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The Breach

Starship Repo

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Starship Repo is a fast-paced romp through the galaxy from Patrick S. Tomlinson.

Firstname Lastname is a no one with nowhere to go. With a name that is the result of an unfortunate clerical error and destined to be one of the only humans on an alien space station. That is until she sneaks aboard a ship and joins up with a crew of repomen (they are definitely not pirates).

Now she's traveling the galaxy "recovering" ships. What could go wrong?

336 pages, Paperback

First published May 21, 2019

65 people are currently reading
515 people want to read

About the author

Patrick S. Tomlinson

19 books251 followers
Patrick S. Tomlinson lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife, a menagerie of houseplants in varying levels of health, a Mustang, and a Triumph motorcycle bought specifically to embarrass and infuriate Harley riders. When not writing sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories, Patrick is busy developing his other passion for writing and performing stand-up comedy in the Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago scenes.

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5 stars
162 (28%)
4 stars
199 (34%)
3 stars
122 (21%)
2 stars
40 (7%)
1 star
46 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
Profile Image for Craig Pearson.
442 reviews11 followers
June 11, 2019
DNF. The "light episodic humor" just did nothing for me. The allusions to current events seemed inappropriate and references to current cultural icons such as 'Star Wars' have no place in a novel set 4 centuries in the future. The humor just seemed silly and forced.

5/21/19 update
If you are here just to troll the author please do not like this review. It is easy to tell who the trolls are by looking at your profile.

Apparently there are some here who think this book is well written and all less than glowing reviews are fake. Giving blanket attacks to these reviews, however, borders on paranoid. I do understand that some accounts on goodreads are here for their own purposes and not to give honest reviews. Read the book and come to your own conclusion. And thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Profile Image for Plat.
1 review
May 21, 2019
Derivative. Childish. Garbage.
Profile Image for Patrick Tomlinson.
Author 19 books251 followers
September 25, 2018
Sure, I'm hardly objective, but this is the best thing I've ever written, folks. Starship Repo delivers on the promise of its title. A teenaged human runaway gets caught up in an alien repossession company and runs around the galaxy stealing back starships from the 1%. There's thrills, chills, an 80's hair metal cover band, and a space chariot race. There's a transgender crab alien, a brain in a jar, a communal organism, and a hentai tentacle monster living in the sewers with strong opinions about music piracy. But above all, there's heart and a story about coming of age and forging your own found family.

I still can't believe Tor gave me money to write this pile of ridiculous, but I'm sure glad they did. I think you will be, too.
Profile Image for Piret.
75 reviews39 followers
May 24, 2019
Uninspiring and bland
4 reviews
June 30, 2019
I read this book at the suggestion of a friend of mine who raved about the author for months and insisted that I would love his work. I chose his latest book because I figured why not. After 10 pages of excruciatingly bad writing void of any humour I was already exhausted. I would've gave up right there if I hadn't made a promise to my annoying friend so i tortured myself through it.

tl;dr Read Douglas Adams instead
Profile Image for Viking Jam.
1,361 reviews23 followers
April 25, 2019
Rating: 4.7/5

Review: One of the main elements in a novel that I look for is character development. Story lines and logical progression come in second-ish. There are many ways to develop characters as to win over the reader. Mainly the movement is inspired enough to engage these personas with time molding the differences.

One douchebag reviewer stated that, “tThe “light episodic humor” just did nothing for me. The allusions current events seemed inappropriate and references to current cultural icons such as ‘Star Wars’ have no place in a novel set 4 centuries in the future. The humor just seemed silly and forced.”. So ignore the grammatical/spelling errors for now from said 4-year old reviewer and lets focus on the finer points. IMO, if the novel expands a creative world to develop their burgeoning characters, then the humor is almost tertiary to the outcome; being entertained and captivated by the various personalities. To arbitrarily say a novel is not worth the paper it’s printed on because the humor is silly, dismisses the most important aspects contained and relegates the entirety to a dismissive state (poopy bottom). I may be wrong, but I do not remember any “allusions” to Star Wars, but I may have missed it.

That purged, I found the novel highly entertaining. The aliens are numerous and the author builds them into a believable state. They are all gifted with relevant personalities that pair well with their counterpart species to create a cogent civilization (good world building). First is an impeccably built character as are her surrounding adopted familial’s. Even brief appearances of aliens are gifted with enough personality to enhance the scenes and build the story line.

I really would like to see this become a series to my own myopic ends…….continuing high-level entertainment.
Profile Image for Summer.
709 reviews26 followers
March 25, 2024
The writing quality is poor. The descriptions are poor. There are too many modern-day references for a book supposedly set 400+ years in the future. It really broke the immersion for me and destroyed what world-building the author was trying to set up.

I think the premise of the book is quite fun, but I think that the execution was bad.
1 review
May 23, 2019
Basically the turner diaries meets Lolita but in space. Might have rated a 3 had he delved deeper into the true identities of the characters who controlled the financial system.
Profile Image for The Captain.
1,521 reviews521 followers
May 21, 2019
Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

I have been meaning to check out Tomlinson's writing for a while and was glad to get a review copy from the publisher.  This one is a light and fluffy story that follows a repo company in space.  The main character is a human called "Firstname Lastname" due to a clerical error on her refugee status card.  First, as she goes by, is a grifter who uses tricks to con aliens out of their money as she makes her way through the galaxy.  Only she gets caught and is given a choice to join the repo crew or go to jail.  Ye know what she picks.

The plot really feels like a series of vignettes strung together.  The story details the oddball crew and their adventures to reclaim spaceships for creditors.  The highlight of this story is First and the relationships she builds with those around her.  She is the first human this part of the galaxy has seen and so silliness abounds.  Favourite characters included the transgender alien crab, the brain in a jar, the granite roommate, and the Boss who happens to be a communal organism.

There are little cultural illusions sprinkled throughout for fun though a very thinly veiled Donald Trump caricature is found so be forewarned.  It was fast-paced and I enjoyed it.  Many parts made me smile.  Nothing earth-shattering here but a pleasant popcorn book.  Arrrr!

So lastly . . .Thank you Macmillian-Tor/Forge!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
2 reviews1 follower
May 23, 2019
Not very good.
5 reviews
September 19, 2020
Absolutely terrible. No plot. Two dimensional characters and about as fun as hacking your arm off with a rusty spoon.
Profile Image for Neil Plakcy.
Author 238 books650 followers
May 5, 2019
What an imagination! The world of outer space comes alive in Mr. Tomlinson's deep and wide-ranging creation. From lobster-like females embarrassed by their claws to super-smart pilots who live in aquaria and all have the same name, to a boss who is a combination of creatures and can reorganize easily, Junktion is a weird place. Our heroine, Firstname Lastname, AKA First, is a smart teen human hacker who can easily steal air ships but has an emotional center. A great, fun, read.
Profile Image for Erik de Bie.
18 reviews15 followers
May 23, 2019
This book is well worth your time, if you like funny, irreverent, creative sci-fi.

Also, don’t believe all these trolls. No one deserves to be treated this way.
Profile Image for Mackenzie (mackenziespocket).
630 reviews86 followers
May 18, 2019
Have I talked about how much I love heist stories? Because I do. Both in books (think Six of Crows) and movies (Ocean’s Eleven, The Italian Job, etc). Earlier this year I read Patrick S. Tomlinson’s novel Gate Crashers and loved it, so when I saw he had a new novel coming out that was more heists in space, how could I resist?

Starship Repo actually takes places in the same universe as Gate Crashers, but rest assured you don’t need to read that one first at all. There are some small callbacks for those who did, but you could read them completely separately. It follows a human teenager named, hilariously, Firstname Lastname (she goes by First). Ridiculous, right? But also amazing. There was a clerical error somewhere along the line, and since she’s a runaway she just stuck with it. At first she makes her living as a small time pickpocket, aircar thief, and con lady. She eventually gets kinda forcibly recruited into a crew of “repo men”, who repossess ships from rich beings who haven’t kept up their payments, and return them to the banks/owners for a fee. Basically, legal space pirates. What’s not to like??

If that didn’t convince you to read it, here is the cast of characters (aside from First) in the author’s own words: “There’s a transgender crab alien, a brain in a jar, a communal organism, and a hentai tentacle monster living in the sewers with strong opinions about music piracy.” Seriously though, the characters make the book. Each one is so unique, and has an amazing personality. I’m majorly impressed with Tomlinson’s creativity, since all of the characters is a different species of being, and all the different species are so COOL. I’m also a sucker for found family stories, and this is definitely one. First is like their semi-rebellious child that they adopt along the way and I loved seeing the bonds develop between her and the rest of the characters.

There’s plenty of action and lots of heists in the novel, which keeps it going at a great pace. The only thing that brings it down to 4.5 from 5 stars is that I wanted a tad more of a larger plot. There is a background overarching plot through the whole novel, but it was pretty light. The plot focuses on a handful of different heists, which was awesome! I just wanted a bit more cohesiveness. But on the plus side one of the heists involves a high speed space race, so that’s pretty awesome.

The writing is also really fun to read, and the science part of the science fiction is never overwhelming. I noted this in Gate Crashers and I’m pleased to see it here as well – Tomlinson has clearly done his homework with space/physics/science/etc. The reference to Lagrange points killed me!! My astrodynamics loving heart.

There is also so much humor! Not the laugh out loud kind, but the kind that keeps you smiling and brings out the occasional snort. More so than Gate Crashers in my opinion, or maybe it just flows better in this one. There are also funny little pop culture references that are amazing and well done. For example:

“Yippee ki-yay, motherfu—”
“Language, young lady,” Hashin said from his own seat as he applied some sort of medicated patch to his upper arm.
“But how did you even know . . .”
“We’ve all seen Die Hard. We have Christmas out here, too, you know. It’s mostly a retail-driven holiday, but then, what holiday isn’t?”
-Patrick S. Tomlinson, Starship Repo (quote taken from eARC, subject to change)

Anyway, I truly enjoyed this and highly recommend it to everyone!! Especially if you’re a scifi fan, or a found families fan, or a heist fan.

Thank you SO MUCH to Tor Books for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley for review!
Profile Image for John.
1,879 reviews59 followers
September 12, 2019
OK, for anyone who really needs a lift in life, here is a truly heartwarming and hilarious SF novel that sings from first line to acknowledgements. Being a collector of bon mots, I was spoiled for choice...so here’s a selection:

“Welcome to McDonald’s,” said a giant brain floating in a jar, with tentacles where a spinal cord should be. “My name is Fenax. May I take your order?”

“First, this is Hashin,” Jrill said. “Hashin, First. We’re all going to be friends or die trying.”

“Eat a sentient? Surely not. What kind of monster do you take me for?” the gaping, dagger-filled orifice said.

First drew herself up. “I have a plan. It involves a sewer and some nets.” “So just like the rest of our plans lately,” Jrill said.

“How did your people ever get into space?” “Dick-measuring contest back in the mid-twentieth century.”
Profile Image for Fred Hughes.
843 reviews51 followers
July 24, 2020
Another rousing adventure from the twisted mind of Patrick S. Tomlinson. Much like Scalzi the characters are all warped but highly functioning examples of their kind.

Wise asses and hard asses combine to make for a fun filled and action packed adventure as this motley crew goes about their business which is repossessing starships that have fallen behind in their payments.

RECOMMENDED Author and book
Profile Image for Contrarius.
621 reviews92 followers
Want to read
January 5, 2020
I just heard about this book because of all the trolls who have been attacking it.

Congrats, trolls, you just made another sale for Patrick!

This isn't the sort of sf that I would automatically be drawn to -- but if a bunch of idiot trolls hate it, it must be worth a try.

I've just purchased the audio version. I'll report back in a few days -- Stay Tuned!
Profile Image for Online Eccentric Librarian.
3,400 reviews5 followers
September 5, 2019
More reviews at the Online Eccentric Librarian http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Starship Repo is a book of very dry and often amusing humor, never taking itself too seriously and clearly written around creating funny lines similar to a Douglas Adams book. At times, it did feel like the writer was trying a bit too hard to be clever, but I laughed often. As with Guardians of the Galaxy, we have a lot of cultural references from the 20th century: from every alien starship named tongue in cheek takes on modern/current American cultural phrases ("Goes Where It Is Towed" "Pay To Prey") to a character named Fonald Plump (who "claimed to be a trillionaire virtual real estate developer turned casino magnate has had an awful habit of seeing his recent project go bankrupt."). It somehow seemed far less clever than it should have been - and I would have liked to see the author creating a whole new world and inhabiting it with fun and snarky characters unique to the world instead. Every alien seemed human - just with different features.

Story: Firstname Lastname (a clerical error led to this being her official name) is one of the few humans left in the universe after the Earth was invaded and the invasion fumbled, pretty much killing off most of both species. Now surviving in space stations, she lives by her wits, currently hijacking cars and giving them to a fence. But when she finds a juicy score, it appears it was the bait in the hook to obtain her services as hacker and brash carjacker. Working with a (barely) legal high end repo operation should be rewarding. Certainly, there is a colorful cast of characters assisting her. The only problem is that people just don't like having their property repossessed - and often will fight it.

The story felt a bit 'monster of the week' in that we have First getting an assignment to repo an item (rock band tour bus, floating casino, pod racer (a little Star Wars there)) and something typically goes wrong, usually because First acts without thinking. Trouble ensues, the item is successfully captured albeit never in perfect condition, and then we await a new target. Each of these feel like they are set up to highlight or showcase something about First - and not necessarily what would realistically or ordinarily occur for the repo operation.

The cultural references from the 1980s to current (most likely reflecting the age of the author) are the hallmark of the novel. From hair bands making a comeback in space ("We're just a bunch of kids from Michigan who had a band!"), First wearing her favorite Whitesnake band t-shirt, and many many more. It provides relevancy/ralatability to the audience but I couldn't help but feel true sci fi fans will want/desire a bit more accountability and logic to the cultural choices. Not so much from First - she is a teen girl, after all, though we don't know from what era of Earth's history she hails - but at least from the aliens, who seem to only have access to the 1980s in Earth history.

Now, the above nitpicks aside, there are some genuinely funny moments that made me laugh out loud. Because the book feels written only to come up with humorous situations, I would expect nothing less. The deadpan responses of the aliens, amusingly creative insults, and cast of characters were perfectly assembled to make the best use of First's very American teen rebelliousness and lack of logic. So although we won't ever believe these are real aliens or that this universe could ever exist, at least we can have fun laughing at the humor.

In all, I probably won't continue the series should there be more books in it (which could easily happen since the story was left open ended). It was funny but just not what I am looking for in my sci fi. I always want books to have a plot and the humor written around it, not the other way around. It felt like this was going for a Douglas Adams vibe (including the cover art) or Guardians of the Galaxy - but isn't nearly as crazy or over-the-top as it would need to be in order to really succeed. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
Profile Image for Rosann.
334 reviews1 follower
June 8, 2019
The tale of Firstname Lastname, small time human con artist in a decidedly non-human world, turns into a full blown action, fantasy, science fiction adventure in the stars. Messages of tolerance, and personal growth are laced throughout the fast paced heist-centered space opera without being too heavy handed. It is an enjoyable ride.

Since my review was posted I have had this review (and myself) attacked by anonymous persons. Be wary of those one star reviews, and judge for yourselves.
Profile Image for Arbor Barrow.
Author 12 books15 followers
October 23, 2020
Very good! It's a rare book that makes me want to start back at the beginning right after I finish and read it all over again. Enjoyed the character of First and the absolute nonsense she got herself into. She was very endearing and the aliens and people around her were very fun and fleshed out.

WOULD READ AGAIN
Profile Image for Kara.
720 reviews1,269 followers
December 31, 2020
Starship Repo is a hilarious science fiction adventure with fantastic narration!

MC First Name Last Name (“yeah, I know. It was a data entry error. They keep saying it’ll get sorted out any day now”) is a rare human on a world with lots of different aliens. Turns out that aiens don’t know, and are mystified by the “shell game” hustle, by which she earns a meagre living.

She’s caught by MC Lorit when trying to steal his car (another side hustle), and given a choice of prison, or of joining his team of starship repossessors.

This book is extremely entertaining, with rich details of the various alien species and of the different personalities. The banter between the characters is among the best I’ve ever read/heard with any book ever! Most of my bookmark notes are peppered with the crying laughing emoji!

There’s not a sequel to Starship Repo, but there’s another book by the same author in the same “Breach Series” with different characters. It’s also narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan. The title is “Gate Crashers” crashers. Silly me; I bought it last year and forgot about it. On the short list for 2021!
204 reviews11 followers
Read
May 20, 2019
Her name is Firstname, Lastname, thanks to a clerical error, and she's human, not something you see every day walking into a galactic hub like Junktion Hyperspace Station. After all, humans have only been feed from their wildlife sanctuary for a few decades, and the Galaxy is a big place. If the customs inspector who greeted her knew how much trouble a teenaged juvenile delinquent could cause, or that his wallet was about to go missing, he'd have had second thoughts about granting that temporary visa. But then things would have been a lot less interesting.

Starship Repo is the second book in Patrick S. Tomlinson's Breach series, which started off with Gate Crashers, where mankind discovered that the final frontier was bounded by a fence marked "Human-Wildlife Sanctuary" and took a pair of cutters to the fence. Humans have been free-range for a while as this book opens, but still a pretty rare sight.

more: http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?i...
43 reviews2 followers
May 27, 2019
I tried to keep myself from binge-reading this book in one day, so it took me a bit longer. I also don't tend to write reviews, but I make exceptions based on the books and writers.

I am not normally a reader of science fiction, I am more of an avid reader of fantasy and urban fantasy. After reading the Children of a Dead Earth trilogy by this author/comedian, I got sucked into his writing of science fiction. Pretty sure if I hadn't of read the other trilogy, I might not have enjoyed or appreciated The Expanse as much as I did.

This book is well-written. I enjoy the humor as well as the research that the author put in to make everything work. Personally, I would love a Grenic plushie (with the "tattoo"). I do want to state that I did not see any grammatical errors and it is a very enjoyable book. Please. Write. More.
Profile Image for Pat Powers.
Author 126 books22 followers
March 17, 2020
This is a fun, excellent space opera, full of humor and adventure and some really well-written aliens. It's not a civilizations-at-stake story like its predecessor "Gate Crashers," it deals with the relatively humdrum experiences of a young human woman who falls in with a band of alien starship reposessors, just like it says in the title. But "relatively" is a dangerous word, as any physicist will tell you, and there is absolutely a lot fun to be had in reading this book. Most entertaining, highly recommended!
Profile Image for Dominic.
83 reviews2 followers
February 22, 2020
Another fantastic book

This was such a fantastic read. Mr. Tomlinson interjected a lot more, well placed humor than previous books. I'm sure his stand-up comedy background was helpful in doing so. The characterization of the casino owner's avatar was priceless and spot on. I really hope this ends up as a series so we can watch First's conquests as a racer.
Profile Image for tivasyk.
486 reviews17 followers
February 17, 2021
maybe it's just me? but i find «starship repo» boring. the first book of the series at least started as a classic space sci-fi... this one is just an attempt at young adult comic show with cartoonish personages replaced by cartoonish «aliens» :-/
Profile Image for Matt.
69 reviews
March 4, 2020
Ok, now THIS book was FUNNY.
Profile Image for Liz (Quirky Cat).
4,986 reviews84 followers
May 21, 2019
I received a copy of Starship Repo through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Starship Repo is the newest novel from the mind of Patrick S. Tomlinson. And honestly, I couldn’t be happier about picking this novel up. I’ve been really craving something like this lately, but I hadn’t been able to put it into words until now. I wanted a space opera with a healthy sense of comedic relief and character building. I got all of that here.
Starship Repo is honestly exactly what it sounds like. And then some. Yes, it follows a team of Repo Agents as they do what they do best – repossess some of the finest spaceships in the galaxy. The job isn’t as easy as it sounds, and it’s surprisingly competitive. But honestly, upping the stakes merely made this novel that much more interesting.



For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
Profile Image for Alexia Cambaling.
237 reviews10 followers
May 14, 2019
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books!

Starship Repo is the story of a girl, who due to an unfortunate data entry error, is given the name Firstname Lastname. In an unfamiliar location. First thrives by doing a variety of odd jobs (or let’s just say cons) and she succeeds until she gets the attention of a repossession team whose job is to recover spaceships.

The book is told in a mostly episodic form revolving around all sorts of shenanigans the crew gets into and for the most part, it remains light-hearted and comedic in tone. However, there are moments wherein the differences between the crew can lead to some tension. By tension, I mean that there are hostile alien races and a first contact gone wrong scenario which happened off-screen and years prior to this book. I believe the details are in a book prior to this one which I haven’t read.

Still, I really enjoyed how the crew interacts with one another and how they grow to care for one another throughout the course of their adventures. It’s genuinely heartwarming seeing their characters evolve throughout the book and become like a real crew of people who aren’t just work colleagues, but also friends.

I also liked First as a character. Throughout the story, she goes on a lot of adventures- some with the crew, some on her own. One of the highlights of this is when she crashes into a concert by an Earth band who covers centuries-old song, which just happens to be late 20th century music. Scenes like this helps give a sense of time and progression in the world-building, while also helping build First’s character as a reckless but cunning teenaged girl.

As for the negatives, the world-building can be sometimes confusing. A lot of terms and names were thrown about, which leads to a lot of head-scratching. I will admit some of it can get hilarious, but for the most part, I wish we could have learned more about this world. There are also some pop culture references thrown about, both about human culture and alien culture. Personally, I’d love to learn about the alien culture more and I felt like it was kind of lacking there.

Besides that, the side characters also weren’t as fleshed out as I hoped they would be. The story really does primarily revolve around First and as such, she’s the most developed and well-rounded character.

Overall, I can recommend this book. I really enjoyed it and if you’re in the mood for some light-hearted, fast-paced sci-fi with no high stakes, then this book is for you.

This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews

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