I finished Hal Spacejock, a comic science fiction novel by Simon Haynes. It's good! Buy it! Or try to. It's not easy to find. I'm hoping that Amazon.com will start carrying the series soon. Yes, it's a series. And if we're lucky, there will be many more adventures of Hal Spacejock and his robot Clunk. Hal is a bit of lout and incompetent to the point of being a fire hazard, but he shows some heart, and it's fun to watch him overcome his misfortunes, many of them self-inflicted. Clunk, however, steals the book with his deadpan humor. I wouldn't want to travel with Hal -- it would be too dangerous -- but Clunk would be a great companion.
The book actually made me laugh out loud several times. It helps that I read a lot of science fiction so I caught many (but I'm sure, not all) of the inside jokes, but the plot moves fast enough and the quips are clever enough that it's readily accessible even to someone who doesn't read SF.
One reviewer on another site compared it to Discworld, and I have to say that it's not as good as Discworld ... yet, but it shows much potential. (Discworld, after all, has been around a while and has grown and matured over the years.) More characterization and less plot twists would be good, and the other characters weren't even half as interesting as Hal and Clunk. The story only moved when we were looking over the duo's shoulders.
Bottom line: It's an entertaining, fast, funny read, and I intend to read the second book in the series ... as soon as I can figure out how to order it from Australia.
Learn more about Hal Spacejock here where you'll find sample chapters and more.
16 comments:
Nice talking to you last night! If I can I'll read Hal when I get there! Sounds fun. I am having trouble with the knaves sound but finally got it to play. sounds fast paced. By the way retyping the letter thing worked and I can finally respond!
Roen
Thanks for the review! I wouldn't have jumped in, except that ISBS will soon have the books in the US. (www.isbscatalog.com) They're the official distributors, so once they have them the Amazon Hal 1 listing will show 'sold & shipped by Amazon' as per usual. And with a bit of luck Hal 2 will appear as well.
The only question is when, and that I can't answer.
I'm sure the more people ask them about Spacejock, the quicker they'll get the books.
I'll be looking for it. It sounds like fun. Amazon does list the book, but it doesn't sell it directly.
And this is a very belated Happy Birthday, Tech! I didn't mean to miss it. The dancing sounded like fun. I'm sorry I missed the cake.
Just to clarify - Amazon will sell the book directly once stocks reach the US. Until then you could count the number of Hals in the US on your fingers.
Oh great, Tech has an exclusive book. We'll never hear the end of this! It will be Hal Spacejock this and Hal Spacejock that. I can hear it already.
:)
I think Slim's jealous! :)
When Amazon lists it, Tech, be sure to let us know. I always like a laugh. I don't read a lot of science fiction but this sounds like one I might try.
How cool is that! Simon Haynes, the author of Hal Spacejock -- a book that I have one of the very few copies in the U.S. and it's SIGNED, Slim -- actually dropped by my blog. Thanks for dropping by, Simon! You're always welcome.
And Slim, thanks for the late birthday wishes. You know, this exclusive, signed copy of Hal Spacejock was just like a late birthday gift for me. Yeah, I really enjoyed this exclusive, signed copy of Hal Spacejock. :)
Yes, Gloria, I think you're right. Slim IS jealous of my exclusive, signed copy of Hal Spacejock. I bet he wishes he had an exclusive, signed copy of Hal Spacejock ... but he doesn't have one. No, he doesn't have an exclusive, signed copy of Hal Spacejock. I do, though. :)
(groan)
I told you this would happen.
What did you say, Slim? I couldn't hear you. I was distracted thumbing through the pages of my exclusive, signed copy of Hal Spacejock ... ahhhhh ....
LOL!
Yes, you too can get a FREE blog-stalking author with every signed copy!
Woohoo! I have a BSA! (Blog Stalking Author)
Life is good.
FF, you just had to work Donny Osmond in here, didn't you. :)
Now I am jealous! You have your won BSA. It just aint fair!
:)
They switched cover artists after book one. Possibly my fault, because I said Hal looked like Buzz Lightyear without the helmet. I also told them Clunk didn't look like Arnie in tinfoil.
So, book 2 has a new Hal (altough he's not grinning, which is a minus.) Clunk is much more accurate, because I described him to the artist. I'd have liked the cover to be funnier, but authors get what they're given.
Haven't seen the Hal 3 cover yet, but I did send them a rough sketch idea. I have a mate who did that and they used the sketch... (Not my publisher, fortunately.)
Incidentally, I just emailed Powells about stocking Hal. I guess that's the distributor's job but I never let minor matters like that get in the way of self-promotion.
Ha! I like Simon...
So, anymore pictures to post of your "boys" Frenzied?
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