Willful Child: The Search for Spark

Willful Child #3

by Steven Erikson

The continuing adventures of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms.

We join the not terribly bright but exceedingly cocksure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through "the infinite vastness of interstellar space."

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen series has taken his lifelong passion for Star Trek and transformed it into a smart, inventive, and hugely entertaining spoof on the whole overblown mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-high-tech-gadgets-along-the-way adventure. The result is an SF novel that deftly parodies the genre while also paying fond homage to it.

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Space Opera, Fiction, Satire, Science Fiction Fantasy

352 pages, Hardcover

Published November 20, 2018

About the author

Steven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian novelist, who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. His best-known work is the series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tore through this one and had a great deal of fun. These are the continuing adventures of... Oh My God, who put that flea collar on that cat!? This is genocide!

Ahem... the continuing adventures of the sexually frustrated captain of the Starship Willful Child as he and his loyal crew of a beachball doctor, a claustrophobic engineer, a mad AI holographic chicken, Scalzi, two replacement janitors, and ABSOLUTELY NO RED SHIRTS anywhere to be found discover the meaning of life in the undiscovered country. But before that, they will merrily jaunt across the galaxy, blowing up aliens with extreme prejudice and redefine the entire genetic destiny of oddly malleable consumers.

"We will be called the Purse."

Oh, yes. Hunting down spare change in all the couches across an enemy's fleet, letting nothing stop them. *shudder*

In-jokes abound. Everywhere. Every page. Erikson is pulling off one hell of a ride here, but I should warn you: it's dark humor. Very dark, with a splash of light that is usually followed with a cocktail of drugs and a quick displacement into a tank filled with teeth within teeth within teeth.

Is the original spirit of Star Trek preserved?

Sure, if you think of it as an Orville on steroids and force it into the R-Rated category. :)

But where it really shines is in the deep and abiding love and knowledge of all the originals. Erikson subverts them all. :) And he doesn't limit himself just to Star Trek.

I think I would recommend these books to all hardcore fans of SF. They're not just parodies. They poke holes in universes and the logic at the originals, sure, but this is a good story all by itself, too. :) So much happens... and I'm only referring to the Space Marines in their D&D marathon!

I just want more. And more. I can't get enough. :)

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series of books. I actually laugh out loud constantly while reading them. They will never win any literature awards, but that's ok. I have a blast when I read them, and I will definitely be rereading for more laughs, as I hear he's done writing Willful Child stories.

Mr. Erikson sure knows how to write satire. Always over the top, and always enjoyable.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you think the show The Orville doesn’t take its homage far enough, you will enjoy Willful Child: The Search for Spark.

Captain Haddrick of the starship Willful Child is a conceited and not too smart wannabe ladies’ man. His crew consists of various stereotypes. He also has an incredibly sarcastic incorporeal AI named Tammy constantly haranguing him. His only outlet is frivolously killing entire alien races. When one, from an alien bar on a suspiciously familiar desert planet, decides to get revenge using free porn and cute cat videos, Captain Haddrick and, mostly, the female dog lovers of his crew have to fight back.

Willful Child: The Search for Spark is an over-the-top spoof of the extremely positive Star Trek and somewhat grim Star Wars worldviews. The mash-up works. Somewhere between all the jokes, homages to individual scenes, and pure human stupidity is an interesting plot. While this can be read as a standalone, I think it would be less confusing at the beginning if I had read either of the two previous books. 3 stars for those new to the series like me.

Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Rudi Dewilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review pending (but buy it if you have an ounce of humor)

[Patrick St-Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many Erikson fans everywhere, my curiosity was piqued when it was announced that the author would be publishing a Star Trek spoof. Personally, I've never been a Star Trek fan, but I was looking forward to reading Erikson's homage/parody. Considering how fun and humorous the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas have always been, such a spoof promised to be hilarious. And the first two Willful Child installments were just that!

The first volume garnered some negative and luke-warm reviews from readers expecting a blistering and fascinating foray into science fiction by the author. How could anyone have had such expectations after reading the cover blurb, I'll never know. This series was always meant to be a parody. Anyone expecting something dense and thought-provoking, or the Bridgeburners in space, was sure to be disappointed. And yet, for those who thoroughly enjoyed Willful Child and Willful Child: Wrath of Betty, I can tell you that this third installment is just as fun and entertaining as its predecessors. If anything, it's even more over-the-top!

Here's the blurb

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen series, continues his hilarious science fiction series--parodying and paying homage to exploring the final frontier--with Willful Child: The Search for Spark.

These are the adventures of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms.

We join the not terribly bright but exceedingly cocksure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through the infinite vastness of interstellar space.

Steven Erikson has taken his lifelong passion for Star Trek and transformed it into a smart, inventive, and hugely entertaining spoof on the whole overblown mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-high-tech-gadgets-along-the-way adventure. The result is a novel that deftly parodies the genre while also paying fond homage to it.

Steven Erikson is renowned for multilayered worldbuilding that resounds with depth, but once more this facet takes a backseat in this new Star Trek spoof. We get just enough to keep the story moving forward and that's it. This is a parody/comedy and nothing gets in the way of the rhythm so that the jokes and weird/funny situations can keep on coming. As I mentioned, Willful Child: The Search for Spark just might be even more over-the-top than the first two volumes. It appears that Erikson was gunning for at least a laugh/chuckle on every single page and it's pretty much what we get. Once again, Erikson's latest isn't a work that takes itself too seriously and it's a joyride from start to finish! And all current affairs topics are fair game. The author takes on Trump, Brexit, the rise of far Right movements, politicians, corruption, Disney's acquisition of Star Wars, capitalism, and many, many more!

Following the hilarious misadventures of Captain Hadrian Sawback continues to be a riot. Sexist, incompetent, rude, too full of himself, and downright dumb at times, it's nonetheless impossible not to root for the poor guy. In every way, the man remains an over-the-top parody of the memorable Captain Kirk. Old-fashioned sexism, racism, and xenophobia often characterize his character, making him a throwback male protagonist from the 60S or the 70s. And understandably, he continues to take center stage in this novel. The supporting cast is comprised of incompetent crew members and a number of buxom female officers hand-picked by the captain for their looks and nothing else, as well as the recalcitrant chicken AI Tammy, and a few odd aliens along the way. Between Sawback and his incredibly inept crew, an AI from the future who wishes to see its captain fail miserably, Affiliation officers bent on orchestring Sawback's military and personal downfall, and friendly and not-so-friendly alien species populating known and unknown parts of interstellar space, how could things possibly go well for the Willful Child and its crew? Follow them on another unexpected and fun-filled journey across time, space and dimensions! Yes, the premise appears to be the same as that of its predecessors, but this work is more about the journey and not the destination.

By removing much of the depth and the details that have come to define Erikson's fantasy works, Willful Child: The Search for Spark is another fast-paced book. There is never a dull moment within its pages. Although I much prefer Steven Erikson's Malazan installments, occasional fun romps like these wacky scifi parodies are like a breath of fresh air that show a totally different side of the author. In my last review, I said that time will tell just how many of these fun and entertaining science fiction comedies Erikson can get away with. As enjoyable as this third installment turned out to be, at times it felt as though things were a bit rehashed. I believe that fans will clamor for yet more adventures featuring the inimitable Captain Hadrian Sawback and his crew as the voyage of the Willful Child continues. But for now, it might be best for the author to concentrate his efforts on the Witness trilogy and to complete the Kharkanas trilogy.

Still, if you are looking for yet another light and hilarious science fiction spoof, then Willful Child:The Search for Spark is just what the doctor ordered! Once again, this Star Trek parody/homage, with a number of Star Wars references thrown in for good measure, continues to work incredibly well.

Don't miss out on another opportunity to journey deeply in the deepest depths of deep space.

For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that this is the author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Where that is rich in world building and epic in every way, this is just plain funny. Taking the piss out of the last couple of Star Trek Original Series movies, this book moves at a quick pace to a satisfying conclusion. Familiarity with Star Trek is required in order to fully appreciate all that is happening. That being said, some of the best parts weren't Star Trek spoofing such as the marines playing D&D. A book that is very easy to recommend.

[Sebastien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comme je suis un fan de Star Wars, c’est écrit dans le ciel que je serai un hater de Star Trek, du moins c’est ce que beaucoup de gens croient. Pour ma part, je vais dire que je suis un fan de science fiction ainsi que d’opéra spaciaux. Que ça se tiennent, que sa soit scientifiquement possible et surtout qu’il soit possible que notre futur y ressemble; je m’en fou. Pour moi l’importance est qu’à la fin j’aie passé un bon moment. Suivant cette pensé, je vais l’avouer, je préfère de loin Star Wars a Star Trek. Cependant, j’ai écouté presque toutes les série de Star Trek ainsi que ses films. Je sais les apprécié à leur juste valeur et c’est pour ça que j’ai été capable d’apprécier les 2 premier livre de Willful Child de Steven Erikson. Je suis assez fan pour comprenre les joke et assez pas fan pour pas être offusqué.

Parce que, mesdames et messieurs, si vous vous offusqué facilement (surtout sur le thème de Star Trek) vous devez éviter ce volume de Willful Child avec une pole de 100 pieds. The Search for Spark est de loin le plus crasse, le plus décadent, le plus insultant et le plus débile des trois livres sorties à ce jour. Le premier donnait le ton, le deuxième s’assumait un peu plus, mais le troisième c’est un déversement de connerie a en pu finir. Il y a tellement de gag que je ne pourrais pas les compter tous. Rendu la sa serait plus facile de dire ce qui rit pas de l’univers de Star Trek, sa serait moins long.

Je ne veux pas en dire trop car je ne veux gâcher a personne la lecture de ce roman. Donc je vais passer sur le résumer de l’histoire, le résumé sur Goodread est bien suffisant. Mais ce que je pourrais ajouter c’est que l’histoire centrale est vraiment centrale dans celui-là, ce que j’ai beaucoup apprécié. Seulement quelque apartés au début et à la fin. Toutes ces mini aventure comprennent parodies d’histoire de Star Trek déjà existantes et en même temps un grosse critique de notre propre société. Il faut le dire, Steven Erikson s’en est donné a coeur joie et il a pas mis de gants. Comme l’expression le dit “dans le cul pas de crachat”. Enlevez la censure ici, y’en a pas. Droit au coeur sans protection.

J’ai dévoré ce livre en temps records, mais comme les deux autres livres il n’est pas sans défauts. En fait, il a de nouveaux défauts. Le premier est celui de la panoplie de personnages qui apparaissent un après les autres sans nous faire de refresh. Je relirai pas la série a chaque fois, serait un peu apprécié d’avoir un petit résumé sur qui est le personnage et peut-être une aide en fin de livre. Erikson aime créer des personnages, sa paraît, moi j’aime ça suivre faudrait faire chacun son bout de chemin ici. Le temps de me remémorer qui était qui les 100 premières pages son passé et je n’ai pas plus les appréciés a leur juste valeur.

Le deuxième défaut est un que j’ai vu aussi dans la série Malazan. Quand c’est sortie de manière naturelle, les gags de Eriksons sont songé et tellement délicieux. Quand on a l’impression qu’il s’est forcé ou qu’il a dût en produire de manière obligé, les gag d’Eriksons sont indigestes. Ou pour mieux le dire, il paraissent forcé et perde de leur saveur. Les 100 premières page ont tellement de hit and miss (surtout des miss) que j’ai failli abandonner ma lecture pour attendre de relire les 3 livre d’une shot pour être sur que je passe pas à côté des gags a cause que j’avais trop oublier de chose. Mais fort de constaté que le tout se replace après 100 pages, je dois en venir à la conclusion qu’au début Eriksons ne savais pas trop où il allait et voulait faire du remplissage pour que son roman fasse 300 pages minimum. Beaucoup de gags faciles et trop de gags pipi caca pour que je puisse réellement apprécié ma lecture d’un auteur pourant si intelligent.

Bien sûr, le dernier et non le moindre des défaut, on revient sur l’inégalité de tout ceci. Encore une fois, rendu à a fin on voit un essoufflement, un peu de facilité et un manque de pacing qui fait mal au livre. L’auteur garoche tellement d’insanité pendant les 100 premières page qu’on a l’impression qui en reste plus pour la fin. Ou du moins que même l’auteur veut toner down en disant “ho boy, y’en a assez là”. Pas besoin de nous sur-nourrir, un gag bien placé ici et là est suffisant pour que le livre soit une parodie. On se fait marteller de gag au pouce carré et tranquillement pas vite ça s’estompe. Un peu de dosage ferait pas de mal à cette série.

Donc est-ce que ce livre mérite un downgrade de note par rapport aux deux autres? Oui il le mériterait. Trop de hit and miss, trop d’insanité, un mauvais dosage et j’ai vraiment pensé abandonner la lecture... jusqu’au moment où j’ai dévoré le reste sans être capable de m’arrêter et que j’ai finalement du dire bon c’est fini “déjà?”. Je suis sur que si je relisais les deux autres et m’enfilais ce livre ensuite, j’aurais mieux digéré. J’étais pas prêt a une lecture aussi débile pour être franc et quand le goût trop sucré est passé; c’est redevenu comestible et j’ai ensuite dévoré la suite. Donc pour ces raison je donne la même note que les deux précédents. Égales à eux même a leur façon, ces livres sont une parodie de Star Trek que j’apprécie. Même si j’ai moins ris en lisant ce livre, j’ai tout de même passé un beau moment et j’ai hate de lire la suite (cette fois-ci je vais me tapper les 3 premier avan). Pour les fan pas trop susceptibles.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good book. Rated 2.0 of 5

Captain Hadrian Sawbuck and his rag-tag crew of the Starship Willful Child continue their unusual adventures, bringing chaos and disrepute to the galaxy around them.

Sawbuck isn't the brightest LED on the console but he's full of confidence and he's forever trying to laid. And maybe they are trying to accomplish a goal, but the real goal here is to offer up a laugh at the parody parallels with one or more famous science fiction television franchises. The obvious one (to those of us familiar with sci-fi television) of course is Star Trek, but there's a bit of The Orville (which, of course, is also a parody of Star Trek) here, too.

The book is part of a series and I read the first book (Willful Child) and I enjoyed it, which is why I wanted to read this third book as well. But I found this book lacking. It was much more work to read this book and follow the exploits of the group. Even a parody should have a plot that takes the reader on a journey and the humor comes with the comparisons along the way. The story here ...? I can't really identify it for you (and if you read through the first page of Goodreads reviews, you'll notice no one identifies the plot). Like the first book, this reads like a series of episodes, with a little mini-plot every chapter or two. But where I found the humor in the first book amusing, I found the humor here to be forced. We either work too hard to set up something funny, or characters/situation are brought in simply for their humor potential.

Only four times did I chuckle here, twice at names of characters (Captain John "Lucky" Placard and Admiral Trustworthy Honest), once as author Steven Erikson pokes fun at himself ("It's like a ... hopeless amalgam of tropes!") and once at a juxtaposition of phrases that caught me by surprise.

Erikson clearly knows the Star Trek universe and has an appreciation for it - you can't write a parody without a love for the subject. But trying to recreate parody magic is not easy.

Looking for a good book? If you absolutely loved the first two books in Steven Erikson's Willful Child series, then, yeah, you'll probably want to continue with this, Willful Child: The Search for Spark. But if you simply liked the first book for the parody, there isn't much here that's different to make this worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in the Willful Child series. The series satirizes Star Trek and other SF, as well as doing social commentary and such. Personally, I found lots of laughs in it, but I think it won't work for everybody. At times, there are scenes of aliens with lots of references to mucus and such. There are lots of odd characters to keep track of. The story hops from one adventure to another, including one on a planet run by Nazis. One of the satires of SF is periodically having characters give very long strings of supposedly scientific gibberish... Personally, I could have done without some of this, but as a whole found the book funny, and addressing social commentary of daily life and of the selfish attitudes of superpowers.

thecriticaldragon.com wrote, "...a good analogy for the tone, style and humor of the book is 'Get Smart! in space'. It is an over-the-top parody, much in the same vein as Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, and delights in its clever, and sometimes absurd, subversion of science fiction television’s clichés and tropes to hilarious effect. However, there is also a dark undercurrent of biting social satire running beneath the entire narrative."

The title is a take-off on the Star Trek movie "The Search for Spock," but the story isn't really related to that in the film.

The Willful Child is the starship corresponding to Star Trek's Enterprise. The ship's name conveys part of Erikson's parody of Star Trek and (probably) international politics. Captain Hadrian Sawbeck is overly inclined to find situations that will lead to violent conflicts. The Star Trek TV series used a metaphor of The Federation vs. Klingon for U.S. vs. U.S.S.R. For readers who are more critical of U.S. military / covert actions in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua, Iraq, "War on Terror," etc., you may see a metaphor with the Willful Child.

There are various characters including Tammy (an AI appearing as a hologram of a chicken,) Spark (a robotic dog that enjoys hanging around,) Beta (an android that is more interested in lingerie and such) ... There are various alien characters including bad guy Betty and minion Molly (both of whom are men.) There are the bad guys with all the mucus...

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of the same from previous installments. There is a sense that Erikson's craft is sharpening somewhat and this outing feels like the most coherent of the three Willful Children, but it is still ultimately a confection of a romp, with not much to recommend it to all but the most devoted fans of Star Trek (particularly the original series).

I will admit I was particularly tickled by the references to other science fiction series in this book. Seth Macfarlane of The Orville gets perhaps the most savage treatment, while the Riddick cameo felt somewhat loving. Honor Harrington even makes an appearance, and I'm embarrassed to say I am among the minority of readers who knew the reference.

The political satire elements are at their most effective and least hamfisted during this final volume. Of particular note, a discussion of the alt-right mediated by a romp on the "Planet of the Nazis" episode of TOS was rather satisfying. I am pleased to report that Erikson's conclusion seems to be that yes, it is permissible to punch (and melt) Nazis.

I was wondering if there would be room for a fourth volume, but there is a sort of symmetry in this book that seems to speak of finality. Erikson has now covered TOS and each of the TOS movies pretty comprehensively, and you get the sense from the perfunctory cameos of Jean-Luc Picard and the DS9 crew in this third (final?) volume that he has little interest in the post-TOS Trek. Discovery does get a full "episode" and NuTrek gets a recurring gag, so at this point it feels like he has covered just about all of Trekdom (if Enterprise, Voyager, or TAS were in there, I must have skimmed over their parts).

The very last line before the epilogue did get a smile from me. I had been wondering about that title...

Despite the many bright spots and the consistent improvement in each volume, this trilogy has left me feeling that it simply wasn't for me. And that's okay! I am sure there are plenty of Boomer Trekkers with a sense of humor given to lengthy satirical novels out there. And I imagine they will see this trilogy as an answer to their prayers. I'm happy for them. I really am.

[Silas · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Madam, let's not be so crass. We're Terrans, after all, forever virtuous, eternally right in all matters of comportment, wise and clever, honest and forthright, inclined to modest errors in judgement while maintaining our heartfelt desire to do good and therefore entirely capable of sweeping under the carpet all the genocidal horrors studding our history in the galaxy.” - Steven Erikson, Willful Child: The Search for Spark

The continuing adventures of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms.

We join the not terribly bright but exceedingly cocksure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through "the infinite vastness of interstellar space."

So, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I picked up the third Willful Child book. It was going to be a Star Trek-specific, Sci-Fi-generic satire. It was going to be my favourite type of humour - dark, angry, and blissfully nihilistic.

It reminds me of my friend Vince. Vince is a pretty funny guy. When Vince is angry, well and truly pissed off, he's hilarious. Steve is angry Vince funny to me. I'm not mad at it. I don't get all the jokes, and I don't really have to because it's so absurd that it's funny on the face of it. If I were a Star Trek superfan, I'd probably be rolling on the floor every page. But I'm not, so I'm not. I don't think these are up for a reread for me. That's okay. Still glad I read the series.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently the entire premise is based on poorly disguised libelous stolen twisted and disjointed snippets from Star Trek and other fantasy and science fiction drama for the unsuccessful ostensible purpose of eliciting laughs. Good parody can indeed be fun, this is not good parody. This is not even bad parody. Oddly there is the occasional interesting turn of phrase, but otherwise the author leans exclusively on the creativity of others to string together a non-linear series of disjointed unrelated events in the name of bad writing and having nothing of interest to say for one's self. This is extremely bad and if I could I would rate it a negative five stars.

[The Anonymous LIBRARIAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

The adventures continue for Hadrian and his crew. This one leans a bit more into satire than the previous two as well as breaking the forth wall. As all spoofs must each sequal becomes crazier than the previous. This book reminds me of the Eric Andre show where the creater eventually starts to intentionally annoy the readers. Erikson does this by coming up with even more ridiculous names and designations that become utter jarbel at a stage for new characters and alien species that are introduced. And then repeating these names as many times as possible. Mr Erikson I salute you.
P.S. Ex-Captian Betty and his underlying Molly shine.

[D.L. Morrese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a Star Trek parody, the story skips through and stumbles over the major plots of several episodes and movies. Along the way, it takes a brief stab at one other popular science fiction movie and at a (fairly poor) book series. Consequently, the plot of this book ends up fractured, feeling like a series of detours with no clear destination in sight.The characters are absurd, but the cultural satire is often clever, although it is seldom subtle. It is hardly plausible science fiction. It is all rather funny, though, in a juvenile kind of way.

[Elysa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series plays with all my favorite sci-fi tropes, especially the ones from Star Trek. It made me laugh out loud several times. The story is kind of a mix of short stories (the characters even call them episodes) rather than one cohesive plot, which I think is funny but also keeps the story from becoming stale. It's pure ridiculousness, and fans of sci-fi who need a good laugh will love it. I think this final book is my least favorite of the series, but it's still definitely worth a read.

[Jez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cracking good read. More in the same vein as the first two. Science fiction parody combined with ridiculous, absurdist situations, bizarre yet relatable characters and a core of compassion and righteous anger I'd expect from the author. Bonus points for getting enthusiastically carried away on the subject of killing nazis.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but really not as good as the first 2 books

Malayan Book of the Fallen is one of my favourite series of all time. They are definitely a different pace, but I loved the first two Wanton Child stories. This one was still entertaining, but just not up to the same standard as the other books.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gawd! Constant ham-fisted pop culture references of damned near every sci-fi franchise of the past 50 years, primarily the Start Trek universe with a smattering of Star Wars, masquerading as humor. Obviously there is a market for this sort of thing. Just not me.

[Mike O'brecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Somewhat confusing at points, which I later found out was intentional.

Also, the marines are probably the best addition to the crew. Love their all weekend D&D event add ins.

Also, sprinkling in Canada whenever possible is always a crowd pleaser for me.

[Ralph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still funny as the previous two novels but I found it very episodic without an understandable main plot. The short parodies and references were a chuckle. I am on the fence as to if I would want a book 4 or not.

[Anna K. Amendolare · Rating 3 out of 5]

The previous two didn't suck and who doesn't love a series? Convenient for long drives. This one was much like the previous two, with vignettes strung together to make a longer book. Audio is the way to go with this one; the narrator is great.

[Doug Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing adventures of the ridiculous starship Willful Child

As silly as the previous two, without love for the original material this wouldn't be nearly as fun.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another reasonably amusing book. I do prefer his more serious books.

[Barry Lippitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too over the top, but its easy to identify each of the parodies

[Sandro · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much fun as the other two were, this chapter was too confusing.

[N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erikson is a genius. That's it.

[Ekaterina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting ideas, and by the way, I completely agree with the author.

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved all the on-the-nose commentary about science fiction tropes and the state of society as a whole

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jeremy Wilkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp through space with a new crew and my favorite author still in command. Just a thoroughly fun read.