Posted by This world is set in an alternate reality where after the USSR fell, a branch of it became its own entity named Targletopia. Targletopia has a supreme leader, not too unlike a Tzar, the problem is that they also have a customary habit of killing their supreme leader every two years or so. The little country has thrived by selling off its uranium to other countries wanting to build weapons discretely. Many countries consider Targletopia to be a threat to the rest of the world due to their ever-fluctuating leadership and shady business ties.
The current leader, named Dooblecrat XVII, has recently taken power after the fall of Dooblecraft XVI. It’s also customary for the assassins turned leaders to take on the name of Dooblecraft, after the first leader of Targletopia. If you haven’t caught on yet, this book doesn’t take itself too seriously. The names of people and places can get extreme, think Terry Pratchett but 5 steps further. Just, run with it.
Lord Baron Aaron is one of the leaders who is trying to get his hands on the uranium in Targletopia. He’s tried several times to set up a business meeting but has never had success getting to meet with Dooblecraft (DC). After being rebuked time and again, he’s come up with a new plan that involves invading Targletopia, killing DC, selling off all the uranium, becoming rich, and then taking over the world. He’s got plans, they’re multiplying. In comes Vicountess de Doishen, who makes a proposal to DC: marry me and get my army and an heir, and I become Queen of Targletopia.
Meanwhile, Adam Bitchenstein (yep) is flailing his way through his courtship with Miss Girl, a journalist who he’s fancied for some time. He’s just been offered a job to come out of retirement from being a merc, and go to Targletopia to thwart the plan. He doesn’t want anything to do with it until Miss Girl says she’s also going to Targletopia for an interview with DC for a story to post on her blog. So, he reluctantly accepts his mission from his old comrade, Sarge.
Sarge tells him that they need to pick up 5 other fellows on the way before they can head to Targletopia. Some of these guys he likes, others he doesn’t – really, really doesn’t. It makes for a lot of banter and mayhem as they go on their mission.
So what’s up with the name Robocopter? He’s a soldier, that’s also a helicopter. When he speaks he doesn’t use English, the other characters have a heavy one-sided conversation that lets you get the gist of what Robocopter is saying because it sounds like “HUMMM BUZZZ BUZZZ VVVRRR”. Don’t hate, he’s been awarded the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart.
Like I said earlier, this is set in an alternate timeline and the world building is fairly unique. There are things like giant praying mantis’s that live on Venus, and the USA is currently at war with them. There are miniaturized bears, time warps, deities interacting with the characters, and one of the team of 5 taking down Dooblecraft was an ex-spacepirate, who used to smuggle space-cocaine. So it was a hodgepodge of science fiction, fantasy, and action film kind of book. There’s a lot going on in this book, and if you start to get confused, don’t worry, there’s a point about 60% in where major plot points get summarized via theme song lol.
The writing style is either going to work for you, or it isn’t. The humor in this isn’t subtle, it’s kind of like South Park in being out there and in your face. Some things worked for me, others really didn’t, but that’s to be expected with humor. I liked the exploding bear joke, it didn’t start off funny, but each time it happened it got funnier. That’s humor well done. More so than the humor, there was an overall machismo tone that didn’t settle well with me at points. There’s a lot of talk about “pussy”, and even Adam’s inner dialogue about his prospective girlfriend got pretty lude.
“Dooblecraft XVII is a cowardly man, a sniveling wretch of a scrap of a man, a man that only can be called such due to the progression of time and the possession of one half of a set of testicles. He is as weak and as womanly as a Victorian heroine but he is not stupid.”
You could think of this series a little bit like Archer, kind of like James Bond but crasser. There are parody references to things like James Bond, someone in this is named Lotsapussy, which is playing directly off of Bond’s Pussygalore.
This book will appeal to people who like a lot of absurd humor, crass jokes, and explosions lol.
Audience:
- Comic SFF
- Action/spy movies
- multi pov
- Gods as real things
- Mercenaries
- Archer/James Bond
- NOT for people who don’t like cursing
Ratings:
- Plot: 10.5/15
- Characters: 10/15
- World Building: 11.5/15
- Writing: 10/15
- Pacing: 13/15
- Originality: 13/15
- Personal Enjoyment: 6/10