I’ve read enough of Kevin Hearne’s work to know that his name on the cover guarantees a great read, often laced with quirky humor. This tale of alien abduction and prisoner rebellion is no exception. The narrator is physicist Clint, the aliens look like ultra-perky anime schoolgirls, and Clint’s T-shirt reads DO NOT EAT. Unlike the thousands of his fellow humans being stored as food for the long journey back to the alien home planet, Clint and a handful of other specialists are being kept alive to reveal humanity’s weaknesses in the most entertaining fashion possible. The survival of Earth seems a lost cause, between the aliens’ paralytic stingers, their complete control of the ship, and their ability to eavesdrop on any conversation. But put together a physicist, a marine biologist, a meteorologist, an expert in robotics, and a few equally qualified scientists, and mayhem is sure to result.

The ending is gloriously satisfying.

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This was a funny, creepy science fiction short story by one of my favorite authors. I don't even like short stories, but I loved this one.

Clint was abducted by aliens while taking a hike with his friend in a park. His friend was eaten alive in front of him, but because Clint is a physicist, he's given a shirt that says DO NOT EAT and saved along with five other scientists for a mysterious purpose. Clint and the other five discover that there are fifty thousand additional humans on board and are the alien's food supply for their trip home. The aliens have been searching for a planet that will provide a food source for their home world, and are rushing home to tell the others about Earth. Once Clint and the others learn this, they are determined to do whatever it takes to stop the aliens from telling their home world about Earth.

The book is expertly written by Kevin Hearne, who has become one of my favorite writers. It's original and witty, with a fast-moving plot. Hearne is skilled at writing conversations, and his snark skill is strong. I laughed out loud on several occasions. This a fun and quick read that I highly recommend you check out.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Subterranean Press. All opinions are my own.

I love how quirky Kevin Hearne's stories can be. I'm a fan of his Iron Druid and Ink and Sigil series and whenever he throws out a curveball like this book I'm always intrigued. It was just as darkly humorous as I thought it would be, and a good read.

This is a really fun sci-fi novella that made me laugh out loud several times. I like good humans vs. aliens adventures, and this one was not a disappointment. Kevin Hearne is a great writer and this is one of his best.

I love Kevin Hearne's books but this one was a bit too baudy for my taste. while the plot was excellent the level if bathroom humor was a bit over the top for me.

'A Question of Navigation' is a fun humans vs. aliens novella. This certainly answers the author question, "So, what did you do during quarantine?" Hearne obviously wrote this hilarious story! For a real treat, check out the audio recorded by Luke Daniels.

So, you wouldn't think that an alien abduction story would be funny, but when it comes from Hearne, it's probably inevitable. Even the parts that by rights should be gruesome have enough levity that it doesn't descend into horror story territory. It was just a really fun story, with a lot of positivity about humanity's ability to band together and fight back even in what seems an unconquerable situation. Since I was just coming off a few books that were examples of humanity's worst traits, it was a nice change.

Kevin Hearne is an author I’ve wanted to check out for years, but I just never did for whatever reason. This is his second book I’ve read in the last few months and I officially think I’ve been missing out on one of my favorite authors. His humor is just *chef’s kiss* exactly what I think is hilarious. Easily my favorite aspect of his writing. And then he’s also just good at storytelling, and characters, and world building, so really, it’s all good. But man, that humor. It’s pretty rare that a book will actually make me laugh out loud, but I snort-laughed several times reading this little story. It was so much fun, all while dealing actual impact. I’ll definitely revisit this one, and will be checking out all of Hearne’s other works in the meantime!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for giving me an eARC of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

In full disclosure, I am a massive Kevin Hearne fan, so I went into this expecting that, while it wouldn't be my favorite thing he has ever written, I knew that it would at least be entertaining.

This wasn't wrong.

To my knowledge, Kevin Hearne hasn't published anything truly within the sci-fi genre so far, so I wasn't sure what to expect out of this little novella. I wasn't remotely disappointed, either. This story is told from the point of view of Clint, who had to watch his best friend get eaten right in front of him and was in turn abducted by those same aliens. He is taken to their mothership and told that he has uses for them, but is not necessarily clear on what those uses are. It becomes clear rather quickly, though (and I'll avoid discussing that in fear of spoilers).

I traditionally don't love novellas that don't include characters from a series or book that I already love, because I feel as though I don't have any attachment to it. I will say that Kevin Hearne managed to get me attached to several characters in the space of 144 pages, and no one is more surprised than I am at this. While I did find myself at the end and wanting MORE of the story still, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the conclusion. Kevin Hearne, true to form, took a sci-fi (that occasionally swerves into body horror a couple of times, in my opinion) and made me laugh out loud multiple times.

His writing style is so easy to digest, and it was such a quick, fun, and exciting read. I read it in one sitting and couldn't put it down, because I had to know how it was going to end. While I still want MORE, this definitely gets a recommendation from me to anyone who enjoys a fun and quick, slightly satirical, sci-fi read!

Every time I think of this novella, I can’t help but smile. It is funny, and also slightly terrifying, but man can we humans kick butt when we put our minds to it. This is a very short book, so this will be a short review, but hopefully it will convince you to pick this one up when it becomes available.

Clint, our main protagonist, has been captured by aliens, along with 50,000+ other humans. After seeing his best friend eaten by one, he knows they are not friendly regardless of how they look. But he doesn’t back down, and give up either even in the face of horrible odds. I loved how Clint was pretty optimistic about the whole situation. He is a physicist and so spent time thinking about other time lines and what his fate might have been there. He knows that even if they win, they are still doomed, but at least their doom is their own and they are not being eaten by aliens.

Luckily the aliens hold a few humans apart, to ask questions of them and it is this small group that wrecks havoc and ultimately leads to the rebellion. The aliens do fight back and the fight scenes are slightly gruesome, and there are some other ick moments as well, but there is a lot of humor spread throughout that make them not so bad either.

This is a very quick read, not only because of it’s length, but also the pacing is quite fast. I loved all of the humor and the ingenuity of the humans to get what they needed. I highly recommend that you get your hands on this if you like fun science fiction. Kudos the author for doing such a good job with his first science fiction story. Hopefully it won’t be his last.

Very short, Fun read if gruesome. There’s a theme I’ve seen before in sci-fi. Humans may not be the smartest or strongest etc thing in space but there’s a lot of us and with our backs to the wall a sufficient percentage of us will go **** this and **** you! We’re all going down together if it’s the last thing I do! So-it’s a fast and bloody action romp with a few glimmers of the humor from his other books.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Enjoyable, but quite different from his earlier books. The book reads a bit like a first person shooter videogame: the protagonist has to overcome obstacles with limited resources, picking up items along the way to help with further quests, er... obstacles. Still, it works pretty well and reads fast. It does come to a rather abrupt conclusion, leaving you wondering if a sequel will follow.

Clint and Derek were talking a walk when they come upon two young girls. One girl asks if they have advanced degrees, and both men say yes, Clint has a PhD in physics and Derek has a PhD in English. One of the girls immediately turns into an alien and eats Derek on the spot. The other girl assures Clint that is he will be designated Reserved and won’t be eaten. Once on board the space ship he meets five other scientists, all wearing shirts that say DO NOT EAT. And then they discover another 50,000 people are on board, to be slaughtered and frozen for future consumption. And then all the aliens will return to Earth to feast on the easily hunted humans.

Strange, funny, uncomfortable, intriguing. At times I felt guilty for snickering at Clint, but really, his discussion about probes with Emily was funny. At other times, the magnitude of what awaits the 50,000 was too horrible to consider.

I liked how quickly Clint caught on to what the aliens were doing, and how the six scientists reacted in ways that totally caught the aliens off guard. The aliens were bizarrely interesting. Overall, it was an easy, quick read that brought out a wide range of emotions packed into a novella.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Subterranean Press and Kevin Hearne via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion. @SubPress

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is far less involved than Kevin Hearne's others, particularly his recent Seven Kennings series - and that really allows his humor to shine in this one. Murder, kidnapping, alien abductions! All in one novella. It's pretty much nonstop action, with a good dash of sarcastic humor tossed in.

It's a fun book. I had a good time reading it!

A QUESTION OF NAVIGATION by Kevin Hearne brings murder, kidnappings and suspense to a science fiction novella briefly set in Colorado and quickly moving to an alien spaceship.

Our protagonist, Clint Beecham and his friend Derek are hiking in a national park when they encounter two girls that appear to be less than ten years old and unaccompanied by adults. As they talk to Emily and Janelle, Clint tells them he is a physicist and Derek has an English graduate degree. The next thing Clint knows, he is paralyzed and Derek has been eaten by Janelle. Clint’s day only gets worse when he is taken to a shuttle and a needle renders him unconscious until he wakes up on a spaceship. The only upside is that he has been given clothing that says DO NOT EAT in the aliens’ language along with five other scientists who have also been ‘reserved’. Unfortunately there are 50,000 other humans are scheduled to be butchered and frozen as a food supply for the aliens on their voyage to their home world. Why have the scientists been reserved? What will they do? Are the 50,000 humans doomed? Are those on earth safe?

Clint and the other scientists are compelling characters and he and Ayesha, a biologist become the leaders of the reservists. Their goals were clear and even though this was a novella, Clint showed significant character growth.

This story took action and anxiety to new heights alongside a large amount of fighting and gore. But it also showed how resilience, courage, personal sacrifice, hope and love can bring out abilities one never thought they had. While the novella is told in a first person point of view, it is vividly descriptive and thought provoking. This made it feel like I was experiencing the events along with Clint.

Overall, the darkness and intensity of this novel made it a true page-turner. The voice was unique and fresh and the story delivered on its premise. The ending was impactful and fitting to the storyline but left a couple of threads open so there could be a follow-up novel. Will there be? I hope so. It was certainly thought-provoking.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Subterranean Press and Kevin Hearne via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for January 31, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

All of a sudden I have a new found empathy for chicken and lobsters ! Our intrepid hero, Clint Beecham is hiking on a trail in the Rocky Mountains with his best friend, Derek. Both well educated with advance degrees and a loving family life. Suddenly they come upon two unescorted ten-year old girls. One was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a pink unicorn and a matching baseball cap over a mane of blond hair (later we learn is Janelle), the other had on a black Colorado Rockies baseball cap over a nest of flowing dark hair. (this is Emily). On second look... something was odd about their eyes .... too big and wide-set. They stopped and looked at each other, and Unicorn girl said: " Is it possible to determine by sight which would be more delicious?" The dark-haired girl asks if they have advanced degrees?
In a somewhat perplexed manner, they divulge that Derek has an English degree while Clint has a Physics degree. The hat and wig combo are whipped off, revealing a grey scalp teeming with telescoping tentacle-like stingers. Clint and Derek are leaped upon and repeatedly stung in the face and soon realize that the venom released is paralyzing their muscles and both fall backward, but remain conscious. Clint is horrified and witnesses and hears Derek screaming as he is torn apart and devoured alive. Clint later learns is is spared and put on "Reserve" because of his scientific advance degree.
Clint soon finds himself abducted by the aliens (the Mishawan) to their mother ship and finds himself in a group of 5 other individuals with advanced math and science degrees. The Mishawan provide all with clothes labelled "Do Not Eat" in their own language. They desire to question this group and complete their knowledge of Earth.
Emily, who is actually the Captain of this expedition, informs Clint that "humans are super delicious" and the Mishawan look upon humans, like we do to chickens and cows. When Clint calls them monsters and questions how could they prey upon innocents? Emily retorts: " We're not here to judge you, Clint. We're here to eat you". And then points out at a seafood restaurant we'll pick out a lobster to eat from the tank, and do not weigh its sins and good deeds before a choice is made. We don't care . We just want to dip it in butter.
The Mishawans' home planet sun has an expiration date , along with the planet. Multiple expeditions were sent out to find a hospitable planet to colonize. Clint soon learns that along with the 6 scientists held in reserve, 50,000 other humans were swept up from the planet and are being held captive, waiting to be "processed". In other words, butchered and cut-up into convenient pieces and frozen for later snacks for the crew, to tide them over on the eight year journey back to the home planet.
Hearne spins a darkly humorous twisted tale with the last half of the story depicting a battle between the humans and the aliens. All the makings of a great and fun read are here... propulsive prose with emotional ties to the various characters ... and chock full of humor even amongst the gore. The question ... will our group be able to outsmart the physically superior aliens ? Will they be able to abort the knowledge to the Mishawan home world that Earth exists and is populated with an indigenous and tasty populace? Will the humans be able to pull together and with ingenuity and sacrifice and do whats necessary to save humanity?
Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. Count on Kevin Hearne to unspool a fun and entertaining read!

This is the first time I've read anything by Kevin Hearne, but I will definitely be looking to read much more from him! This excellent novella was dark yet entertaining, and I wish that it could have been longer!

Short story, or perhaps a novella in length, but a whopper of a read. Paralyzed and taken to a waiting space ship our hero Clint is to be "not eaten" by the aliens on the ship as well as 5 other scientists. As the description of the book says, there are 50,000 other humans to be a food source for the space travel of this species to eventually go home, report what they found, to then come back and literally devour earthlings and set up camp as their new home. The 6 scientists realize they have nothing to lose so set in motion a riot to try and save themselves and ultimately their loved ones left behind. It is dark humor, sci-fi, and a well written bloody adventure, Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for an advanced copy for an honest review.

This is a short story and therefore a short review.

Clint and his friend Derek are hiking through the park when they come upon two little girls...who aren't actually little girls. The first clue would be when the one in the unicorn shirt jumped on Clint's friend and began to eat him.

It seems that Aliens have received the messages that we keep sending into space.  These particular ones were tasked with finding a new planet since their sun will soon explode. They weren't planning to head our way but since we have so thoughtfully invited them, they were happy to take a look at our lovely blue orb. After having a thorough look around the neighborhood, they have decided that Earth is the perfect spot to relocate. Usually, their biggest problem is what to do with the indigenous lifeforms already on the planet. But, bonus, it turns out we are quite tasty and nothing like chicken.  So Earth will become a brand new all you can eat buffet.  

The aliens have already loaded 50,000 humans for the long trip home. Of course, they don't realize that the first few weeks will involve the slaughtering and prepping of all their tasty bits for snacks for the aliens on the trek to their home world. So far, they are quietly passive in their pens.

Clint and a few others scientists who have been set aside and have all been given a special shirt which reads, Do Not Eat, are being tasked with something else. But they also know that once they complete their assigned tasks, there will be no reason for them to keep the t-shirt on this little unplanned vacation.   Clint and his new friends will need to figure out how to stop the ship from reaching its destination before the news hits about the more than 7 billion tasty morsels available for take out and just waiting in the Milky Way.

This idea was originally a very short story which Kevin Hearne wrote, and I don't remember for what originally, but he posted a link once on his newsletter and it was release in the audiobook First Dangle, which was a bunch of short stories from the Iron Druid Chronicles world and which ended with the story of Emily the little girl who was a space alien checking out this planet and its tasty offerings.

This was an interesting novella which mostly presents how the human race will pull together, regardless of race or gender, when they need to fight an outside force and the sacrifices that people would be willing to make when it is necessary to protect those they love.  Stated plainly, even if they can outwit the aliens and take over the spaceship, who on the ship would know how to pilot a spaceship nor is there any GPS app to help steer them home. So these humans know that there is no happy ending for them except to not become lunch. In fact, the aliens only have enough food to feed the humans for a few weeks at best since their plan was to begin butchering and prepping them for the freezers for their own meals.   Again, even if they take the ship, they have very little time in order to figure out steering and navigation before the foods runs out for the 50,000 human aboard. 

While I found the story entertaining and enjoyed the battled between the humans and aliens, this really couldn't have been more than the short story that it was. Kevin would have padded it and drawn out some of the scenes but overall, this isn't something that is going to equate to a long novel or a series.

I haven't read Kevin Hearne. Seen some of his books, but just haven't picked one up. Then I got a chance to read A Question of Navigation, and figured now was a time to start. A short book, not part of a series, should be a good introduction. Wow. This book had the right mix of sci-fi, action, and humor. Very enjoyable to read, and will not start looking through his other books. Can't wait.