Commando Pandas & Other Odd Thoughts

by Benjamin Wallace

Commando Pandas and Other Odd Thoughts.
In this collection of short stories you will find:

Commando Pandas
History making arguments
An alien invasion
A super galactic robot force
Trans-dimensional real estate
Time travel tourism
A Corporate dystopia
Designer babies

And much more

Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2018

About the author

Benjamin Wallace lives in Dallas, Texas where he complains about the heat—a lot.

Reviews

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever read (or listened to) a bad book by Benjamin Wallace. They're always funny, different from the norm while being mired deeply in it and he always hits the nail on the head with his observations. Commando Pandas is no different, and while it's a short book of short stories, it is definitely time well spent. Shout out to Phil Thron for the audio too.

[Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I typically steer clear of short story collections, as I have been burned too many times in the past. However, being Benjamin Wallace and Phil Thron, I figured I couldn't go wrong. I was correct.

What we have is a collection of unrelated shorts, dealing with varying topics like buying real estate in other dimensions, publicity campaigns for unpopular wars and other random sci fi concepts. The alien invasion story thread consists of several segments and is dispersed through the the book.

As shorts go, these are all entertaining a d thought provoking. The only complaint I have is that I wish they were just a little more fleshed out. Not novella fleshed out, but just like naming things or developing concepts just a touch more. For example, in the war propaganda story, the was is in Asia. It's explicitly stated its not China, but it's never narrowed down any more than not-China Asia. Or the real estate one, there's an upgrade to the house that is described as a costly upgrade, which the characters go for, but it's never established how costly it is. Like as much as the down-payment, or a percentage of the purchase price of the house, etc

These details are unimportant to the stories as written, but they are little tidbits of information that I would have liked, to make the story feel more like a short glimpse of a full world, rather than just a fun little thought exercise. Either way, still very enjoyable.

The voice narration, by Phil Thron, is as amazing as always. This man is second to none, that I've ever listened to, and even though this is just a collection of short unconnected stories, he still brings the same quality as he would a Post Apocalyptic Nomadic Warrior or Space Team book.

All in all, this is a really fun and interesting collection of stories. They are thought provoking and intelligent while still being playful and funny. I would have liked just a little more detail to make the worlds feel lived in, but it never takes away from the story itself. The voice narration is top quality. And pretty much you can't go wrong picking this book up.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

SF humor is great

The stories in this volume effectively poke fun at modern standards, conventions, and media. The stories are nicely humorous, perfect for a nice evening’s entertainment. Ben Wallace has a great sense of humor and a way with words that brings out that humor. Nicely readable and distracting.

[Steve Martinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio, and found it to be quite humorous. Every story brought laughter. So if you're in the mood for some decent sci-fi humor, this is the book for you!

[Kim Upchurch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and caught myself laughing out loud quite a few times! Thanks, Benjamin Wallace!

[Elizabeth Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

I just had fun reading all these stories. I cant wait to send a copy to my brother. I laughed in a waiting room reading this and got funny looks.