~ Vielen Dank an den Autor für das Netgalley-Rezensionsexemplar. Alle Meinungen meine eigenen. ~



Also, versuchen wir, das zusammenzufassen: Larry, seines Zeichens SciFi-Autor (er überarbeitet seinen Roman gerade zum 28. Mal und da er seit der 4. Revision nichts geändert hat, muss er nun perfekt sein), wird von seiner Mutter gezwungen, sich einen Job zu suchen. Welcher wäre da perfekter als der eines ominösen Konzerns, der SciFi-Autorys sucht, damit sie sich für die Kundschaft eine kreative Zukunft für den Fall einer Alieninvasion ausdenken? Das Problem dabei ist: Larry kann keine Zeit wahrnehmen, er organisiert sein Leben in Küchenweckern - das treibt seine Chefin natürlich in den Wahnsinn und auch seine Mitstreitenden bei dem Projekt sind reichlich ... fasziniert. Dass seine Schreibgruppe am Ende von einer AI kontrolliert wird, stößt nicht nur mir sauer auf.



"I am a Protagonist now. Do you understand? A motley crew of idiots depends on me for guidance."



Okay, dafuq did I just read? Auf der Suche nach anderen abgedrehten Büchern, die das Loch, das "Running close to the Wind" hinterlassen hat, stopfen könnten, bin ich auf dieses Werk gestoßen. Beworben wurde es als laugh-out-loud funny mit neurodivergenten Charakteren und ja, das kann ich so unterschreiben. Die völlig abstrusen Plotlines, die da reinspielen, sind jedoch ein ganz anderes Kaliber. Ein Beispiel? Larry ist der festen Überzeugung, dass eine Literaturagentin, die sein Manuskript diverse Male abgelehnt hat, nur die scheue Schönheit spielt und schreibt ihr jeden Abend E-Mails. Ich konnte mir nicht helfen, als das von ihrer Perspektive aus zu sehen - also entweder hat sie ihn blockiert oder sie ruft bald die Polizei. Außerdem wird er in seiner Schreibgruppe dann zum Anführer erwählt - nennt sich aber nicht Moderator o.ä. sondern Protagonist. Klar soweit. Oder dieser Plot: Seine Mutter ist eine Hoarderin, das ganze Haus ist voller Kram, den Larry nicht anfassen darf. Um sie davon abzuhalten, weitere dubiose Tauschgeschäfte einzugehen, engagiert er zwei Eskorts, die seine Mutter kontrollieren sollen - doch die machen lieber Party mit der Alten. Und dann taucht das FBI auf ...

Ein spannender Hinweis war, dass Larrys Hirnströmungen ausschließlich Delta-Wellen sind, also Traumwellen, obwohl er wach ist. War für mich total plausibel - Mann kommt von Arbeit nach Hause und seine Mutter hat das ganze Haus voller Aquarien gestellt. Eindeutig ein Traum, nur dass es für Larry Realität ist. Was das wohl bedeuten könnte...? Gegen Ende sind alle zeitlich verwirrt, könnte Larry mit seiner temporalen Dysphasie also Recht gehabt haben?!



Nicht nur die Story ist komplett abgedreht, auch das Buch selbst ist ... sagen wir individuell: Es beginnt mit dem Inhaltsverzeichnis. Jawohl, da startet der Wahnsinn mit Kapiteln wie "16.5" oder "319" (zwischen Kapitel 56 und Kapitel 1). Zudem endet jedes Kapitel (von dem ihr nicht wisst, ob es 3 Minuten oder 47 Minuten dauern wird) mit einem unvollständigen Satz (weil Larry abdriftet) sowie einer absichtlich leeren Seite (Sinn wird sich noch erschließen).



Falls ihr ein Buch wollt, das euch genau sagt, wo ihr gerade steht ("you're officially in the soggy middle here") oder dringend Tipps braucht, welche SciFi-Autor*innen ihr gelesen haben müsst (Heinlein), dann ist das euer Buch. Ich habe es innerhalb von 24 Stunden weggelesen. Kevin Hincker muss komplett gaga sein - das ganze Buch strotzt vor Szenen, in denen ich das Gefühl hatte, er hat sein Ideen-Notizbuch einfach auf die Seiten gekippt. Es gibt diverse Szenen, in denen Larry, auf der Suche nach Inspiration, durch seine Kreativlandschaft wandert und die sind einfach eine durchgedrehte Idee nach der nächsten.



Besonders schön fand ich die rigorose Verteidigung von Autorenschaft gegenüber der künstlichen Intelligenz:

"Storytelling is exclusively a human gift. A story is an experience - can an AI have an experience that it can impart to anyone?"



Soviel kann ich sagen: Dieses Buch war eine Erfahrung.



Achtung, Verwechslungsgefahr:

Titel nicht verwechseln mit "The Book Eaters", eine komplett andere, komplett abgedrehte Story.

Außerdem: Cover nicht verwechseln mit "Of Monsters and Mainframes", das auch noch auf meiner Liste steht.



Das Buch erscheint am 16.11.2025, im Selfpublishing.



"Story, the highest expression of human spirit, was the sole domain of human intelligence."

~ 22.10.2025

Thanks so much for the advanced ready copy of this book! "The Story Eaters of Yamm" was a delightfully odd novel centering around Larry, an unexpected and at times exasperating protagonist.

While this book wasn't similar, it made me think of other books I've read over the years that have experimental storytelling and surreal realities ("House of Leaves" and Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series to name a couple). I enjoyed the structure– the mixed up chapter numbering, the blank pages– and how those tied back to Larry's lack of concept of time.

From the first chapter, I felt immersed in Larry's train of thought and POV which made the plot that much more interesting. It felt like a different version of an unreliable narrator having scenes through Larry's eyes. Scenes like his early talks with Alexandria made me laugh in the moment, while also making me wonder what her inner monologue was. At the same time, I'm so glad this novel was only through Larry's perspective as it made the story and his reality feel more ownable to him.

I can feel both how others might be exasperated by Larry and also how everyone would exasperate him. His fellow writers were a chaotic supporting cast and as I was reading I felt like their level of disorder could go anywhere; I loved that I had no idea what to expect. Media is really interesting when it's about unsettling workspaces (the show "Severance") and this touched on that.

Dosia's character also stood out. At the start of the novel I felt like I loved how easily I could visualize her, and I wrote down that I wished I had a list of her most unbelievable crimes. (It was wild to see her character's story & backstory throughout the book!)

I enjoyed this. It was chaotic and kept my attention and was a different character voice to immerse in. Thanks!

3 ⭐️ I’m 100% the target audience for this book. If you like straight up bizarre, humorous, self referential sci fi this one’s for you! If you want your stories to make sense or have all questions answered by the end, walk away because this one will enrage you.

What worked the best was the author wasn’t afraid to be silly. He took sci fi tropes & exaggerated them to the extreme, then he took all those exaggerated tropes tossed them into the book & imagined them bumping up against each other. It gets weird and varies in how effective it is. There were moments where I was giggling while reading. Any of the sci fi author mob moments really got me. Other times the jokes just didn’t land. I do think parts of it could have easily been cut down but it was only slightly bloated.

Do you ever read a book & think depending on the ending this will be a 1 or a 5 star book? That was me all the way up to the end. I don’t want to spoil things so I’ll try to talk around it. The author chose a middle ground ending & wound up with a middle rating. The rest of the book was pushed to the extreme & I wanted the ending to do that too. Part of the reason why I was disappointed in the ending is it left me feeling like what was the point of reading that…

I believe that it’s always good to challenge yourself in your reading and try things you normally wouldn’t read. Sometimes you find books and stories that really work for you. This book was not one of those revelations for me personally. I found it too bizarre, and I found it to be confusing with the overall structure.

I cannot fault it on that alone though. You can tell that the author has a clear idea of what he wanted the story to be. Just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean the book is bad.

A highly eccentric, newly penniless, science fiction writer is forced by his terrifying mother to take a job at a mysterious company. His job? Train an AI to write science fiction...or so it first appears.

I thoroughly enjoyed the main character's atypical point of view. He's daft, but has a good heart. The supporting characters are varied and utterly lost in their own worlds. The on the mark jokes about sci-fi and it's authors made me laugh out loud. And the plot contains several mysteries and subplots and a twist. High marks for the prose, clever observations, and strange but astute asides.

Toss Confederacy of Dunces, Son of a Grifter, Severance, and Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series in a blender then add aliens and laser battles. This novel may appeal to readers of humorous science fiction and corporate work place dramas, Science fiction writers will also enjoy this novel, but only if they have a sense of humor about themselves and their chosen genre.

The premise alone is irresistible: a ragtag group of sci-fi writers hired to brainstorm an alien invasion scenario, only to discover that their imaginary enemies have slipped off the page and into reality. Leading the charge (reluctantly) is Larry Palczewski, a struggling novelist whose inability to perceive time turns out to be both a curse and an unexpected asset.

What begins as a gig mainly chosen for its free lunches quickly spirals into chaos as the snail-like aliens start colonizing humanity’s novels, warping plots, devouring narratives, and threatening to overwrite the world itself. The satire here hits all the right notes—sharp, playful, and delightfully meta—poking fun at publishing, writerly ego, genre tropes, and the fragile act of creation.

Larry makes for an unexpectedly endearing hero: a man who can barely manage his own life suddenly tasked with saving the entire human story. His journey is absurd in the best way, filled with comedic beats, clever twists, and a creeping sense that the line between fiction and reality might be thinner than anyone realizes.

Beneath the humor, the novel raises thoughtful questions about authorship, control, and the stories we use to define ourselves. By the time Larry attempts to script humanity’s salvation, you’re fully invested—not just in the battle against the alien snails, but in Larry’s struggle to rewrite the narrative of his own life.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

- - What To Expect - -
'The Story Eaters of Yamm' is a standalone sci-fi novel. With it's unreliable narrator and absurd premise, this is the kind of novel where you're along for the ride and you just have to trust that the author is taking you where you need to go.

- - My Feelings - -
This novel was so clever and unique! With it's references to the sci-fi genre as a whole and it's ambitious characters and plot, this was a delight to read. I especially adored our ragtag group of characters and the conversations they had.

There were a couple of narrative threads that I found myself caring less about, but overall I was intrigued from beginning to end. The ending didn't feel completely satisfying to me, but I understand why the author wrapped things up the way they did.

The heart of this novel is a profound love of the sci-fi genre and a deeply memorable neurodivergent main character and cast.

- - Recommendation - -
If you love sci-fi, absurd fiction, oddball characters, and clever stories - this one is for you!

*4 ⭐️ = amazing story, this will stick in my mind*

The Story Eaters of Yamm was definitely something different from my usual reads (I do love some Sci Fi) I went in for the sci fi angle, mashup and humour, but I did find myself struggling to stay with it at times. The concept hooked me, even if the ending left me a bit disappointed. Still, it was an intriguing little detour from my normal reading lane.

This book! This novel! Such a fun, clever, and original sci-fi comedy that's both irreverent and suspenseful. It centers on a group of sci-fi writers hired to imagine an alien invasion, only for it to become reality when the fictional aliens begin to "eat" humanity's stories. Filled with laugh-out-loud humor, a so very unique premise, and the sincere way it explores concepts like neurodivergence and reality-bending narratives.

What a delightfully strange novel.

For sci-fi fans, it is dripping in nostalgia and references, nods to the genre.

The Story Eaters of Yamm is a fever dream with an unreliable narrator that test the boundaries of what is reality, what is time, and what is the purpose of story? There were times where I was completely unsure what was real, and what was in Larry's head.

The ending is certainly one of those WTF moments. Overall a great concept and I enjoyed my time following Larry through his adventure with the story eaters, and his rag-tag group of writers.

Thank you NetGalley & Kevin Hincker for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

the concept was very original. had fun with it. the atmosphere was very eery but in a humorous way so it balanced the fun for me. i generally don't read modern books with male protagonists so it was a nice surprise for me hehe. would definitely recommend. thank you for sharing me the advanced reader copy in exchange for a honest review

Larry Palczewski is a science fiction novelist, bombarding an agent with demands for a contract and hiding out from his lunatic mother. One day she turfs him out of the house to get a job: working with other science fiction novelists to brainstorm an alien invasion: how they do it, how to respond etc etc etc. Larry wants to resign but gets promoted instead. Hilarity ensues.

And hilarity does ensue. The Story Eaters of Yamm puts Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut into a blender with chaotic, rip-roaring effect. This is a book that does not take writing, science fiction, science fiction novelists, or itself terribly seriously at all, and has immense fun with all of these things.

I will admit I found the saggy middle a bit bloated and episodic - only partially helped by the author hanging a lantern on the fact - but altogether this is a kinetic, anarchic romp of a novel, and I had a blast. Wholeheartedly recommend to fans of Douglas Adams.