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Yahtzee Croshaw

Jam Paperback – May 29, 2018

by Yahtzee Croshaw (Author)

439 ratings

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A dark comedy about the one apocalypse no one predicted from Zero Punctuation hit writer Yahtzee Croshaw.

We were prepared for an earthquake. We had a flood plan in place. We could even have dealt with zombies. Probably. But no one expected the end to be quite so... sticky. Or strawberry-scented.

The second novel by Yahtzee Croshaw (Will Save the Galaxy for Food, Mogworld) now released at an affordable 6 x 9 paperback format.

"[Croshaw is] able to pull off slapstick comedy in print, and that's no easy feat." –ComicsAlliance

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dark Horse Books
Publication date

May 29, 2018
Dimensions

6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1506706347
ISBN-13

978-1506706344
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Yahtzee Croshaw is a British-Australian comedic writer, video game journalist, author, and video game developer. He is best known for his acerbic video game review series, Zero Punctuation, for The Escapist. Before this, Croshaw gained attention in the Adventure Game Studio community for his video games. Croshaw also writes a weekly supplementary column for The Escapist, Extra Punctuation, as well as the video series Judging by the Cover.

Croshaw has published two novels through Dark Horse Comics. The first was Mogworld, published in August 2010.The second, Jam, was released in October 2012. A third is forthcoming. He also cohosts a weekly podcast/Let's Play hybrid series, Let's Drown Out, along with cohost Gabriel Morton.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dark Horse Books; New edition (May 29, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1506706347
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1506706344
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #740,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #934 in Humorous Science Fiction (Books)
- #8,623 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Books)
- #29,027 in Horror Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
439 ratings

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Yahtzee Croshaw

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Yahtzee is the sole creator of Zero Punctuation, a popular weekly game review on the Webby award-winning Escapist online magazine, for which he also earned the Sun Microsystems 2008 IT Journalism award for Best Gaming Journalist. He has also worked as a game designer and dialogue writer for various studios. He was born and raised in the UK and now lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		23%
3 star		14%
2 star		5%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Rachel Noel

What's not to enjoy? Unfortunately

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2017

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There were a lot of enjoyable elements to this book. An amiable main character. Realistic, and therefore hilarious, dialogue and character actions. A goliath birdeater spider. What's not to enjoy?

Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I'm used to Croshaw giving a different but better ending than the one I think I want, but in this case, the ending was disappointing. I get that, in apocalyptic situations people are going to break in different ways, but I did not like Tim's break. I was genuinely disappointed by that development. I also wasn't a fan of the Plastic People and their constant need to be ironic without fully comprehending what that meant. Then again, that could be a testament to Croshaw's writing that he made them so easy to dislike.

I did get a number of laughs throughout the book. I found it absolutely hilarious that a character who said he had no fear doing something immediately responded to the situation with "OH JESUS MONSTER TRUCK DRIVING CHRIST THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEAAAAAAAAAAA". I also appreciated the references to Mogworld, Croshaw's previous book. Even Travis not being the brightest bulb in the box was kinda funny (though that did get old after a while).

Overall it's an okay book. It had a lot of good moments, but it ended up leaving me feeling like there could've been more. Maybe it's just me.

3 people found this helpful

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cobaltu

For Disaffected College Students

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2016

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As apocalypse novels go, this is a new take. It's a rare treat to be made to care about the well being of a spider or to care about characters with so little to recommend them. Then again, that's the approachable element of Croshow's writing. An ordinary feeling POV character surrounded by extraordinary situations and characters. The premise is ridiculous and by extension the reader has to be prepared for the characters within take that to an extreme.

The character work is strong, the writing is solid, and there's sarcasm in abundance. Some of the comedy is hit or miss, probably your style if you've ever enjoyed Douglas Adams, but any rational person will find themselves frustrated at times by the heights of human absurdity being presented. Though if there's a better indictment of the culture of disingenuous tastes built upon herd mentalities, I haven't seen it. maybe that means I should get out more.

So not perfect book by any stretch, but another fine effort by Yahtzee Croshaw. I can recommend it to anyone who enjoys a comedic spin on science fantasy, or anyone who's ever hated a teenager.

3 people found this helpful

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Carly

Entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2016

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Due to the lackluster reviews I had doubts about this book, but it proved worth the read. It is indeed very heavy in social commentary which is fine by me. Many reviewers said that the main character lacks personality, but I found him endearing from start to finish. I think most people imagine themselves as a strong voice and survivor in a post-apocalypse situation, but Travis is probably a more accurate representation of those of us who read about going on adventures instead of risking them in real life. And it was fun to see how all the characters changed and grew throughout the story.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is easily amused by slapstick, sarcastic, and satirical humor, and enjoys reading about dystopian settings.

5 people found this helpful

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kris

Meh

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2016

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While I would say that the technical aspects of Croshaw's writing have improved since Mogworld; Jam was a less enjoyable book for me.

Jam starts out pretty strong and remains entertaining for about the first half, but it begins to drag after that. When you get to the anti-climactic climax you're just happy it's over. Part of the problem is that the characters are flat; they're really caricatures, not characters. You can only stretch a story with uninteresting characters so far before readers get bored. But, the flat characters are one of the things that makes the book funny at first. It's a good parody of all the bad apocalyptic movies and books, but then it goes on for way too long and turns into what it's parodying.

The word count is over 100k, probably nearing 120k, judging from the page count. Usually that kind of word count is for an epic or a sci-fi/fantasy novel (all that world building). Cutting this book down to 60-80k would have improved it dramatically, and honestly, it might have been better as a novella. As an author, you should learn to edit yourself, but the editor shouldn't have let the book go out like this. While I was disappointed with the book, the problem seems to lie primarily with the editor, so I would be willing to buy another book by this author.

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Jeremy

Not much improved since Mogworld

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2014

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I came onto Mogworld and Jam as a big Yahtzee fan. But for whatever reason, his hilarious Zero-Punctuation humor is mostly missing from Jam (and Mogworld). This book has got more than a few laugh-out-loud moments, but just like Mogworld it soon starts to drag. I barely finished Mogworld and only made it through 110 pages of Jam. Which is really a shame, especially since he clearly has a great talent for humor, writing, and voicing, as evidenced by Zero Punctuation.

I think Yahtzee would be better off writing off-key short stories, sketch comedy, or even just shorter books. Mogworld would've been a great side-splitting read at 120 pages, but it was a chore at 350 pages. And I feel like Jam could've been a great title at 120 pages. But instead it rivals a Game of Thrones book in length and just doesn't have the detail or engagement to sustain that kind of interest. He needs an editor who is willing to run into this book with a hatchet and just cut away everything that doesn't need to be there.

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Top reviews from other countries

The Great Elmyra

Jam

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

I suppose there is always the chance, considering the way Amazon's search functions are geared, that some people may be at this page that have not heard any of Yahtzee Croshaw's internet reviews named Zero Punctuation. For the unititiated let it be said that these acidic and sometime unbelievably profane and vulgar snippets are guaranteed to make anyone with a sense of humour laugh out loud several times; not bad for a 5 minute review. As a fan of this web journalism it was with some trepidation that I ordered Croshaw's book. You know how it is when somebody who is really good at something decides to do something else and it isn't as good and you feel all cold and hollow inside as a result? Well, this is kind of what I was expecting to feel with Jam and....yeah sorry, but it did live up to that expectation.

Structurally the book is sound. It has no slow sections and flows along quite nicely. My problem with the book were the characters themselves. The book is written in the first person of Travis. On his Zero Punctuation pages, Croshaw alludes to a negative self image and there is a strong suggestion that there is more than a little of Croshaw's wholly pointless self loathing written into this character. A central protagonist needs SOMETHING in him/her to make you want to finish the book. With this guy I just couldn't care less. It wasn't that he was particularly annoying, he was just completely without depth. At the end of the book I hoped to find that the character changed and developed into something, only to find that, no, the same guy continues in the same vain.

This is forgiveable enough, but I am terribly sad that a man that is SO SO SO funny, and SO SO SO sharp - so much so that it is a miracle that he hasn't julienned himself already, seems reluctant to inject any of that excrutiating wit into his writing. I am certain that Croshaw has done this to distance himself from his fame online, but for me it is a step too far.

Now, it is entirely probable that I have missed the point and that Travis', blah factor is some sort on subtle irony lost on a fat middle-aged man that ranks Holiday On The Buses among his favourite films. With this in mind, and in light of a seemingly indifferent review, I would actually recommend this book to fans of people like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. And at the risk of sounding like a patronizing old uncle, I do actually suspect that in time Croshaw could become quite a good writer. For me, he's not quite there yet though.

5 people found this helpful

W Brooks

Hard to get stuck in.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2013

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I read this right after Mogworld (Yahtzee's other book) and I am a little disappointed with it. I found it hard to get stuck in to the story (pun intended!) as it didn't grip me in the same way Mogworld did. The first 50% of the book largely relies on the comedy situation of jam covering an Australian city. I will agree this is a funny idea, but in itself it doesn't support 200 pages of book.

The characters in the book are very likeable and that's pretty much what kept me reading. There's a slacker as the protagonist and he has a rag-tag group of accomplices who are pretty interesting too. There's some non-main characters who are well written and have good plots of their own.

Overall I didn't love this book. That's not to say others won't, it has high ratings from others on Amazon, but I'm not a fan.

One person found this helpful

Meera

Shameless and strawberry scented death

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2017

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The end of the world by man-eating jam, strawberry scented death. Follow a crazy bunch of people trying to survive the apocalypse. Yahzee brings out all of his well-known cynicism and annoyance at the idiots of society to paint a bleak but maniacal look at how civilisation would play out. A fun book that you never really know what is coming next but shows the mental strain and changes that may take place. If you don't like drop endings though this may not be for you. You will be left wanting just that little bit more. I loved the references to Mogworld with some shameless self-plugging.

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Original and thought-provoking old school Science Fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

Science fiction used to be about taking real people and putting them in situations where the logical consequences of technology could play themselves out.

Yahtzee Croshaw's "Jam" is a fine example of this. The protagonists are in the Australian city of Brisbane and faced with a problem, 3 foot of jam is covering the city. Carnivorous, semi-sentient strawberry jam.

I found myself enthralled by the story telling and stayed up late reading it. This was because it's very much calling back to Asimov and Wyndham. Travis, the narrator of dubious reliability, isn't an action hero. Neither are they particularly competent. They're very much how I could see myself being if I was in this situation and the ingenious methods of getting around and coping with the problems again call to mind Verne and Defoe.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

3 people found this helpful

NScott(whatthemeh)

A fun, fun read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2012

Verified Purchase

I've been a fan of Zero Punctuation, Croshaw's game review show, for some time now and whilst I didn't give Mogworld the time of day, I was rather more interested in the concept of 'Jam'. A jam apocalypse- without echoing the blurb completely the last apocalypse anyone expected. It's certainly far removed from that zombie apocalypse the whole world seems to be in love with these days...

But I digress. I review this with the benefit of not having Mogworld as a point of reference, as it appears fans seem to see that book as 'better'. And from that standpoint, it is indeed a very entertaining read. Funny in all the right places- subversive and satirical when necessary and a genuinely engaging plot-line. And, somehow, the use of carnivorous jam as the main danger never broke my disbelief. Without spoiling anything, the presence of the jam is eventually explained, though never 'why' it is jam, and not something else to the same, viscous effect. However I think that simply goes back to the sardonic premise 'any apocalypse other than a another fricking zombie one'.

Why I don't simply give this 5 stars is of course because it's not without it's flaws. The absurdity, not necessarily of the jam but some of the characters, sometime leaks from the humorous into the incredible, while the book otherwise establishes a fairly (perhaps a bit of a stretch) realistic tone. The characters, whilst well designed, often verge on the 2D (particularly at the start), as in they basically spend a lot of the time saying overtly 'this is me and this is the character I am' kinda things. Funnily enough, it is Travis's (narrator) companion, Tim, that develops the most. Quite astutely, in fact, one of the female characters observes that 'if this were a film, Tim would be the main character' (not quoted word for word. Whilst I didn't fully agree (don't suppose I was meant to, I could see Travis as a bit characterless (though I think this works to it's own end). Also, I didn't really feel like the whole thing tied up to a fitting, all-encompassing end.

But all that aside, it's a fun journey from the perspective of a somewhat blank every-man, with plenty of laughs from his witty train of thought, and of course the absurdities of the situations and characters. While it's not a master-piece in social satire, it certainly does capture many, many facets of culture today (particularly internet) in a way that made me smirk, and for that part I was certainly on the same wave-length as Croshaw.

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Jam Paperback – May 29, 2018

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Yahtzee Croshaw

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