Tonight is the first event for the new book, and I've spent most of the afternoon at home with curlers in my hair and cucumber circles on the eyes...
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I just finished the first book in the Hal Spacejock series by Simon Haynes, and I couldn't possibly count the number of times I laughed out loud.
I do know it started with the very first page. To set the scene, our hero, Hal Spacejock himself, is playing chess against his spaceship's navigational computer:
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'Your turn,' said the Navcom, in a neutral female voice.
'I'm thinking.'
'While you're planning your opening move, can I tell you about a special offer?'
'What kind of offer?' asked Hal suspiciously.
'Planet Books have a chess title on sale.'
[...]
'Chess for the intellectually challenged?' said Hal, staring at the cover in disbelief. 'Is this some kind of joke?'
'It's part of a popular series,' said the Navcom.
'What are the others? Interstellar navigation for nutters? Moon landings for morons?'
'Shall I add those titles to your basket?'
-----------------------
This book had me roaring. From the first page to the last, Hal Spacejock is a comically lovable idiot -- the dubious hero with a heart of gold buried under a whole cargo load of impatience, underhandedness, laughably questionable habits and an indomitable devil-may-care attitude. His faithful sidekick robot, Clunk -- with enough common sense for two and a healthy dose of good guy morality -- saves Hal's foolish hide at every turn and steals the show on every glorious page.
Add in a smart-mouth shipboard computer, a debt collector with a burly robot henchman, and two competing industrial tycoons who would do just about anything to get their hands on a shipment of robot parts, and you have the perfect recipe for one wild and uproarious ride across the galaxy and back again.
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Hal Spacejock (Hal Spacejock #01) by Simon Haynes
EM, July 19, 2007
I just finished the first book in the Hal Spacejock series by Simon Haynes, and I couldn't possibly count the number of times I laughed out loud.I do know it started with the very first page. To set the scene, our hero, Hal Spacejock himself, is playing chess against his spaceship's navigational computer:
-----------------------
'Your turn,' said the Navcom, in a neutral female voice.
'I'm thinking.'
'While you're planning your opening move, can I tell you about a special offer?'
'What kind of offer?' asked Hal suspiciously.
'Planet Books have a chess title on sale.'
[...]
'Chess for the intellectually challenged?' said Hal, staring at the cover in disbelief. 'Is this some kind of joke?'
'It's part of a popular series,' said the Navcom.
'What are the others? Interstellar navigation for nutters? Moon landings for morons?'
'Shall I add those titles to your basket?'
-----------------------
This book had me roaring. From the first page to the last, Hal Spacejock is a comically lovable idiot -- the dubious hero with a heart of gold buried under a whole cargo load of impatience, underhandedness, laughably questionable habits and an indomitable devil-may-care attitude. His faithful sidekick robot, Clunk -- with enough common sense for two and a healthy dose of good guy morality -- saves Hal's foolish hide at every turn and steals the show on every glorious page.
Add in a smart-mouth shipboard computer, a debt collector with a burly robot henchman, and two competing industrial tycoons who would do just about anything to get their hands on a shipment of robot parts, and you have the perfect recipe for one wild and uproarious ride across the galaxy and back again.
(6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)