What do you think?
Rate this book
Space Police #1
Attack of the Mammary Clans
It's the 25th Century, and the President of American has taken over the world.
Meanwhile... after a cleaner unplugged his cryogenic freezing machine by accident, Detective Inspector Capstan wakes up to find that he's been in a state of suspended animation for over four hundred years.
As he's forced to adjust to life in the future he finds himself reinstated as a policeman, and together with the great great great great grandson of his former subordinate, Sergeant Dewbush, he's put on the case of a missing cow.
Meanwhile... after a cleaner unplugged his cryogenic freezing machine by accident, Detective Inspector Capstan wakes up to find that he's been in a state of suspended animation for over four hundred years.
As he's forced to adjust to life in the future he finds himself reinstated as a policeman, and together with the great great great great grandson of his former subordinate, Sergeant Dewbush, he's put on the case of a missing cow.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2018
235 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
David Blake
40 books302 followersNO. 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR
With number one bestsellers in both the UK and Australia, to date David has written twenty-two books along with a collection of short stories. He's currently working on his twenty-third, Bluebell Wood, which is the next in his series of fast-paced crime thrillers. When not writing, David likes to spend his time mucking about in boats, often in the Norfolk Broads, where his crime fiction books are based.
Get news of all future releases, ARC reader info, free books, and all promo offers by signing up to my newsletter:
www.david-blake.co.uk/CONTACTDAVID
With number one bestsellers in both the UK and Australia, to date David has written twenty-two books along with a collection of short stories. He's currently working on his twenty-third, Bluebell Wood, which is the next in his series of fast-paced crime thrillers. When not writing, David likes to spend his time mucking about in boats, often in the Norfolk Broads, where his crime fiction books are based.
Get news of all future releases, ARC reader info, free books, and all promo offers by signing up to my newsletter:
www.david-blake.co.uk/CONTACTDAVID
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
March 18, 2024
3.5 stars
In this first book in the comical 'Space Police' series, a detective wakes up 450 years after he was cryogenically frozen, returns to the police force, and is tasked with finding a missing cow.
*****
After enduring a life-threatening injury that took his leg, Detective Inspector Capstan from Portsmouth, England is cryogenically frozen, put into cold storage, and more or less forgotten.
More than four hundred years later, in the 25th century, Capstan is awakened when a cleaning lady accidently leaves his cryogenic capsule unplugged after she vacuums.
It takes a little while for Capstan to adjust to his new situation, but a prosthetic leg and the presence of Sergeant Peter Simon Dewbush - who happens to be the great great great great grandson of D.I. Capstan's 21st century subordinate Sergeant Simon Peter Dewbush - soon get him acclimated.
D.I. Capstan is reinstated in the police force, now called the Space Police, and partnered with Sgt. Dewbush.
Luckily P.S Dewbush from the 25th century is much smarter than dimwitted S.P. Dewbush from the 21st century, so Capstan has lucked out in that respect. The two detectives are assigned to find a missing cow, which is a top tier case. Milk is now the most popular beverage in the universe, and a cow is worth millions of dollars.
The search for the cow takes the cops to Saturn's moon Titan, which is inhabited by the Mammary Clans - aliens that look like giant custards.
Titan is in competition with Earth for milk production, though Titan's product - which is exclusively skimmed milk - is inferior.
Capstan and Dewbush get into all manner of hilarious situations as they go about their job, and Capstan gets to experience novel things like traveling at light speed; using an oxygen helmet and gravity blanket; owning a gun that uses armor-piercing, self-guiding cartridges with impact-exploding tips; and more.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, U.S. President Dick Müller - a fat orange guy with a dodgy wig - has taken over the world.
Müller's strategy is to invite rivals to the White House; set them up with prostitutes; film them; and blackmail them into giving up their countries.
The President plans to obtain Titan by setting up its Supreme High Councillor, the pudding-like Lord Von Splottity. This plan has unexpected ramifications....ones that inadvertently affect Capstan and Dewbush.
The book is written strictly for laughs, which it delivers. My one quibble is the over-abundance of male characters; there are only two females, and one is a sexy wife robot. To me, this harks back to 1950s science fiction films, which usually had one token gal.
Still, the book is a pleasant diversion, and could be adapted into a good graphic novel in my opinion.
Thanks to Netgalley and author David Blake for a copy of the book.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
February 5, 2018
This is the second Space Police book I have read and I loved this one, Det inspector Capstan wakes up in the 25th century and has no idea why. It seems someone switched off the the cryogenic tube that was keeping him frozen. He is reunited with a descendant of Dewbush and enlisted back into the police force, when he is tasked to find a missing cow !. As usual he gets himself and Dewbush into some odd predicaments which had me laughing out loud and the introduction of space travel was so cleverly done.
Thank you for my copy from TBC.
Thank you for my copy from TBC.
April 16, 2018
Absolutely hilarious! I have read book 3 in this series, so decided to go back to the beginning to catch up on the story. Here, we find out about Capstan being accidentally defrosted and when he wakes up, it takes him a wee while to get used to being not just a police inspector in the UK, but a space police inspector in the future! His sidekick is the eerily similar descendant of his present sidekick, Dewbush, and their first crime is the theft of a cow. The scenes where they go to investigate but can't see any cows in the barn had me howling with laughter, the humour in this series is so surreal and bizarre, it really appeals to my sense of humour. Looking forward to reading books 2 and 4 now!
December 31, 2020
David Blake's "Space Police" was a light, casual, and humorous war of the worlds space opera. Continual use of the famous dry British wit did cause me to smile frequently. The novel includes the prerequisites of space opera including spaceships, light speed, aliens, and missiles. The plot was coherent. Though it felt a bit too much like a reimagining of the 2006 movie "Idiocracy" as the main character is an ordinary detective Inspector who finds himself 450 years in the future surrounded by idiots as a detective in the future's Space Force.
February 14, 2018
I expected a fun, quirky reading experience. Unfortunately, after a fairly strong beginning, I was disappointed. It may have been my expectations but I felt that the characters lacked development, the writing just felt flat, and the story didn't engage my interest.
March 3, 2018
Not funny, I was so disappointed it's not almost funny either.
If you think people repeating themselves is funny...meh. Just not my sense of humour. Whole paragraphs are made up of the nonsensical alien language which then has to be translated, then repeated. Not for me.
If you think people repeating themselves is funny...meh. Just not my sense of humour. Whole paragraphs are made up of the nonsensical alien language which then has to be translated, then repeated. Not for me.
June 1, 2018
Mildly amusing and something really good could possibly have been made from the premise for this, but it is so-so with a lot of juvenile humor that I did not really find funny.
January 3, 2018
The holiday season can get a bit overwrought so, when I saw this book I thought it looked different enough to inject a little spice into the wilderness that is the bit of the year between Christmas and New Year that is usually a bit flat. I mean, who can't resist a book with a great big cow on the cover?
Anyway, what I got was a totally bonkers romp through time and space which kept me amused for the duration with its often irreverent humour. I can see it being a bit of a marmite book though as you really need to have a similar sense of humour as the author to really get the good bits so I would recommend you do make use of the sample system to test the water so to speak before diving right in. One man's meat and all that jazz.
Anyway, we first meet DI Capstan when he is accidentally woken up from being cryogenically frozen because a cleaner forgot to pug him back in after using the socket. He's a bit confused initially even though there is the familiar face of his Sergeant, Dewbush, in attendance. Thing is, he has no idea he had been frozen and is more confused when he is told the date and that his Sergeant isn't his Sergeant after all but his great, great etc grandson. But, there's no going back - time travel is banned - so, as he never actually retired from the force in the first place, it seems the right thing to do to accept when he is offered his old job back and partnered with Dewbush who will also double up as his guide to the 25th Century. A place where things are really not the same as he soon finds out when his first case is one of a missing cow; a rather precious commodity in the time he is now in.
As already mentioned, this book is really rather delightfully bonkers. It also contains some really rather interesting characters that I will not mention in detail here as it is way more fun to meet them cold along the way. As our intrepid duo get in scrape after shenanigan to follow the moos, sorry clues, to find and rescue the bewildered bovine, they get in all kinds of trouble and even get embroiled in an intergalactic incident. It also contains some very interesting memory links for those of a certain age, as well as some rather amusing word play along the way which all had me tittering and, on occasion, laughing out loud as I devoured the story in just a few sittings.
I understand that this is not the first outing for Capstan but I haven't met him before and we got on here just fine so I guess you don't have to have read the previous books. Being the first in this new series, and with some elements of the now only being touched on, there is definitely a lot more to the characters and the situation they, especially Capstan, find themselves in in this first offering and I for one really can't wait to see what happens in book two.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
Anyway, what I got was a totally bonkers romp through time and space which kept me amused for the duration with its often irreverent humour. I can see it being a bit of a marmite book though as you really need to have a similar sense of humour as the author to really get the good bits so I would recommend you do make use of the sample system to test the water so to speak before diving right in. One man's meat and all that jazz.
Anyway, we first meet DI Capstan when he is accidentally woken up from being cryogenically frozen because a cleaner forgot to pug him back in after using the socket. He's a bit confused initially even though there is the familiar face of his Sergeant, Dewbush, in attendance. Thing is, he has no idea he had been frozen and is more confused when he is told the date and that his Sergeant isn't his Sergeant after all but his great, great etc grandson. But, there's no going back - time travel is banned - so, as he never actually retired from the force in the first place, it seems the right thing to do to accept when he is offered his old job back and partnered with Dewbush who will also double up as his guide to the 25th Century. A place where things are really not the same as he soon finds out when his first case is one of a missing cow; a rather precious commodity in the time he is now in.
As already mentioned, this book is really rather delightfully bonkers. It also contains some really rather interesting characters that I will not mention in detail here as it is way more fun to meet them cold along the way. As our intrepid duo get in scrape after shenanigan to follow the moos, sorry clues, to find and rescue the bewildered bovine, they get in all kinds of trouble and even get embroiled in an intergalactic incident. It also contains some very interesting memory links for those of a certain age, as well as some rather amusing word play along the way which all had me tittering and, on occasion, laughing out loud as I devoured the story in just a few sittings.
I understand that this is not the first outing for Capstan but I haven't met him before and we got on here just fine so I guess you don't have to have read the previous books. Being the first in this new series, and with some elements of the now only being touched on, there is definitely a lot more to the characters and the situation they, especially Capstan, find themselves in in this first offering and I for one really can't wait to see what happens in book two.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
April 13, 2018
Hysterical, laugh out loud, spit your coffee out humour.
I love the setting, the detail and the very complex characters. It takes a really gifted writer to be able to pen something so witty and create such depth of character without it becoming too serious. David Blake has managed to create the perfect balance and I found myself not only emotionally invested in dear Capstan, but desperate to see him succeed. I love the relationship between him and Dewbush and the history they share. I've read book 2 already and loved it, which is how I came to read the first, which didn't disappoint. I'm off to read more in this series and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction and a good laugh!
I love the setting, the detail and the very complex characters. It takes a really gifted writer to be able to pen something so witty and create such depth of character without it becoming too serious. David Blake has managed to create the perfect balance and I found myself not only emotionally invested in dear Capstan, but desperate to see him succeed. I love the relationship between him and Dewbush and the history they share. I've read book 2 already and loved it, which is how I came to read the first, which didn't disappoint. I'm off to read more in this series and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction and a good laugh!
February 18, 2018
Space Police - Attack of the Mammary Clans
Firstly, with a title like this, how can you not want to read this book??!!
Secondly, although this is a bit different to my normal kind of read, it was oh so fabulous and addictive! If you’re looking for a crazy read that’s going to make you laugh out loud, look no further than Space Police - Attack of the Mammary Clans!
This is not the only Space Police novel but it read great as a standalone. I’ll definitely be seeking out the others, especially if they’re as fun, quirky and hilariously funny as this instalment! Four fab stars for Space Police from purplebookstand!
Firstly, with a title like this, how can you not want to read this book??!!
Secondly, although this is a bit different to my normal kind of read, it was oh so fabulous and addictive! If you’re looking for a crazy read that’s going to make you laugh out loud, look no further than Space Police - Attack of the Mammary Clans!
This is not the only Space Police novel but it read great as a standalone. I’ll definitely be seeking out the others, especially if they’re as fun, quirky and hilariously funny as this instalment! Four fab stars for Space Police from purplebookstand!
February 19, 2018
space Police attack of the mammory clans by David Blake.
It's the 25th Century, and the President of American has taken over the world.
Meanwhile...
after a cleaner unplugged his cryogenic freezing machine by accident, Detective Inspector Capstan wakes up to find that he's been in a state of suspended animation for over four hundred years.
a fantastic read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. loved the story and the characters. can't wait for the next one in the series. 5*.
It's the 25th Century, and the President of American has taken over the world.
Meanwhile...
after a cleaner unplugged his cryogenic freezing machine by accident, Detective Inspector Capstan wakes up to find that he's been in a state of suspended animation for over four hundred years.
a fantastic read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. loved the story and the characters. can't wait for the next one in the series. 5*.
January 3, 2018
Inspector Capstan is back with a bang and I loved it. This time he has been cryogenically frozen for over 400 years and when he is woken he has to work on a case with the umpteenth descendant of his former colleague Dewbush and also get used to being in the future where everything is different.
If you liked the previous series then you will also love this one, I can't recommend it highly enough
If you liked the previous series then you will also love this one, I can't recommend it highly enough
January 25, 2018
As a fan of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett I was attracted by the cover as it reminded me of both these authors.
The book is hilarious and really fun to read. Hope to be able to read the next instalment at soonest.
Many thanks to Britcom Publishing and Netgalley
The book is hilarious and really fun to read. Hope to be able to read the next instalment at soonest.
Many thanks to Britcom Publishing and Netgalley
May 23, 2018
DISCLAIMER: I got this book for free.
It's very.. British. But in a good sense.
If you're a fan of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, you know what I mean. It has a subtle, elegant humor, witty storyline, and slow-as-snails pacing.
It really comes down to one question: did you like the HHG2TG, and Discworld books?
If no, then keep away.
If yes, you're in for a treat.
It's very.. British. But in a good sense.
If you're a fan of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, you know what I mean. It has a subtle, elegant humor, witty storyline, and slow-as-snails pacing.
It really comes down to one question: did you like the HHG2TG, and Discworld books?
If no, then keep away.
If yes, you're in for a treat.
January 24, 2018
Superb. A laugh a minute tale. Loved it.
February 27, 2018
A fun read. Well worth the time if you like books like Hitchhiker's Guide or the DiscWorld Series you will love this one. I am looking forward to reading the remainder books in the series.
January 14, 2018
I received an ARC of this book from the author, and this is a voluntary honest review.
A perfect example of quirky British humour. Even without the inclusion of the Sci-fi element, this would have been a funny story. The Sci-fi aspect made it a laugh-out loud humour. Reading it in a cafe caused a number of strange looks to come my way.
Definitely recommend.
A perfect example of quirky British humour. Even without the inclusion of the Sci-fi element, this would have been a funny story. The Sci-fi aspect made it a laugh-out loud humour. Reading it in a cafe caused a number of strange looks to come my way.
Definitely recommend.
May 22, 2018
This is the first book from David Blake I have read,and it was really very good.Absolutely hilarious in bits and so reminiscent of Douglas Adams. really well worth a read if you want a light hearted romp.
February 19, 2018
Oh I loved this book. The humour is subtle, the plot is consistant, and everything is surreal and absurd.
July 5, 2018
This book is weird and funny all at the same time. It was perfect for me as I was looking for something different to read. This book takes place about 450 years in the future. Something okay a lot has changed in that time. It was fun and funny read about Capstan try and figure things out as he's been frozen for 450 years. He does take things surprising well and his first case is to find a cow.
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
July 3, 2018
Attack of the Mammary Clans is the first book in the Space Police series. This book can be read as a standalone. This was the first book from this author that I have read, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this story. If you like British and sarcastic humor, then you should read this book. It certainly is irreverent and not politically correct. Definitely worth reading if you like this type of book.
July 12, 2018
So badly written I gave up. The humour feels forced which makes it not funny at all. It almost like a knock knock joke in comparison to humour. Not enough substance to make this worth it
June 7, 2019
Could have been good if women had power
I read through exactly 36% of this book. The storyline was interesting and the writing was ok, but I couldn't read further.
Why you ask? Because as far as the author is concerned, women in 'the future' are mostly powerless, non-existent or sex robots ...
Every job (except the dairy Farmer, and the author needs to clarify she's probably the DAUGHTER of the actual owner.) Is a literal sex robot, standing around naked attentive to their owners every need, or a ditzy secretary who's of course sooooo attractive. This is some 1950s bullshit. So in 2400.. we've eliminated race.. but women are still objects? They can't be detectives, or any other powerful job? The author seems to have little respect for women, and as a woman, I have no interest in reading a fururistic book where gender equality has gone in the reverse direction. Disappointing.
I read through exactly 36% of this book. The storyline was interesting and the writing was ok, but I couldn't read further.
Why you ask? Because as far as the author is concerned, women in 'the future' are mostly powerless, non-existent or sex robots ...
Every job (except the dairy Farmer, and the author needs to clarify she's probably the DAUGHTER of the actual owner.) Is a literal sex robot, standing around naked attentive to their owners every need, or a ditzy secretary who's of course sooooo attractive. This is some 1950s bullshit. So in 2400.. we've eliminated race.. but women are still objects? They can't be detectives, or any other powerful job? The author seems to have little respect for women, and as a woman, I have no interest in reading a fururistic book where gender equality has gone in the reverse direction. Disappointing.
July 8, 2020
*Honest review given for a free copy from Netgalley.*
This is my first David Blake novel, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. The floating cow on the cover made me think this would be a zany and humorous read. It was definitely zany and a fun read for summer.
Detective Andrew Capstan wakes up and finds himself a leg short and stuck in the year 2459. He teams up with the great-great-several more greats-grandson of a Sergeant he worked with in 2017 to solve a mystery involving a cow.
I liked the premise. In Blake’s future, dairy is a rare commodity in high demand and hard to find off of Earth, so a cow going missing is a high-level crime. The college kids on a crusade to free cows was very amusing as well. The escalation of the plot line worked very nicely and the humor of the entire situation was fun. I laughed at some of the zany situations capstan and his friends found themselves drawn into.
Even early into the story, the tone is light and rich with humor. Like Dewbush arguing with the YouGet to order a simple glass of water. The entire story keeps the humor the focal point. This made Space Police a great read for sitting under the summer sun.
The length of the sentences are noticeably long, I counted one early on and found it to be 205 words! I wonder how the audio narrator was able to read without pausing to gasp for breath.They grew shorter as the story progressed, but in the beginning, it was almost impressive how long some of these sentences were.
The characters felt flat and didn’t really develop over the story. After a while, everyone started to sound the same. The reactions to what happens to them is fleeting and there’s not much emotional depth to the characters. Which felt odd when Capstan had a fleeting thought about his dead wife and children. It lasted for a paragraph and vanished with little emotional reaction from Capstan.
What I didn’t care for:
-While I thought the humor was good, for the most part, some of the jokes relied on repetitive words or actions (I.e. the grieving process Castan goes over about his leg in chapter two is then repeated by the Doctor in chapter three, or the confusion that ensues anytime Dewbush talks to a computer, or the various mix up with names, Catspam or Bewdush. ). It started to get a little annoying after the first several times.
-It wasn't until I reached Chapter 10 that I realized there weren’t any women characters. And what women there are (the secretary and Wife-bot Susan) were referenced in a sexy way. For example, the perfection of the secretary’s legs and the sexualizaton overall of Wife-bot Susan. In chapter 12 the sexy milkmaid bot appears, followed by Lucy Butterbum. Lucy goes on to become a minor character, with her own POV chapters as she gets kidnapped to Titan.
See more of my reviews at cestokes.com
This is my first David Blake novel, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. The floating cow on the cover made me think this would be a zany and humorous read. It was definitely zany and a fun read for summer.
Detective Andrew Capstan wakes up and finds himself a leg short and stuck in the year 2459. He teams up with the great-great-several more greats-grandson of a Sergeant he worked with in 2017 to solve a mystery involving a cow.
I liked the premise. In Blake’s future, dairy is a rare commodity in high demand and hard to find off of Earth, so a cow going missing is a high-level crime. The college kids on a crusade to free cows was very amusing as well. The escalation of the plot line worked very nicely and the humor of the entire situation was fun. I laughed at some of the zany situations capstan and his friends found themselves drawn into.
Even early into the story, the tone is light and rich with humor. Like Dewbush arguing with the YouGet to order a simple glass of water. The entire story keeps the humor the focal point. This made Space Police a great read for sitting under the summer sun.
The length of the sentences are noticeably long, I counted one early on and found it to be 205 words! I wonder how the audio narrator was able to read without pausing to gasp for breath.They grew shorter as the story progressed, but in the beginning, it was almost impressive how long some of these sentences were.
The characters felt flat and didn’t really develop over the story. After a while, everyone started to sound the same. The reactions to what happens to them is fleeting and there’s not much emotional depth to the characters. Which felt odd when Capstan had a fleeting thought about his dead wife and children. It lasted for a paragraph and vanished with little emotional reaction from Capstan.
What I didn’t care for:
-While I thought the humor was good, for the most part, some of the jokes relied on repetitive words or actions (I.e. the grieving process Castan goes over about his leg in chapter two is then repeated by the Doctor in chapter three, or the confusion that ensues anytime Dewbush talks to a computer, or the various mix up with names, Catspam or Bewdush. ). It started to get a little annoying after the first several times.
-It wasn't until I reached Chapter 10 that I realized there weren’t any women characters. And what women there are (the secretary and Wife-bot Susan) were referenced in a sexy way. For example, the perfection of the secretary’s legs and the sexualizaton overall of Wife-bot Susan. In chapter 12 the sexy milkmaid bot appears, followed by Lucy Butterbum. Lucy goes on to become a minor character, with her own POV chapters as she gets kidnapped to Titan.
See more of my reviews at cestokes.com
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2019
Space Police is a book that gives you what it promises on the cover. They’re in Space (sometimes), they are police…. and there are cows. Not only that, the subtitle is suitably apt… this book certainly is almost funny. There were parts that I thought were quite humourous, but the book relies on far too many misunderstandings of sarcasm, and the repeated idea that being funny has been made illegal in the future.
I didn’t know this was a sequel going in (despite it being book 1 of the series) so perhaps some subtleties about the character were lost on me…..As some other reviewers have alluded to, I think I may have needed to read the previous books. There are a lot of mentions of his previous partner, so any of these references were lost on me. There is also no clear indication as to why Capstan was frozen, but again, this may be clear in previous books.
Enough of being negative, once I got past these points I found the story to be entertaining enough, and was excited to see what would pan out. This one is not for you if you are a fan of Trump I don’t think, but then again most humourous books aren’t.
Overall I thought it was a good book. I’m in no way sorry that I read it, I’m just not sure I would continue the series. While for me it was not on a par with Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, I’m sure other fans of these books will find an enjoyable read here.
Thanks to NetGalley for a FREE copy of the book in exchange for the review
I didn’t know this was a sequel going in (despite it being book 1 of the series) so perhaps some subtleties about the character were lost on me…..As some other reviewers have alluded to, I think I may have needed to read the previous books. There are a lot of mentions of his previous partner, so any of these references were lost on me. There is also no clear indication as to why Capstan was frozen, but again, this may be clear in previous books.
Enough of being negative, once I got past these points I found the story to be entertaining enough, and was excited to see what would pan out. This one is not for you if you are a fan of Trump I don’t think, but then again most humourous books aren’t.
Overall I thought it was a good book. I’m in no way sorry that I read it, I’m just not sure I would continue the series. While for me it was not on a par with Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, I’m sure other fans of these books will find an enjoyable read here.
Thanks to NetGalley for a FREE copy of the book in exchange for the review
February 24, 2018
kindle unlimited, This, the first in the brand new Space Police series, is a hilariously funny Sci Fi space comedy that's just perfect for fans of Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, and the Space Team books. That's what the blurb said, and can see bits of Adams and Pratchett in references, but the least with Space Team.
It's the 25th Century and the President of America has taken over the world.
Meanwhile... after a cleaner unplugged his cryogenic freezing machine by accident, Detective Inspector Capstan awakes to find that he's been in a state of suspended animation for over four hundred years. As he's forced to adjust to life in the future he finds himself reinstated as a policeman, and together with the great great great great grandson of his former subordinate, Sergeant Dewbush, he's put on the case of a missing cow.
1 Space Police: Attack of the Mammary Clans, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Jan 11, 2018)
2 Space Police: The Final Fish Finger, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Feb 7, 2018)
3 Space Police: The Toaster That Time Forgot, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Mar 7, 2018)
4 Space Police: Rise of the Retail-Bot, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Apr 12, 2018)
It's the 25th Century and the President of America has taken over the world.
Meanwhile... after a cleaner unplugged his cryogenic freezing machine by accident, Detective Inspector Capstan awakes to find that he's been in a state of suspended animation for over four hundred years. As he's forced to adjust to life in the future he finds himself reinstated as a policeman, and together with the great great great great grandson of his former subordinate, Sergeant Dewbush, he's put on the case of a missing cow.
1 Space Police: Attack of the Mammary Clans, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Jan 11, 2018)
2 Space Police: The Final Fish Finger, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Feb 7, 2018)
3 Space Police: The Toaster That Time Forgot, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Mar 7, 2018)
4 Space Police: Rise of the Retail-Bot, an almost funny SciFi space comedy (Apr 12, 2018)
July 30, 2019
Space Police is not bad, but it is also definitely not Hitchhikers or even Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Following his cryogenic freezing and unfreezing, the story of Detective Inspector Capstan and his first case for the Space Police is very basic and simple and could have done with fleshing out more so it does not read like an overlong novella.
The humour in Space Police feels more juvenile than the aforementioned series and jokes are dragged out for far too long.
On the other hand, it is an easy read, to a point where I think this would have been more successful if the target audience had been children. This would require some of the sexual jokes being removed and the idea that the only women who exist are either a farmer's daughter or sex(y) robot was removed altogether. In hindsight, better to remove the latter idea completely no matter who the target audience is.
I will probably pick up the next one based on the improved reviews and similar to his crime novels, hopefully, David Blake creates a successful series in his own right.
This was provided by Netgalley for an honest review
The humour in Space Police feels more juvenile than the aforementioned series and jokes are dragged out for far too long.
On the other hand, it is an easy read, to a point where I think this would have been more successful if the target audience had been children. This would require some of the sexual jokes being removed and the idea that the only women who exist are either a farmer's daughter or sex(y) robot was removed altogether. In hindsight, better to remove the latter idea completely no matter who the target audience is.
I will probably pick up the next one based on the improved reviews and similar to his crime novels, hopefully, David Blake creates a successful series in his own right.
This was provided by Netgalley for an honest review
December 1, 2018
A British police inspector—of which there seem to be thousands today—wakes up from cryo to find himself on an orbiting space station above Earth, with only one leg. There’s some mention of how he lost it, presumably in a previous book, but nothing on why they took his cryo tube or whatever it is from Earth to the space station. Seems like an excuse to have a contemporary detective move into science fiction.
Right from the start it’s trying really hard to be Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The scene with the microwave is right out of Red Dwarf. {Do I know sci-fi comedy or what?}
Though I’ve traveled through Great Britain a lot, there’s a bunch of Britishisms I’m not getting.
I wish that there was at least one character that isn’t a complete idiot, and that goes for the protagonist as well. Sigh.
This was more silly than funny, not much different than others I’ve read in this genre, except in space.
2.5 pushed up to 3/5
Right from the start it’s trying really hard to be Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The scene with the microwave is right out of Red Dwarf. {Do I know sci-fi comedy or what?}
Though I’ve traveled through Great Britain a lot, there’s a bunch of Britishisms I’m not getting.
I wish that there was at least one character that isn’t a complete idiot, and that goes for the protagonist as well. Sigh.
This was more silly than funny, not much different than others I’ve read in this genre, except in space.
2.5 pushed up to 3/5
February 1, 2020
Not so much funny as absurd, there's a lot to like here. It shares a sense of humour with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's utterly bonkers and well worth a read if your tastes run to the absurd. Inspector Capstan wakes up in the 25th century, four hundred years later than expected, and missing a leg. A cleaner has unplugged his cryo machine by accident and Capstan tries to pick up the pieces of his former life aided by the humourless Lieutenant Dewbush who happens to be descended from Capstan's old sergeant. Sent to Earth (now completely ruled by America) to Port's Mouth to investigate the disappearance of a cow, Capstan and Dewbush end up on Titan, where the Mammary Clans (who look like huge blobs of blancmange, live on milkshakes and worship earth cows) are trying to resist a takeover bid by the American president. Chaos ensues. I gather there are previous adventures of Capstan and the original Dewbush, but this is my first encounter.
April 10, 2020
Someone needed to inherit the mantle from Douglas Adams. Blake may be the one. Then his style of humor may be closer to Monty Python than Adams. This is absurdist comedy at it's best, sorely needed in these uncertain times.
In book 1, our stalwart hero, Captain Capstan, awakes in the 25th century, missing a leg, longing for a glass of water. Dewbrush, his side kick sergeant is there and leaves to find a doctor. Capstan realizes something is different when Dewbrush interacts with a microwave, that produces a glass of water, charging Dewbrush $250 for the water.
In short, the plot is really secondary to the gags, the banter, and the implausibility of the situation.
The style, compared to Scalzi is over the top. Sometimes the world needs slapstick. This is it.
Recommended for those who need a laugh
Full disclosure. I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
In book 1, our stalwart hero, Captain Capstan, awakes in the 25th century, missing a leg, longing for a glass of water. Dewbrush, his side kick sergeant is there and leaves to find a doctor. Capstan realizes something is different when Dewbrush interacts with a microwave, that produces a glass of water, charging Dewbrush $250 for the water.
In short, the plot is really secondary to the gags, the banter, and the implausibility of the situation.
The style, compared to Scalzi is over the top. Sometimes the world needs slapstick. This is it.
Recommended for those who need a laugh
Full disclosure. I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews