Customer Reviews
A hoot! - By: Iain McClumpha, 21 Oct 2008 
I've only just started reading this novel (half way through chapter 3), but I have to say it's one of the best SF novels I've read in a long time.
Smith is a brave idiot in the greatest tradition of comic heroes, & his crew are priceless - I just love the android pilot Carveth. Like a girl with spirit!
Hope the rest of the book is up to the same high standard as the opening chapters.
Love it!
A RIPPING SPACE YARN - By: FantasyFan, 12 Sep 2008 I think that the reviewers who have given this little gem anything less than 3 stars have missed the joke completely! Yes some of the jokes are a little bit like the saucy postcards you used to find, but there are some real gems in here too. Smith is a likeable character, who the author cleverly makes naïve rather than actuallly stupid & his crew are alll flawed but basicallly decent people/aliens/sex bots/hamsters! I don't believe that Frost was attempting to be Adams, & this book is deliberately light hearted. The villains are pantomime, the church of New Eden characters make Cromwell's Ironsides look like a hard partying bunch. Suruk the Slayer (obviously a Predator) is a psychotic headhunting alien who is Smith's best friend - we have yet to find out why? One of the funniest jokes in the book is that the Predator type aliens talk like Star Trek Klingons in English & like California Surfers when talking to each other in their own lingo - brilliant! His pilot is an escaped sexbot, complete with hamster & Smith is perfect example of British repressed sexuality & a product of public school education.
Don't think of this as Flashman in Space, it's not that clever & it doesn't try to be - it's more like Ripping Yarns in Space! The fact that authors such as Douglas Adams & Terry Pratchett are mentioned in some other reviews, gives you some idea of the quality of the humour. This book won't change your life but it might improve a couple of days of it. It is a deliberately silly romping adventure story & I absolutely loved it!!
Great Fun! - By: First Time User, 05 Sep 2008 Toby Frost's light hearted romp in the retro-futuristic British space empire is a superb read from start to finish. Sarcasm, witty one liners & slapstick humour abound. Along the way he pokes fun at Hollywood, British stiff upper lip, militarism & religious fundamentalism. Brilliant entertainment.
Don't jump to obvious comparisons, this is something new! - By: Mr. M. V. Norwood, 03 Sep 2008 Undoubtedly in other reviews this book will be compared to the works of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett & Grant & Naylor. There are many other less obvious comparisons one might also make from Harry Harrison's 'Stainless Steel Rat' books through to 'Black Adder Goes Forth' & Hewlett (of Gorillaz fame) & Martin's 'Tank Girl' or even 'Ripping Yarns'.
Sure, if you are a fan of any of the aforementioned works then you won't be disappointed. However what we have here is far from being derivative.
Space Captain Smith is something new, something different. It is a refreshing breath of fresh air. Witty & what what without being up itself in any way. Sit back with a nice hot cup of Earl Grey & simply enjoy.
Light hearted and silly - By: bob, 30 Aug 2008 
This book gets two stars because it is not Flashman in outer space. It clearly isn't, because the characters are simple two dimensional ciphers & there is not the reflection that George MacDonald Fraser gave Flashman. The humour is slapstic rather than ironic.
However, it is a light hearted undemanding romp through SF stereotypes. I kept thinking it reminded me of Kieth Laumer's short stories, or even Retief novels - although not as well done. Personallly, I would borrow this from the library, or buy second hand rather than fork out for new.
