- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Fremantle Press; Second edition edition (Sep 1 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 192073189X
- ISBN-13: 978-1920731892
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,920,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
An incompetent, accident-prone pilot is given one last chance to save his ship; an ageing robot is trusted with a midnight landing in a deserted field; and a desperate businessman is prepared to sacrifice both of them to get what he wants in the hilarious science fiction adventures of cargo businessman Hal Spacejock.
About the Author
Simon Haynes is the award-winning author of the Hal Spacejock series and a founding member of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A for Hal Spacejock,
By
This review is from: Hal Spacejock (Paperback)
A for "Hal Spacejock"
If you are interested in the humour-sf genre, you should really check this out (and note that you should be able to get it FREE on the author's website and, after you've enjoyed it, come here for the sequels) This book is a hilarious romp through space with the clumsy Hal and his robot Clunk. You can't help but laugh at the exaggerated pop-culture references and the mishaps of this likable but idiotic pilot. A great read and highly recommended if you can get your hands on it. Be aware that while there are satirical additions to this book, it isn't meant to be a thought-provoking slow burn on the nature of scientific improvements or anything of the like. It is, however, hilarious, as are future volumes.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (41 customer reviews) 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-paced Space Romp,
By Jim C. Hines - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hal Spacejock (Paperback)
The cover blurb compares Hal Spacejock to Red Dwarf, so I went in expecting that same level of silliness and humor. (Rather, that level of humour -- Australian spelling, after all.) And silliness it delivers. Hal Spacejock, incompetent pilot on the cargo ship Black Gull, lands a job transporting robot parts from point A to point B. On his side is the old robot Clunk. Against him is, well, pretty much everyone else, from warships to desperate thieves to debt collectors to dockmasters who object to Hal's habit of accidentally setting their planets on fire.
The book moves along at a nice pace, and there are some entertaining bits. The "How much for that robot in the window?" exchange made me laugh. A lot of Haynes' computer and robot tech parallels today's PC-related troubles, such as Clunk the roboth having to clean up the code for the Navigational Computer. Then there's the accounting rationale behind disposing of perfectly good robots for tax and warranty reasons. All of this is discussed with a sharp eye for the absurd. (There were moments when I thought I was reading about my own office.) What lost me from time to time was when the balance switched too far to the silly side of things, at the cost of plausibility. Hal felt too incompetent to have survived this long. It's funny that he can't land his own spaceship, and that he doesn't know what any of the buttons on the console actually do, but it leaves the reader wondering how he managed to get the ship at all, and how he got to where he is without getting himself killed. Once or twice, complications felt like they were thrown in for the sake of another gag, as opposed to being natural consequences of the story. It's a very tricky thing to balance humor and suspension of disbelief. To some extent, it's probably a matter of personal taste. Whether or not you'll like the book is going to depend a lot on your sense of humor. For me, it was an amusing read, but it didn't quite hit the mark. Given the success Haynes has had with the series so far (I would love to have some of his great reviews for my own work), Given the success Haynes has had with the series so far (I would love to have some of his great reviews for my own work), I'd say it's definitely worth checking out chapter one at the author's website to see if it's your brand of space humor. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Traditional but hilarious,
By K. Weber "melydia" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hal Spacejock (Paperback)
The incompetent-but-lucky man with his capable-but-frequently-eyerolling companion who repeatedly (and thanklessly) saves his butt seems to be a staple in humorous science fiction. Hal Spacejock and his robot sidekick, Clunk, are no exception. I won't say that this story has anything new and novel to offer, but it sure is a good time. I especially enjoyed the random side scenes, like Hal's altercation with a stubborn automatic door. If you like outlandish SF like Red Dwarf and the Stainless Steel Rat, check out Hal Spacejock.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast, smooth read and a fun science fiction adventure,
By Fahim Farook "Bibliophile/writer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Hal Spacejock (Paperback)
Simon Haynes' "Hal Spacejock" was a darn good read. More importantly, it was something that I completely enjoyed reading, after a long time. What was interesting for me while reading the book was to note that I was hooked by the time I was barely a quarter of the way through the book. Usually, it takes me a while to be truly invested in a story. For instance, Terry Pratchett is my favourite author but the last few books by PTerry took me at least till the middle of the book before I was really engaged in the story - you know, the point of no return, where you get so hooked in the story that you cannot bear to put the book down.
Am I saying that Simon is better than PTerry? Not really. (Sorry Simon :p) But I'm saying that Simon's style is very easy to read and to get into and that it is very different from that of Terry Pratchett - I enjoy books by both but I find that Simon's is a much more easier page turner for me a lot earlier on :) But I'm not going to compare one author to another, that's really not fair to either since each author has their own unique style and they bring completely different values and qualities to the table. Basically, I enjoyed the story. It came together well and by the time I completed it, I wanted to get my hands on the sequel, "Hal Spacejock: Second Course" and continue reading. That's all that any author can ask for, right? :) |
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