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thecaptainsquarters 's review for:
Roadkill
by Dennis E. Taylor
Ahoy there mateys! Though the First Mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do recommend books to each other. I enjoyed his viewpoints so I ordered asked him to write reviews. So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew. Please note that I write like I talk and the First Mate writes like he thinks. Hope you enjoy!
From the Captain:
This book is about a dude who hits something with his car when going around a curve and finds out later that he killed an alien (silly!). Of course then dude and his friends have to save the planet with the help of ship AI "Sheldon." I listened to the audiobook of this one and found it very enjoyable but ultimately rather forgettable. There are lots of pop-culture references and geeky sci-fi references. It makes fun of some of the conspiracy theories around aliens. Pleasant and fun and silly.
From the First Mate:
As is expected, my primary exposure to Dennis E. Taylor is his Bobiverse novels. Roadkill has that same snarky style prevalent in the Bobiverse, and if you're into that, you'll enjoy the writing here.
Like the style, the main characters (Jack, Natalie, and Patrick) feel like they've been pulled directly from the Bobiverse with different names and appearances. Taylor is very comfortable writing these types of characters, and they're fun and interesting more often than not. While I enjoyed them, I could see how others might find the lack of character variety between books frustrating.
The AI in the story, Sheldon, feels a bit like a mashup of the AIs present in the works of Douglas Adams, Iain M Banks, and Martha Wells—dour, snarky, irreverent, yet always oddly protective and caring. Again, the character feels a bit like a character appearing at the end of the fourth Bobiverse book. I liked Sheldon and its storyline, but I could again see where others would feel they'd seen it before.
Unfortunately, the plot also falls into the "I think I've seen this before" category. Novelty in the plot is not a requirement for a great book, but when the style and the characters are also so reminiscent of previous works, so much familiarity does seem a bit much after a while.
Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy the book. But I enjoyed it in the "this is silly fluff that passes the time without overly engaging my brain" type of way that sometimes is absolutely needed. Nothing deep here, just silly fun.
From the Captain:
This book is about a dude who hits something with his car when going around a curve and finds out later that he killed an alien (silly!). Of course then dude and his friends have to save the planet with the help of ship AI "Sheldon." I listened to the audiobook of this one and found it very enjoyable but ultimately rather forgettable. There are lots of pop-culture references and geeky sci-fi references. It makes fun of some of the conspiracy theories around aliens. Pleasant and fun and silly.
From the First Mate:
As is expected, my primary exposure to Dennis E. Taylor is his Bobiverse novels. Roadkill has that same snarky style prevalent in the Bobiverse, and if you're into that, you'll enjoy the writing here.
Like the style, the main characters (Jack, Natalie, and Patrick) feel like they've been pulled directly from the Bobiverse with different names and appearances. Taylor is very comfortable writing these types of characters, and they're fun and interesting more often than not. While I enjoyed them, I could see how others might find the lack of character variety between books frustrating.
The AI in the story, Sheldon, feels a bit like a mashup of the AIs present in the works of Douglas Adams, Iain M Banks, and Martha Wells—dour, snarky, irreverent, yet always oddly protective and caring. Again, the character feels a bit like a character appearing at the end of the fourth Bobiverse book. I liked Sheldon and its storyline, but I could again see where others would feel they'd seen it before.
Unfortunately, the plot also falls into the "I think I've seen this before" category. Novelty in the plot is not a requirement for a great book, but when the style and the characters are also so reminiscent of previous works, so much familiarity does seem a bit much after a while.
Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy the book. But I enjoyed it in the "this is silly fluff that passes the time without overly engaging my brain" type of way that sometimes is absolutely needed. Nothing deep here, just silly fun.