular guys who are actually running the place! I can’t even describe anything else about this story-you really need to read it. Fun, fast-paced, amusing, and will make you think. This is definitely one of the oddest books I have read this year!

“Aboard the starship Undertoe , a skeleton crew of misfits takes orders from a smugly bureaucratic computer which couldn't care less if they live or die. The Undertoe is part of the Galactic Freedom Corporation , a huge interstellar conglomerate whose owner -- the inconceivably wealthy Largo Foote -- has a cunning scheme to seize control of the galactic economy. Unaware that their ship is a key pawn in Largo's master plan, the crew just try to do their jobs, despite the fact that their assignments rarely make sense, and deadly peril seems to stalk them at every turn. As things go from bad to worse, the ship and crew are inexorably drawn to the astonishing Footesphere , Largo Foote's vast and top-secret private residence, where something sinister is afoot... ------------------------ Set in a future that is both weird and weirdly familiar, Robot Captain is a comic sci-fi adventure filled with reluctant heroes, strange aliens, lunatic machines, and more than a few twisted surprises.” (From the book blurb)

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely timely!