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pharrside's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unique use of footnotes for main characters uncontrollable inner monologue
bethtabler's review
5.0
Ben Sullivan, the lead protagonist of Stringers, Chris Panatier's new novel, has a wild view of the world. Imagine having a mind that is chockful of useless information, information that has somehow inexplicably been there your whole life. Add in heaping loads of social awkwardness, and you have Ben. His whole life has been full of oppressive details about the mating habits of animals, exotic watches, fly lure creation, and not much else.
We start our story with Ben at work making an exotic and beautiful fly lure, and he is being accosted by a customer Jim. Jim would like "oneuh them boom trains then." Ben reminds Jim that he can have one of them boom trains flys for some cold hard currency. We segway from the current conversation into the mating habit of moles, dolphins, and porcupines. This intrusiveness of thoughts permeates every waking moment for, Ben. His life is one constant battle against animal sex lives, watches, and fly lures.
His desperation is apparent. From a character perspective, I think Panatier did a great job with Ben. Ben is more than his quirks, but his battle with his quirks defines who he is out in the world. From there, we segway to the Ben's Samwise Gamgee, Patton. Patton is a screwup, an often drugged kid in an adult's body who never could grow up. He is also fiercely loyal. We should all be so lucky to have the caliber of friend that Patton is.
Again, in a moment of great desperation and curiosity, Ben finds another person in an online group who has similar issues as he has and decides to meet up with them. Patton fears that Ben will be made into a skin vest or something and demands that he comes along. He is always trying to protect his friend. One thing leads to another, and aliens abduct both Patton and Ben.
Now the real adventure starts.
This story's blurb proclaims it to be a bit like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, except instead of towels, the friends are armed with a giant container of pickles and whatever wits the two f them can scrape up together. I found this to be very true. Stringers is an amusing story; it wasn't "side stitch" funny but undoubtedly funny enough to see how ridiculous this predicament is.
I also loved how Panatier described space and aliens. It wasn't hard science fiction, but just enough details, especially about what a stringer actually is, to make my science fiction-loving heart happy. And to top it off, Panatier nailed the ending. None of which I can talk about for fear of giving anything away.
All and all, this is one of my favorite science fiction reads so far this year. So much so that I will check out Panatier's The Phlebotomist. I am in for a treat if the writing is anywhere near as fun as this is.
We start our story with Ben at work making an exotic and beautiful fly lure, and he is being accosted by a customer Jim. Jim would like "oneuh them boom trains then." Ben reminds Jim that he can have one of them boom trains flys for some cold hard currency. We segway from the current conversation into the mating habit of moles, dolphins, and porcupines. This intrusiveness of thoughts permeates every waking moment for, Ben. His life is one constant battle against animal sex lives, watches, and fly lures.
His desperation is apparent. From a character perspective, I think Panatier did a great job with Ben. Ben is more than his quirks, but his battle with his quirks defines who he is out in the world. From there, we segway to the Ben's Samwise Gamgee, Patton. Patton is a screwup, an often drugged kid in an adult's body who never could grow up. He is also fiercely loyal. We should all be so lucky to have the caliber of friend that Patton is.
Again, in a moment of great desperation and curiosity, Ben finds another person in an online group who has similar issues as he has and decides to meet up with them. Patton fears that Ben will be made into a skin vest or something and demands that he comes along. He is always trying to protect his friend. One thing leads to another, and aliens abduct both Patton and Ben.
Now the real adventure starts.
This story's blurb proclaims it to be a bit like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, except instead of towels, the friends are armed with a giant container of pickles and whatever wits the two f them can scrape up together. I found this to be very true. Stringers is an amusing story; it wasn't "side stitch" funny but undoubtedly funny enough to see how ridiculous this predicament is.
I also loved how Panatier described space and aliens. It wasn't hard science fiction, but just enough details, especially about what a stringer actually is, to make my science fiction-loving heart happy. And to top it off, Panatier nailed the ending. None of which I can talk about for fear of giving anything away.
All and all, this is one of my favorite science fiction reads so far this year. So much so that I will check out Panatier's The Phlebotomist. I am in for a treat if the writing is anywhere near as fun as this is.
thestainlesssteelrat's review
5.0
Mr Panatier writes such entertaining books this and The Phlebotomist also hook you with one thing but take you to so many different other places. I worry about his fevered imagination.
There is here too some deft, wry humour as well as some amazing gross out bug facts to keep you 'stringing' along .
There seems to be great scope for more tales using these characters and their universe, but I am sure Mr Panatier has other unique stories lined up already.
Whatever is next will be like nectar to this reader.
There is here too some deft, wry humour as well as some amazing gross out bug facts to keep you 'stringing' along .
There seems to be great scope for more tales using these characters and their universe, but I am sure Mr Panatier has other unique stories lined up already.
Whatever is next will be like nectar to this reader.
36459gem's review
5.0
I saw this cover and I couldn’t not buy this book. It’s gorgeous.
But the book itself is even better. It’s equal parts mind blowing and frankly disgusting, but in that way that just works.
I really liked the way footnotes were incorporated as many of them were straight up hilarious and I now know a bunch of stuff I wish I didn’t know.
But the book itself is even better. It’s equal parts mind blowing and frankly disgusting, but in that way that just works.
I really liked the way footnotes were incorporated as many of them were straight up hilarious and I now know a bunch of stuff I wish I didn’t know.
jediknight138's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I really enjoyed the book. However at times it felt like it dragged. Ben and Patton were a great duo. I liked the concept of the story and might give it another read later but it just felt long in some parts
thewulverslibrary's review
3.0
Stringers by Chris Panatier is an out-there, witty novel about Ben. Ben possesses useless knowledge about animals and wristwatches but he has no idea how he knows all of this. He knows about the Chime but can't tell you what it is or why it's important. This knowledge could get him in a whole heap of trouble. After he and his best friend Patton are abducted by an alien bounty hunter, Ben finds out how much he is worth and how dangerous he can be.
We have word-play and flatulence jokes filled with incredible Douglas Adams-esque humour that elevates the space opera, tongue-in-cheek mood that Panatier is going for. Our characters have appealing appreciation that allows us to see different perspectives whilst we are shown different races and areas of space that astound the scope.
There is a lot to unravel with this but early discussions in the story bring to light what is going to happen. There are definitive twists and turns that have us less confused than other novels with this style. This can be the sort of novel that is hard to nail and Panatier did this in a satisfying conclusion.
We have word-play and flatulence jokes filled with incredible Douglas Adams-esque humour that elevates the space opera, tongue-in-cheek mood that Panatier is going for. Our characters have appealing appreciation that allows us to see different perspectives whilst we are shown different races and areas of space that astound the scope.
There is a lot to unravel with this but early discussions in the story bring to light what is going to happen. There are definitive twists and turns that have us less confused than other novels with this style. This can be the sort of novel that is hard to nail and Panatier did this in a satisfying conclusion.
bonzoobel's review
truly just a drag after a while. i didn't sympathize with any of the characters and none of the plotlines were very compelling unfortunately.
djhobby's review
1.0
1.9 out of 10 stars.
Not my cup of tea.
Chris Panatier is way more of a successful writer than I'll ever be, and with all do apologizes to him personally, I hated this book. I dared myself to finish it. But I'm hard to please, I'm a curmudgeon, others might read this and love it.
I didn't care for the less than 1 dimensional characters. (.42 percent of a dimensional character to be exact) The hours long blah blah blah of explaining made up science drove me nuts.
The one redeeming value of this book is the dick/genitalia jokes...(The Argentine lake duck has something to quack about. Its penis is a whopping 17 inches long, proportionally the longest of all vertebrates.) I like a good dick joke, hence the extra stars...
If you loved the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, don't read this book. Read anything by Christopher Moore, Denis Taylor, Andy Weir, Scott Meyer, or John Scalzi instead.
Not my cup of tea.
Chris Panatier is way more of a successful writer than I'll ever be, and with all do apologizes to him personally, I hated this book. I dared myself to finish it. But I'm hard to please, I'm a curmudgeon, others might read this and love it.
I didn't care for the less than 1 dimensional characters. (.42 percent of a dimensional character to be exact) The hours long blah blah blah of explaining made up science drove me nuts.
The one redeeming value of this book is the dick/genitalia jokes...(The Argentine lake duck has something to quack about. Its penis is a whopping 17 inches long, proportionally the longest of all vertebrates.) I like a good dick joke, hence the extra stars...
If you loved the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, don't read this book. Read anything by Christopher Moore, Denis Taylor, Andy Weir, Scott Meyer, or John Scalzi instead.