Pew! Pew! - Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My!

Pew! Pew! #1

by Rachel Aukes

9 Comedic space opera tales of big spaceships, poor life decisions, and lots of Pew!

From fights against the Hive, to the quest for the perfect coffee bean, to helping the little folk in a big, bad universe, Pew! Pew! has the tales to keep you entertained and maybe bust a gut while you’re at it.

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Short Stories, Anthologies

381 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2017

About the author

Rachel Aukes is the bestselling author of over forty books, including 100 Days in Deadland, which made Suspense Magazine’s Best of the Year list. She writes in a number of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, and more. Her series includes Waymaker Wars, Space Troopers, Flight of the Javelin, Fringe, Deadland Saga, Colliding Worlds, and Guardians of the Seven Seals. Her novels have repeatedly been Amazon Top 100 bestsellers and #1 bestsellers in Horror, Post-Apocalyptic, Space Fleet, Space Marine, Galactic Empire, Colonization, Alien Invasion, and Cyberpunk. When not writing, Rachel can be found flying old airplanes with an incredibly spoiled dog over the Iowa countryside.

Reviews

[Kirsty ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nine space novellas ranging from action heroes coming out of retirement to save the day to aliens who live on plastic and eat the space station that's landed on their planet. Completely bonkers all of it but in a really good way.

As is often the case for me personally, the first story as the best. Take the A-team, make three of them women, change the van into a black spaceship complete with red stripe, action, adventure and saying 'Fool' a lot. What's not to love. We even sort of had a montage. I could probably cope with more of their adventures.

It's fun, in some cases just downright warped and opened me up to some new authors. Brilliant

Free arc by netgalley

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shall we assume that Pew! Pew! is the sound of blasters? Yes, the title is validated by the contents. Plenty of short pieces (some not short enough) of varying topic and quality. If you don't expect anything more profound than what the subtitle promises*, you won't be disappointed. About 3 stars for its uneven content.

My favorites?
Delta Team - like the "A-Team" of the future
Brewing Trouble - for the first dozen pages
The Last Bounty - a tale of redemption

I started this as a beach read, but I think a bright lamp and a white noise generator are the most you need to set the mood.

*"Comedic space opera tales of big spaceships, poor life decisions, and lots of Pew"

[Meenaz Lodhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read short stories anthology! A never ending imposible situations and action from where the characters come out astonishingly alive and as heroes, with lots of misshapen and fun ridden, hilarious and sometimes incredible outcomes! These authors are from my favorite list!

[T.M.]

A great mix of short science fiction humor stories. Something for just about everyone that enjoys scifi.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review originally published in < ahref="http://www.lookingforagoodbook.com&qu... For a Good Book. Rated 2.0 of 5

According to the Goodreads description of this book it is "9 Comedic space opera tales of big spaceships, poor life decisions, and lots of Pew!" I can't disagree with any of that. There are, in fact, nine novellas/novelettes included here. There are some big spaceships, and most of the characters make some poor life decisions. Most of these could also be called 'comedic' - which, according to Merriam-Webster, means "relating to comedy." Oh, yeah ... and there's plenty of "pew."

I'm not sure why I requested this except that I have been in a mood to read some humorous sci-fi lately and this didn't look like it took itself too seriously. What I didn't expect was a number of stories with sub-par writing.

The problem with setting out to write humorous fiction ... much like the problem with writing horror ... is sustaining a level of humor (or horror) through the entire story. Unfortunately, in the case of humor, this usually means resorting to the ridiculous or cheap laughs. This is done by tossing in a word - usually a word considered to be humorous all alone (such as vacuum, kumquat, naugahyde) - that is completely out of place in the context and then using it a lot to remind us that this is supposed to be funny. Or it relies on college-level sexual infantile humor - think Captain Underpants for an older audience.

I rarely find this sort of 'humor' funny - perhaps for a brief moment, but not as a sustained work.

Given all of that, one story really stood out for me in this collection. "The Last Bounty" by Barry J. Hutchison is one of the few works here that features story over humor, which is not to say there is no humor, but what's there works precisely because Hutchison isn't trying so hard to just be funny.

The story centers around Konto Oon - a retired bounty hunter who just wants to live a quiet, normal, family life. Being retired means he's available to go on field trips with his step-daughter - who hates Konto and reminds him of this at every turn. But when the field trip students are taken hostage by terrorists, t's up to Oon (and a vomiting, pudgy student) to rescue them.

This one story makes me glad I read through the book, but I do wish more rose to this level.

Two other stories in the anthology were not bad. Both "Gli+ch" by Drew Avera and "Bat Johnson, the Mad Mortician of Mars" by Rachel Aukes held their own and were (according to my notes) "not bad" and "decent," respectively. "Gli+ch" deals with the unluckiest man on his way to Europa. "Bat Johnson, the Mad Mortician of Mars" is about ...well, the title says it all.

I don't want to get too involved in the stories that were not very good. I'll leave it with my impression that one story was written solely for the purpose of being able to use the phrase "space balls" over and over.

Looking for a good book? In the anthology Pew! Pew! - Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My!, the good stories are outnumbered 3-to-1 by the not so good works.

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

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2017/06/2...

Publisher: Wooden Pen

Publishing Date: June 2017

ISBN: 9781546902126

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 3.8/5

Publishers Description: 9 Comedic space opera tales of big spaceships, poor life decisions, and lots of Pew! Follow the adventures of swashbuckling heroes and heroines who forgot their swash and didn’t do up their buckles as they gallivant across the stars, saving the downtrodden and trodding on some of the down.

Review: I really liked this compendium of stories. Really well done, except for a coupla’ turds. I will briefly cover each.
1.Delta Team: A simple Kidnapping by M.D. Cooper. Rating: 4.0. A fun ride with lots of interesting characters and situations that mimic the A-Team, only in space. This would be great a great Space Operatic series..

2.The Methane Lake of Excruciating Tedium by Felix R. Savage. Rating: 3.2. An interesting take on life within our solar system with juvenile idiots running the scientific base. Aliens not real believable as there is no sound scientific reasoning that supports the notions presented. Additionally Anas platyrynchos is a mallard not the common duck, and is also a dabbling duck not a diving duck.

3.The Last Bounty by Barry J. Hutchison. Rating 3.8. Really too short to be significant but prevails with interesting characters and great movement. I am curious to read about Konto’s exploits before retirement.

4.Spaceberg by M. Pax. Rating 2.4. The idea that a giant ice planet travelling through space with dormant tribble like creatures residing on it is a big stretch. Hey, who knows what really goes on out there? This novel fell down the character hole with Nikili. Super speshul pilot hero gal with familial flaws and a lesbo lover. She just didn’t win me over with her constant myopic antics and sudden altruistic shifts. Her daughter is a genius (of course) and her estranged husband has a backstabbing GF that Nikili forgives so they can all become a famwy. Fug.

5.Attack of the Bees by Chris J.Pike. Rating: 4.2. Wow, this was good. Funny, great characters, constant movement and the guy gets the girl. A real spoof on the genre. Makes you wonder if the author’s name is a nom de plume.

6.Brewing Trouble by Amy DuBoff. Rating: 3.1. Riddled with plot holes, this still delivered an entertaining read. Jack was entertaining throughout and should have his world expanded.

7.Dodging Fate by Zen DiPietro. Rating: 4.0. Charlie Kenny (lol) is a redshirt. His whole family has died hideously. He meets a cute gal that is the opposite. She has the best of luck but is bored with life. A great kinda love story set in an expansive galaxy.

8.Gli+ch by Drew Avera. Rating 3.3. Ben is not my cup of joe. He is mostly negative throughout the story and coupled with a weak storyline, made for some quick reading. The pirates were entertaining but brief in appearance.

9.Bat Johnson the Mad Mortician of Mars by Rachel Aukes. Rating 4.4. This was really good writing. The character depth was built in a very short time frame. Coupled with an inventive storyline and good movement made for an entertaining read. An author to watch out for.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This is a real mix of science fiction novella's with some a lot better than others.
Worth a read even if you have to skip some of them to find the good ones.

[Cherie]

So far I've read one out of the nine novellas in Pew! Pew!: Sex, Guns, Spaceships... Oh My! and will add more reviews here as I read the other novellas.

Colonel Ramsey and his misfit crew will help out anyone for a price and if they fell like it in M.D. Cooper's Delta-Team. One of my favorite parts of this novella was when Colonel Ramsey was acting just like Chef Gordon Ramsey. I must admit I'm partial to the term "vambies" instead of "zompires." Delta-Team by M. D. Cooper was definitely a lot of fun to read.

A group of scientists may discover more than they bargained for in Felix R. Savage's The Methane Lake of Excruciating Tedium. This novella was far from a tedious read. The story is told from Climatologist Bennard Godwin's point of view as he records his days and research on the moon Titan. Poor Bennard would rather compose poetry than deal with his rather horrible fellow scientists. They all bite off more than they can chew when a creature emerges from the frigid methane lake. I laughed when the most exciting thing happening to Bennard was what vegetarian food they would eat next. Bennard does come across quite the adventure, though, and I enjoyed reading The Methane Lake of Excruciating Tedium by Felix R. Savage.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating for Mortician on Mars. Hilarious and fiendishly clever.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title seems to scream light-hearted sci-fi action so I was looking forward to an easy read. Pew Pew delivers 9 short stories; "Spaceberg" stands out as a fairly good character driven story even if the plot makes no sense, "Dodging fate" is an interesting take on the "redshirt" cliché and "Methane Lake of Excruciating Tedium" steals a few laughs while "Last Bounty" is a cheesy Taken/Die Hard rip off but an enjoyable romp. Unfortunately, even the highlights aren't particularly stellar and it feels more like an amateur collection of authors first attempts, poor writing and bad editing is rife. One story​ literally has a sentence that reads "he pushed a SOMETHING FUNNY off a chair" where the author had clearly forgotten to go back and add another lame joke. Most of the stories are chock full of clichés and overused tropes. Even for a £1 I feel ripped off.

[Shannon Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun collection of humorous or lightly toned space operas. The widely varied subject matter made each story a new treat. It loses one star for some stories being poorly edited, with typos that made it hard to read, and because one of the stories was too misogynistic in its attitudes toward two female characters that it ruined the entire story for me. The content and enjoyment from the other stories still makes this a worthwhile collection to read, and I'm glad I picked it up. Not every story in an anthology can appeal to everyone. Where else will you read about garbage eating blobs, befriended sex bots, zombies, and space smugglers, all in the same place?

[PJ Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 out of 5 stars.

The two stories that stood out for me were The Last Bounty and Spaceberg, my favourites by far, though all the stories were interesting.
It's a good anthology on the whole through which I have discovered a couple of new authors to read.
I preferred the stories with comedic elements, possibly because that's what I was expecting to see in this book.
I would have given it 4 stars if there hadn't been so many spelling errors, too many to ignore, and something that could be easily solved.
Over all well worth reading because it's all a little crazy.

[Y.I. Washington · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Decent Read

Anthologies are one of the best ways to find new authors to read. Thanks to this anthology, I have been introduced to Barry J. Hutchison and am well on my way to devouring all of his novels. I was already a fan of Felix R. Savage and M.D. Cooper and their stories along with Rachel Aukes' Bat Johnson, The Mad Mortician of Mars and Zen DiPietro's Dodging Fate, made for a few hours of fun and funny reading.

I was unable to really get into the other stories, although I commend those authors for their hard work.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun.

If you are into some over the top comic satire of the space opera genere, this is your book. if you want thoughtful or serious sci-fi you're gonna have to look elsewhere.

This is a collection of short stories that are in independent worlds and outside of action and full blown Monty-Haul level space opera satire have very little in common. As I read, I found myself groaning, grinning, belly laughing, shaking my head, and letting out a guffaw or two along the way. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience but I don't see myself checking out any of the other Pew Pew books.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly what it says it is; Science Fiction stories with a fun twist. In some cases it is the crew, some the situations but in all cases fun. There are nine stories in all. I did not read all at once. It was nice to have something that was entertaining but easy to finish in one setting. I had heard of several of the authors and this was nice way to see their writing style before deciding to try any of their novels.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories are great - I especially liked the story of the Bounty Hunter by Barry H and Brewing Trouble was great fun. There were a couple stories that I couldn't make myself finish, and I'm going to feel guilty about calling this book "read" on my Goodreads reading challenge for the year (not so guilty that I won't still do it)

4 stars because there's definitely 3.99 of value in here.

[Trent Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a great anthology. Many of the stories where contrived and/or poorly written. I know this because I have read some great short stories in my time and none of the offerings here hold even a match to them.
I found the humour to be forced and the stories threadbare and hardly memorable. I cannot in good conscience recommend this anthology to anyone.
I must confess I was surprised as I know Cooper to be a decent author, I have enjoyed her Rika series.

[Leslie Baptiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good first addition of the series.

I enjoyed this book tremendously, the anthology of stories was mixed and funny. There were times that I laughed out loud while reading this book. If you're looking for a light read with a variety of short stories that are different in scope and will make you laugh read this book.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large collection of lighthearted science fiction short stories. Some of them are rather juvenile and silly but I especially enjoyed "Dodging Fate" by Zen DiPietro, "The Last Bounty" by Barry J. Hutchison, and "Bat Johnson, the Mad Mortician" by Rachel Aukes.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spaceballs!

I loved this book. The short stories aren't all that short, which is a plus. And, the stories all have a comical theme while still being sci-fi. All these authors wrote terrific stories and i will definitely be looking them up to read some of their full length novels.

[J.R. Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like humor flavoring the hallowed halls of the Church of the Pew, then this anthology is your right up your alley! Why not read it and give it a shot? You can't go wrong with this price to page ratio!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Funny Stories

I really enjoyed this book. It was exactly what I was looking for. Fun and exciting stories in space that made me giggle and had lots of action. If you like stories that make you laugh and fire up your imagination, this is the collection to read!

[Bryce Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining

I like short stories - usually. A couple of these were very good the rest were a struggle to be simply entertaining. I won't be bothering with any others in this series.

[John Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will laugh so hard! Great book!

[Nancy Phy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow these are great

I love reading sets like this one. It's a great way to learn about new authors. This set was a fun read.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the Space Team short story

[Seonaidh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection of novellas.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good reading

I liked most of the stories in this compilation. There was only one that I wasn't to fond of
I say give it a try.

[Shaun Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

A great mix of stories by quite a few good authors . If you like anytime space opera this covers a wide range and is worth the chance to read

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now have a new list of authors to look for.