Scan barcode
vengefuldime's review
3.0
“But I love terrible ideas!’ Hubcap insisted.”
Although it had a strong start it, it still took me a while to get into it. There are way too many characters (at least too many minor ones). The characterizations and humor get repetitive fast- even if I enjoyed them at first, I ended up wanting more.
The pacing was much more character-focused, so I just let the descriptions of the world form and waited to see how the characters relationships would turn out. (It turned out ok!) Hubcap quickly grew on me, he’s a very fun character with enough potential conflicts to invite curiosity. I understand that Elliot’s perspective provides contrast to his energy, but I still wish Hubcap was more at the front. Still, I liked their friendship. I became more invested between halfway through and ended up feeling more soaring of emotions by the conclusion.
Although it had a strong start it, it still took me a while to get into it. There are way too many characters (at least too many minor ones). The characterizations and humor get repetitive fast- even if I enjoyed them at first, I ended up wanting more.
The pacing was much more character-focused, so I just let the descriptions of the world form and waited to see how the characters relationships would turn out. (It turned out ok!) Hubcap quickly grew on me, he’s a very fun character with enough potential conflicts to invite curiosity. I understand that Elliot’s perspective provides contrast to his energy, but I still wish Hubcap was more at the front. Still, I liked their friendship. I became more invested between halfway through and ended up feeling more soaring of emotions by the conclusion.
wasauthor's review
5.0
I received an advance reader copy of Spectacular Silver Earthling for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Some books' titles grab your attention and plaster a smile on your face, and Spectacular Silver Earthling by Mara Lynn Johnstone is one such book. Together with its cover of said spectacular silver earthling riding a creature bearing a resemblance to a pterodactyl while others attempt to restrain it as others film the chaos, this is a book that beckons to be read.
While you should never judge a book by its cover (or even its title), the smile the title elicited continued as I started reading the book, and remained on my face until the very end. If I were to sum up the book in a single word, it would be "fun." Whether it's the characters, the plot, the world or the humour, Spectacular Silver Earthling is a joy to read, told with a freewheeling nature that is completely fun.
Set in the future, where humanity has taken to the stars and televises them with intergalactic wildlife TV shows, this novel tells the story of Hubcap, an egotistical robot and host of one such TV show. In order to keep the sponsors happy and ensure his show stays on the air, Hubcap and his crew must film footage that will capture the audience's attention, which sets them off on an adventure that sees them exploring mysterious areas and meeting alien species.
The book's humour runs through its characters and the snark they bring to their situations. This book is funny, and the comedy is successful throughout the book's entirety. It is filled with amusing descriptioms, one-liners and banter.
The banter is an absolute joy, and moves at a rapid-fire pace. Hubcap is a larger-than-life character with an ego to match, and yet, through the humour, he remains relatable. The other characters are dialled down a notch from him, but still shine. Hubcap is undoubtedly the protagonist, but the rest of the book's sizable cast gets their due.
Given the amount of banter, dialogue plays a huge part in the book, resulting in a style that is very dialogue-heavy. If you enjoy reading a healthy amount of dialogue with characters verbally sparring with one another, you'll be delighted. The dialogue is full of wit and the characters all sound unique, with their own way of speaking, whether they be robot, human or alien.
The sci-fi elements are great, whether it's in relation to an alien location, its creatures, or the aliens, and the author presents all of these uniquely. They are written with a sense of wonder, while grounded enough to feel like they could exist within our universe.
As dialogue-heavy as the book is, the author uses prose effectively. In scenes filled predominantly with dialogue, the prose is sparing but still conveys the necessary information about the characters and setting. In these instances, the prose is is used economically, doing more with fewer words. In scenes with less dialogue, the world is painted in lush, vivid detail.
Whether it's poking fun at television or exploring alien worlds, Spectacular Silver Earthling brings a sense of joyous fun. Hubcap's snarky sense of humour is great and bounces off the other characters beautifully. If you're a fan of humour novels or science fiction, you'll find a thoroughly enjoyable book. If you're a fan of both, you'll find it infuses these brilliantly, for a truly unique experience.
My full review will be available on my website from Friday 15 July, 2022. To read it (and a host of other book reviews), click here.
Some books' titles grab your attention and plaster a smile on your face, and Spectacular Silver Earthling by Mara Lynn Johnstone is one such book. Together with its cover of said spectacular silver earthling riding a creature bearing a resemblance to a pterodactyl while others attempt to restrain it as others film the chaos, this is a book that beckons to be read.
While you should never judge a book by its cover (or even its title), the smile the title elicited continued as I started reading the book, and remained on my face until the very end. If I were to sum up the book in a single word, it would be "fun." Whether it's the characters, the plot, the world or the humour, Spectacular Silver Earthling is a joy to read, told with a freewheeling nature that is completely fun.
Set in the future, where humanity has taken to the stars and televises them with intergalactic wildlife TV shows, this novel tells the story of Hubcap, an egotistical robot and host of one such TV show. In order to keep the sponsors happy and ensure his show stays on the air, Hubcap and his crew must film footage that will capture the audience's attention, which sets them off on an adventure that sees them exploring mysterious areas and meeting alien species.
The book's humour runs through its characters and the snark they bring to their situations. This book is funny, and the comedy is successful throughout the book's entirety. It is filled with amusing descriptioms, one-liners and banter.
The banter is an absolute joy, and moves at a rapid-fire pace. Hubcap is a larger-than-life character with an ego to match, and yet, through the humour, he remains relatable. The other characters are dialled down a notch from him, but still shine. Hubcap is undoubtedly the protagonist, but the rest of the book's sizable cast gets their due.
Given the amount of banter, dialogue plays a huge part in the book, resulting in a style that is very dialogue-heavy. If you enjoy reading a healthy amount of dialogue with characters verbally sparring with one another, you'll be delighted. The dialogue is full of wit and the characters all sound unique, with their own way of speaking, whether they be robot, human or alien.
The sci-fi elements are great, whether it's in relation to an alien location, its creatures, or the aliens, and the author presents all of these uniquely. They are written with a sense of wonder, while grounded enough to feel like they could exist within our universe.
As dialogue-heavy as the book is, the author uses prose effectively. In scenes filled predominantly with dialogue, the prose is sparing but still conveys the necessary information about the characters and setting. In these instances, the prose is is used economically, doing more with fewer words. In scenes with less dialogue, the world is painted in lush, vivid detail.
Whether it's poking fun at television or exploring alien worlds, Spectacular Silver Earthling brings a sense of joyous fun. Hubcap's snarky sense of humour is great and bounces off the other characters beautifully. If you're a fan of humour novels or science fiction, you'll find a thoroughly enjoyable book. If you're a fan of both, you'll find it infuses these brilliantly, for a truly unique experience.
My full review will be available on my website from Friday 15 July, 2022. To read it (and a host of other book reviews), click here.
loungeking's review
Almost unreadable, past-tense third person and hard to describe
snappydog's review
4.0
One of my favourite sci-fi things is when aliens aren't just humans with different limbs or whatever, so I like very much that Spectacular Silver Earthling's aliens are totally biologically different, with different ways of communicating and even thinking that make sense based on their environment.
I wondered for a while what this book was about. Like, I was having a fun enough time following Hubcap (whom I initially pictured from the name as being sort of Claptrap-y but who evolved as I read into basically a shiny cowboy) and co. in their quest to make a good TV show, but I wasn't sure what I really made of the whole thing until probably about two thirds of the way through. It just sort of starts to click, or at least it did for me, with the threads of the show and its corporate overseers and the native aliens and the frenzy all joining up together to weave themes about how we ignore what's really important in pursuit of profit. And, I think, about how we don't really understand our own emotions an awful lot of the time.
The 'space frenzy' that whips humans into elevated emotional states has people twitchy, ready to jump in with a sedative, at any display of what might be even slightly deviant emotion. I don't know whether this is deliberate but it kind of reminded me of how people who express themselves and their feelings differently are too often shut down forcefully and quickly, with no attempt made to understand them. There is a passing line about how the spread of the frenzy could cause everyone to become afraid of showing feelings at all, but I think that could've been explored further - still, it turns out that the cause is in fact kind of benign (or at least serves a purpose) in its native context, with any problems being caused only by the wanton melding of environments and inhabitants that don't belong together. So the whole thing joins up quite neatly, in the end, with everyone getting increasingly nervous of Big Feelings (and thus increasingly prone to getting overwhelmed by said Big Feelings) until the environmental issues can be resolved.
I wondered for a while what this book was about. Like, I was having a fun enough time following Hubcap (whom I initially pictured from the name as being sort of Claptrap-y but who evolved as I read into basically a shiny cowboy) and co. in their quest to make a good TV show, but I wasn't sure what I really made of the whole thing until probably about two thirds of the way through. It just sort of starts to click, or at least it did for me, with the threads of the show and its corporate overseers and the native aliens and the frenzy all joining up together to weave themes about how we ignore what's really important in pursuit of profit. And, I think, about how we don't really understand our own emotions an awful lot of the time.
The 'space frenzy' that whips humans into elevated emotional states has people twitchy, ready to jump in with a sedative, at any display of what might be even slightly deviant emotion. I don't know whether this is deliberate but it kind of reminded me of how people who express themselves and their feelings differently are too often shut down forcefully and quickly, with no attempt made to understand them. There is a passing line about how the spread of the frenzy could cause everyone to become afraid of showing feelings at all, but I think that could've been explored further - still, it turns out that the cause is in fact kind of benign (or at least serves a purpose) in its native context, with any problems being caused only by the wanton melding of environments and inhabitants that don't belong together. So the whole thing joins up quite neatly, in the end, with everyone getting increasingly nervous of Big Feelings (and thus increasingly prone to getting overwhelmed by said Big Feelings) until the environmental issues can be resolved.
eliseswritings's review
5.0
Just finished my advanced reader copy. This was a new way to explore another planet -through the eyes of a film crew found of banter and digs at each other, as they seek footage exotic enough to keep their show on the galaxy's airwaves. The crew are good natured, and I enjoyed their company, and the conceited but very entertaining, endless digs that robot lead Hubcap makes at his 'meatbag' companions, which, along with the story, built to what I found to being a satisfying finale.
Frenzy, a space illness of mysterious origins was an interesting and realistic concept as a 'villain'. And naturally, an interesting original new alien species makes an appearance too. This was an immersive adventure, and an up-beat distraction from the sickbed in which I read it. An enjoyable and entertaining read.
Frenzy, a space illness of mysterious origins was an interesting and realistic concept as a 'villain'. And naturally, an interesting original new alien species makes an appearance too. This was an immersive adventure, and an up-beat distraction from the sickbed in which I read it. An enjoyable and entertaining read.
More...