Electra Rex

by April C. Griffith

Electra Rex, self-appointed ‘galaxy’s greatest starship captain’ and last known human, is going to save humanity or get rich trying!

Electra Rex, the last human in known space, is broke—worse than broke, deeply in debt and out of options. After a desperate, drunken attempt to fix her faltering life, she finds herself in a deeper hole after stealing the most stylish starship she’s ever seen, but it comes with a massive lien.

She’s left with a fast ship, a nearly indestructible debt-enforcement robot named Letterman watching her every move and a lead on a lucrative job with the mysterious organization known as Bi-MARP, which is set to rebuild Earth on the two-thousand-year anniversary of its destruction.

Across two galaxies, she struggles to stay one step ahead of space pirates and creditors, all while trying to catch the eye of a beautiful, vivacious bisexual clone named Treasure, who was recently rescued from a top-secret university lab run by academic squids.

She succeeds in seducing Treasure—or perhaps it’s the other way around—while they run scams to find earthling relics like the original formula for Coca-Cola, a 1968 Volkswagen Beatle, a mostly complete Monopoly board game and a largely accurate, if not small and green, clone of an elephant. All the while, Electra has to hide the fact that Treasure is actually the most valuable item on the Bi-MARP list—a fertile human female.

When the truth of humanity’s demise and the goals of Bi-MARP are uncovered, Electra, the galaxy’s foremost transgender hero, decides that the riches and fame aren’t worth the sacrifices, and she turns on her former employer to rescue Treasure a third time, completing her search for money, what it means to be human without the rest of humanity and, most of all, love.

Genres: Science Fiction, Adult

269 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 9, 2021

About the author

April is a lesbian, a writing professor, a rogue academic, and a giant nerd. She’s from originally Oregon, but now calls San Diego her home. Her passions include LGBTQ+ political activism, creating safe places for women in Dungeons & Dragons, and writing the books she wanted to read when she was a kid. She's an aunt to three, a sister to two, and a girlfriend to one.

Reviews

[Mae Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up Electra Rex, I was hoping for a crazy little space romp with slightly unhinged characters, and that's exactly what I got. There's a chaos to this story that comes directly from its main character, and it is so much fun to watch Electra's adventures and misadventures unravel. The aliens are varied, and there's a strong unpinning of humor to the story that lends itself well to the premise. Definitely an underappreciated little gem, well worth the read.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars! I had so much fun with this book, and I don't understand why it only has a couple of ratings. The world building was wonderful, it was incredibly funny, and Electra is a delight of a character - a badass trans space captain who is also a big softy for her girlfriend and a bit of an idiot (in the best way possible). The heist scenes were a blast, and the spicy scenes were, for the most part, chef's kiss. Some of the trans specific elements felt a little clumsy (I wish we didn't find out Electra's dead name, for example), but overall, I had a great time with this, and I hope that Griffith writes another book in future!

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is like if Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had a baby with Dr. Who. A really fun space romp with a cute romance and interesting characters. I actually enjoyed this more than Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tbh. I was obsessed with the fact that Tim Horton's made a guest appearance, and that it was Treasure's favorite coffee spot.

My main issue is that I don't know if the author is trans which kind of affects my take on how Electra was dead-named. Although I know trans people who don't mind their previous names being known, I kind of felt like that was an unnecessary element of the story. But other than that, 100% would recommend this to anyone interested in space dramedies.

[Mys Sin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with this book. While I did check it out because I had heard it was queer, I was still pleasantly surprised when I found out what flavor of queer it was!
Much like another favorite author of mine, this book is written with humor, action and yet grounding of the future sci elements with things you can wrap your head around easily.

I'd eagerly look forward to more from this author, especially if it's queer.