Hal Spacejock [Kindle Edition]

Simon Haynes (Author)

Book Description

An incompetent space pilot, a massive debt and a twenty-four hour deadline...

Freighter pilot Hal Spacejock has a life to die for: His very own cargo ship, a witty and intelligent flight computer ... and a debt so big it makes the GFC look like a rounding error.

Hal's an upright sort of guy, and he won't take jobs from gun runners, drug smugglers or politicians. On the other hand, the finance company's brutal enforcer is on his doorstep, and Hal has barely twenty-four hours to pay him off. Miss the deadline and he - and his ship - will go under. Way, way, under.

Faced with an impossible choice, Hal chooses an impossible job ... and gains an impossible new co-pilot into the bargain.

(Also available in French)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Fast, funny, quirky, enthralling comedy adventure; not just a genre parody but a well-made story in its own right, told with a light, deft touch.' Tom Holt

'Things start to go wrong and just keep going that way in this clever novel. A very funny science fiction read' Fiction Focus

"The quirkiest genre satire to hit bookshelves since Terry Pratchett's Discworld"
The West Australian

"Riddled with slapstick humour and glib one-liners" Courier Mail, Brisbane

"Simon Haynes is the Australian Terry Pratchett" Midwest Book Review

"A space opera full of humorously cringeworthy moments" Dominion Post, New Zealand

"An underground cult hit . . . just the thing to read when all you want is to forget your troubles for a while and enjoy someone else's engaging and well-crafted world" January Magazine

From the Publisher

The first book in a series.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1434 KB
• Print Length: 338 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1877034088
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Bowman Press; 4 edition (August 15, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005HGAJV2
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Science Fiction > Galactic Empire
  • #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Science Fiction > Adventure

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced Space Romp August 7, 2006

By Jim C. Hines

Format:Paperback

The cover blurb compares Hal Spacejock to Red Dwarf, so I went in expecting that same level of silliness and humor. (Rather, that level of humour -- Australian spelling, after all.) And silliness it delivers. Hal Spacejock, incompetent pilot on the cargo ship Black Gull, lands a job transporting robot parts from point A to point B. On his side is the old robot Clunk. Against him is, well, pretty much everyone else, from warships to desperate thieves to debt collectors to dockmasters who object to Hal's habit of accidentally setting their planets on fire.

The book moves along at a nice pace, and there are some entertaining bits. The "How much for that robot in the window?" exchange made me laugh. A lot of Haynes' computer and robot tech parallels today's PC-related troubles, such as Clunk the roboth having to clean up the code for the Navigational Computer. Then there's the accounting rationale behind disposing of perfectly good robots for tax and warranty reasons. All of this is discussed with a sharp eye for the absurd. (There were moments when I thought I was reading about my own office.)

What lost me from time to time was when the balance switched too far to the silly side of things, at the cost of plausibility. Hal felt too incompetent to have survived this long. It's funny that he can't land his own spaceship, and that he doesn't know what any of the buttons on the console actually do, but it leaves the reader wondering how he managed to get the ship at all, and how he got to where he is without getting himself killed.

Once or twice, complications felt like they were thrown in for the sake of another gag, as opposed to being natural consequences of the story. It's a very tricky thing to balance humor and suspension of disbelief.... To some extent, it's probably a matter of personal taste.

Whether or not you'll like the book is going to depend a lot on your sense of humor. For me, it was an amusing read, but it didn't quite hit the mark. Given the success Haynes has had with the series so far (I would love to have some of his great reviews for my own work), Given the success Haynes has had with the series so far (I would love to have some of his great reviews for my own work), I'd say it's definitely worth checking out chapter one at the author's website to see if it's your brand of space humor. Read more ›

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Traditional but hilarious April 4, 2007

By K. Weber

Format:Paperback

The incompetent-but-lucky man with his capable-but-frequently-eyerolling companion who repeatedly (and thanklessly) saves his butt seems to be a staple in humorous science fiction. Hal Spacejock and his robot sidekick, Clunk, are no exception. I won't say that this story has anything new and novel to offer, but it sure is a good time. I especially enjoyed the random side scenes, like Hal's altercation with a stubborn automatic door. If you like outlandish SF like Red Dwarf and the Stainless Steel Rat, check out Hal Spacejock.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars In space, no-one can hear you laugh September 11, 2011

By N. Brett VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Can't believe I have had this in my reading pile for over five years. I picked in up in Oz back in June 2006 and it kind of buried itself in my pile of books.
It's not bad and the author does show potential. It took a while to get going, initially I was slightly underwhelmed but by the end I discovered I had grown more fond of Hal and Clunk then I was expecting.

It's slapstick space humour with a daft cago pilot and a sidekick robot that is slightly less daft. Here they try to transport a dodgy cargo in a ship that is barely spaceworthy and mayhem is the order of the day.

So it grows on you and it does have some very nice moments. Not Douglas Adams yet though.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny guy-action book May 28, 2012

By G. Cox

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is difficult to write because both the wife and the husband in this particular partnership have read it, disagree, and we only have one account from which to write a review. The wife is less impressed because it seemed kind of stupid in places (she would probably give it only 2 stars), but the husband assures her that it's funny in a guy kind of way. They both agree that action and ridiculous adventure come at a fast pace and that Clunk is a sympathetic character. They disagree about whether the term sympathetic applies to Spacejock, however. They both like the ending.

Assuming the book was meant to appeal to the lighter side of a male audience's taste, the four stars of this rating reflect the husband's opinion (and the wife just rolls her eyes in the background).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Starships and Aliens Review October 1, 2011

By S. J. MacDonald

Format:Kindle Edition

Concept/World
I loved the rustbucket spaceship, the Black Gull. The description of the food aboard the space station had me in fits.

Story
The story rockets along right from the start. Hal Spacejock leaves a trail of destruction everywhere he goes, with non-stop action all the way through.

Characters
I just loved the characters - Navcom, the spaceship computer with attitude, the brilliant and much put-upon Clunk and, of course, Hal Spacejock himself. Hal is hilariously stupid, doing whatever seems like a good idea at the time with no thought for consequences. He manages to survive far more by luck than judgement, and usually because he's saved at the last moment either by his ship's Navcom or by Clunk, his robot sidekick. The villains are convincingly unpleasant, greedy and ruthless.

Overall
I highlighted parts of this book that made me laugh out loud. By the end of the book I had 29 of them. The only other books I've read that made me laugh this much are Terry Pratchett's. This story does contain swearing so isn't suitable for younger readers. Simon Haynes is also writing a series for younger readers, though,"Hal Junior". I enjoyed Hal Spacejock so much that I bought a copy of that to review as well. I have also bought the next in the series to read just for fun. I'm a big fan of Red Dwarf so I'm not sure I'd agree with the blurb on the cover that says Hal Spacejock is better than Red Dwarf, but it's certainly up there alongside it.

More About the Author

Simon Haynes was born in England in 1967, and moved to Spain with his family in the mid-70's. He enjoyed an amazing childhood of camping, motorbikes, air rifles and paper planes. His family moved to Australia when he was 16.

After two years in an English-speaking school - which was a novelty after a Spanish-based education - Simon entered Curtin University, graduating three years later with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Creative Writing. In 1997 he returned to the same university, and graduated with a second degree in 1999 ... this time, Computer Science.

In 2004 Simon was writing his fourth novel when Fremantle Press, an Australian trade publisher, offered a contract for his first three books. They were published over a five-year period, and were distributed by Penguin across Australia and New Zealand.

Simon now has five Hal Spacejock novels, two Hal Junior novels and a dozen short stories in print, all of them available on Amazon Kindle.

Simon is the programmer and designer behind Spacejock Software, and is responsible for popular programs like FCharts, yWriter and yBook.

Hal Spacejock 5: Baker's Dough is his latest novel, released July 2012. Hal Junior 3: The Gyris Mission, is slated for a September 2012 release.