Gave it 50 pages to grab me but it just didn't. Poor writing and boring banter. Reviews compare it to Futurama and Hitchhiker's Guide and if only it had been that clever.

Thanks to NetGalley and all for an ARC copy for an honest review.

LOVED THIS and can't wait for more! Actually, I didn't wait, I got the next in the series right away so I could continue the story. So funny and I just fell in love with all the characters and their banter. Definitely got Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy vibes!

This book is a buddy comedy in space, which I'm sure is delightful for the right audience. Personally I felt that it was kind of derivative of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy but without the kind of character work and work building that I want to see in a space opera kind of book. There was something that could have been good, but it just didn't work for me.

Great Fun.........

When I started this I thought, O.K. this will be a fun, sort of silly, alien-human space buddy comedy. And at first it was. It was pretty predictable and the jokes were obvious. Still amusing and all, but nothing special.

But a funny thing happened along the way. This got really good. The buddy angle, while always played for laughs, worked. Our two heroes had real chemistry and the jokes got better and more sly and edgy. There was even a slam bang plot that kept the tale screaming along. Cameo characters were well realized, and a few were close to actually being hilarious, which is a wildly overused word in gushy reviews. There was even a snarky romance with a smartass female cop, which I would not have expected to work nearly as well as it did.

So this is sort of an old school "Road To..." kind of comedy adventure with two seriously engaging, smart alecky, wise cracking pals. The space angle makes it feel like "Star Wars" if "Star Wars" had built on the sneaky sense of humor that ran through the first film.

The bottom line for me is that this wasn't a disappointing, half-baked, "Hitchhiker's Guide..." wannabe, which is what I feared it would be when I took it up. This is a clever, entertaining, and smart, (though silly in spots), effort with lots of rewarding bits and an upbeat vibe. As one character said to Steve Martin in "L.A. Story", ..."You have a lot of verve." Yeah, this book had verve.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

The H2G2 one-random-human-meets-the-galaxy premise and the promise of laughs led me toward this forthcoming science fiction series of capers, but the puns and wordplay delivered more delight than I anticipated! I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration and characterization of new alien species and settlements. Recommended for anyone in the mood for space traveling antics and fun!

This was a pretty fun haphazard space-romp. Chuck is the Luckily-unlucky 'Earth Man' accidentally thrown into the bizarre world of 'the rest of the universe'. As he ends up taking a courier job from the universe's most prolific mega-corps, his travels lead him to those most bizarre situations only an average-joe human can think their way out or.
There were plenty of chuckles and eye-roll jokes abound, but that was to be expected. (i mean, look at the title). So yes, if you're looking for that silly space romp with some action, aliens, anomalies, and evil greedy corporate heads, espionage and wit, there have at it!

All round, this was a fun adventure through space, much like the blurb and cover quotes promise - quite in the vein of the Hitchhiker's Guide (maybe even a little more like Guardians of the Galaxy?), although the characters were all much more capable than in those stories, in my opinion.

The human main character is kind of adorable, although all characters seemed a little flat for me. You don't go too in-depth with them, it's more of an adventure that rolls over you. Some of the situations were also glanced over and quite simple, but certainly fun and fast-paced. The characters had their archetypes (the funny annoying guy, the secretly world-wise earthling who knows nothing but accepts things readily, the noble strong alien, and of course, the foxy and admirable female officer of the law, which, of course, develops an unlikely attraction to the human male). I liked them all well enough.

I did like the plot as well. Despite being somewhat predictable, it's an okay plot, and although I knew from the start which characters are being planted for which purpose, I didn't guess at the details straight away, so it had me pleasantly wondering as the story went on. (Although I will admit I was disappointed that not all my questions at the end were answered, and I felt like some threads weren't quite followed through to the end.)

One thing that was a little distracting though, there is like a million new alien species mentioned constantly. Most of them get only a glancing description, like "red" or "round with white hair". Some are described in more detail, but the problem is that when they're mentioned again, you're somehow supposed to remember how they look, despite encountering 5 other species in between the pages after you saw them last. I remembered maybe three or four species total. The rest were a jumble. In a way, I guess that suggests what the main character is feeling, thrown into a whole new world like that, but at the same time.. if this was a movie, it would have worked great. But in a book, I literally just imagined blobs. Too many different species, barely any reminder descriptions. The author did invent a cool world for himself. But I feel like maybe it wasn't quite described well enough to us. But, it might have just been me struggling with this, so take a look at some other reviews too.

Another tiny point is that while there were dozens of alien species, they were all... Incredibly human. I feel like it's unfair to say, cause they did seem to be visually different, but... Their dress, their shape, their weapons, even customs... They felt mostly like humans with a slightly different shape or color, maybe some scales. Red. Purple. Yellow. Some weird ears or no nose. But essentially... Human. I don't know, I think maybe I've just been spoiled by Becky Chambers and the like, who make their aliens much less human, while still being relatable. Then again, of course, these kind of stories need to happen in a very "human-like" world, because I guess they're sort of making fun of our social structures, just like The Hitchhiker's Guide did.

That said, this is a good adventure read for the evening, but I'm really not sure I'll remember what this was about next year. But it was a nice, fun way to pass the time.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

This is certainly not a serious story, so don't go here if that's what you're seeking. There's some good humor here, and some zany events, but certainly a fun, light read. Writing comedy is risky, but Edwards pulls it off.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Space Tripping

[Blurb goes here]

While the world building is interesting, the story is not. The characters where not to my liking. One, an Earthling, the other one an alien. They keep ruining their chances at success at every turn, so you're left wondering if they're unlucky or just plain dumb. Their dialogues are full of quips and half-jokes in a failed attempt at comedy. I didn't enjoyed this adventure as much as I hope I would.

Thank you for the free copy!

I enjoyed this book. I found the character development quite good, with the characters acting in a consistent manner throughout the book. I also liked the world-building and pacing. The story was light but with very few laugh-out-loud moments but there was one scene mid-book that was very funny. The banter between the protagonists was also quite good. All these factors made the book enjoyable to read but none of these was good enough to garner 5 stars from me. The writing was not as clever, insightful or funny as Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Still, it is worthwhile reading for some lighter science fiction. Thank you to Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the advance reader copy.