| Space Captain Smith (Chronicles of Isambard Smith 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: Toby Frost
Publisher: Myrmidon Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £2.93
You Save: £5.06 (63%)
New (19) Used (6) from £2.57
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 3686
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 1905802137
EAN: 9781905802135
ASIN: 1905802137
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. Delivery within the uk only. dispatched within 1 working day
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 18 | | NEXT » |
 Excellent Stuff! August 18, 2008
Well I've just finished reading Space Captain Smith for a second time and must admit I love it!
With a good mix of humour, derring-do and some really entertaining characters this book is great fun and doesn't take itself too seriously but still manages to have a really great story!
I am really looking forward for the sequel to come out in September and would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good light hearted adventure story!
I do believe that the books could make a great setting for a red dwarf style of tv show as it could very well be fantastic!
 Oh dear... August 10, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Going against the flow I found this book pretty tedious, the premise seemed good and some of the characters were quite likeable but the most annoying thing about the book was that the it just ran like a load of other peoples ideas all stuck together - Dan Dare, The Matrix, Blade Runner, Starship Trooper, Predator, Red Dwarf and many others. I know everyone borrows, reuses and uses new paradigms for existing ideas but I felt they were the glue holding this book together.
Add to this dialogue that seems to be aimed at creating really bad puns and it really becomes quite intolerable, I won't be rushing to buy the second Chronicle of Isambard Smith.
Lord Flasheart meets Captain Mainwaring August 3, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The Victorian British Empire survives in the future and its safety lies in the hands of a space captain with the arrogant bravery of Lord Flasheart from the Blackadder stories, the stiff upper lip winning despite incompetence of Captain Mainwaring and Bertie Wooster's success with women. It works as a comic novel and if you can spot just some of the sci-fi references, it works as a comic sci-fi novel as well. Amazon said that this book was a good partner with James Delingpole's "Coward on the beach." I like that one as well. Yes, I will be queuing to buy The Emperor God of Didcot.
 Load of vaguely enjoyable tosh July 16, 2008
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book was hard going for me, as it is a load of slightly witty jokes, sprinkled with sarcasm, unsubtle ironies and innuendo that have been strung together by some sort of plot. Hitchhiker's Guide it ain't - it isn't that funny, and the amount of reference to pop culture is out of place with a comedic sci-fi novel. The story starts well, with the main man Smith demanding a ship for general derring-do, then meeting the rest of the crew and so on. The action sequences are boring - the author does comedy okay, but is a bit lost when it comes to the 'fighting for ol' Blighty' parts.
There are gems to be found here though - especially in the dialogue. Smith and Carveth have good rappor and 'Frogface' is an interesting character, that could/should have been developed further - I think the author might have played the computer game Fallout 2 at some point...
As far as this book is concerned, if you want comedy read Hitchhiker's, if you want wit and a decent character arc, watch the Firefly boxset. I'm afraid that this little story doesn't cut the mustard, as Smith would say.
Tea, Tiffin and Extra-Terrestrials July 15, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I was given a copy of Space Captain Smith by my work colleague whose husband happens to know Toby Frost. I am a huge fan of Red Dwarf and the Hitchhiker's series so after reading some of the reviews I couldn't wait to start it and it was worth the wait. Isambard Smith is very much the Victorian gentleman who just happens to live in the 25th century! His sensibilities seem to be a little outdated to say the least!
Aided by his best friend, a psycho, skull collecting alien called Suruk the Slayer and an escaped sex bot called Carveth who learns to fly the John Pym spaceship by using a Haines manual, he must rescue Rhianna Mitchell and deliver her to the Empire for safety.
The characters are well rounded and well written. Suruk is a joy only because warming to a skull collecting alien would seem hard on paper but he is charismatic, funny and well aware of Isambard's shortcomings. Carveth is fantastic because as a being that has been built as someone's sexual fantasy, no one seems to fancy her!
Read this book (and all to come), it has the makings of a truly funny series!!!
|
|
|
