It's fine.I am still new to this reviewing thing, and I am not quite sure how much I want to talk about a given work as an isolated entity vs. talking about it in the context of its creation and author. For this book, however, the only reason I bought it in the first place was because I was familiar with its creator: "Yahtzee" Croshaw (real name Ben), and so I will probably talk about him as much as I talk about his book.
For those who don't know, Yahtzee is a content creator on YouTube--a fairly popular video game critic known for his sarcastic and rapid-fire review style. His show is comedic in nature, but Yahtzee does not stray from moments of genuine vitriol or adoration. His book tries to be much the same, in a broad sense, but the same pacing that keeps an internet audience watching does not quite translate to a compelling narrative, sardonic as it may be.
Overall, the novel is fine. If you are familiar with Yahtzee's style of humor, then you will probably know about what to expect from his book. His usual trend of using shocking metaphors/similes is toned down (which is probably for the better; they are much more hit-and-miss in print, without the aid of his delivery), and he has a good control of prose and a strong voice for his central protagonist. However, the supporting cast is rather one-note, and this hurts the novel in more than one way. The humor here is situational, but the situations our cast finds themselves in are rarely driven by characters or their choices in the narrative, and so the result is a disconnect montage of perilous chases and wacky hi-jinks. If this were a movie, it would be enjoyable to sit through, but a book demands more focus from its readers, and though Yahtzee is capable of crafting entertaining scenes and situations the narrative is rarely ever compelling. I took almost as long to read through this book as I did The Race (which it is about double WStGfF's length) simply because it was lowest on my list of things to do while waiting at the laundromat.
Our unnamed protagonist (who I shall call 'X') is a space pilot in an era that has invented interstellar teleportation. He uses his obsolete skills to eek out a living taking tourists on sight-seeing tours of alien planets and recounting his adventures from days long gone. The plot of Will Save the Galaxy for Food begins when X finds himself unwillingly in the employment of a powerful mobster, pretending to be the Earth-famous author Jacques McKeown. Jacques, our protagonist informs us, is infamous among star pilots for ripping off the adventures of other pilots and publishing them as his own works. The woman responsible for his predicament, the mobster's secretary Ms. Warden, hired him under false pretenses, and the two are forced into an antagonistic partnership as she and X both turn on the mobster and attempt to flee into the lawless frontier of deep space.
Ms. Warden is a cold, embittered genius with little street-savvy, and most of the banter in the book comes from her interactions with X and his frustration with her as she propels him into increasingly worse scenarios. It works, but it is all played for laughs for the most part and we do not get a strong enough sense of who these people are to really care about their adventures. We are in X's head, but aside from a few mentions of 'the good old days' and his pride in being a star pilot, we do not get a real reflection on what those days were or any feeling for what he has lost with the advent of teleportation. Our character's backstory is left mostly blank, much like the world building. The world is ur-sci-fi. We get some description of the relevant political maps, history, and technobabble, but by and large we are meant to see these words and fill in the blanks with the generic, Star Wars/Star Trek iconography. This is not a slight against the book; it is acceptable shorthand where setting is not important, such as in this sort of action-comedy, but it falls short of generating real interest in what might be around the next corner. It's like finding a stray penny. You'll pick it up, but you won't scuttle around on the ground to look for more.
Either one of those factors would not cripple a book, but the lack of character depth coupled with a generic world leaves little else to keep pushing the reader forward. The secondary characters are, as I mentioned, all one-note. They get arcs, in a sense, but it is little more than advertising their character quirk until it is given a basic subversion or fulfillment in their final scene. There is very little growth, and in the end things return more or less to the status quo. X and Ms. Warden do have some actual development, but their relationship is fairly static until the last third of the story, and in the end they go their separate ways and settle into a distant sort of friendship.
Again, it's not that any part of this book is bad--there is maybe one or two questionable jokes, but they are only throw-away lines--just that it is not compelling. I know Yahtzee has written a few other books, and if anything reading this has made me more curious to see if he has produced something more serious. He is a decent writer, and a greater focus on character would go a long way toward a better read.
In sum, it's a fine book, but I would have a hard time recommending to anyone. It'll get you through a plane ride or two, I guess, but I see no reason to seek it out over any other book.
Will Save the Galaxy for Food is available through Amazon in both print and ebook format, and (as I have just discovered) as an audiobook on Audible. In fact, your best bet is the audiobook. Yahtzee is the narrator, and, like I said, it would be more easily consumed in a passive medium.
No comments:
Post a Comment