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Title: Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic by Terry Jones ISBN: 0-345-36843-6 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 27 October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.13 (106 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Absurd, bizarre, and extremely funny
Comment: "Starship Titanic" may be a slight science-fiction novel, but one shouldn't expect Homer's "Odyssey" out of story based on about a paragraph of writing from Douglas Adams' renowned "Hitchhiker's Trilogy". Even if it lacks a deep story or meaningful characters, "Starship Titanic" still has many things going for it. For starters, it's a short book, clocking in at a reasonable 256 pages and it reads very fast. Second, it was written by former Monty Pythonite, Terry Jones (in the nude, no less, according to the introduction), which gives it such and absurd, off-the-wall effect that one cannot help but be amused and drawn in by this book.
The story of a wayward luxury spaceliner that finds itself (and a few unwelcome passengers) transported from its planetary system to the one that houses Earth. Some earthbound humans end up boarding the ship for the adventure and then try frantically to get the ship to take them back home when they realize it's leaving Earth. On top of that, saboteurs from the other planetary system have planted a super-deluxe bomb aboard to destroy the ship. The humans want to get back home, the designers of the ship want to prevent the bombing to save their economy, and everyone is trying to figure why they can't seem to get an upgrade to First Class even though they're the only people on the ship. It's unbelievable the level of absurdity that takes place in this book, but there is no doubting how much fun it is. There is a space battle against a species that tries fix everything it damaged after a battle even though they don't fire weapons that can do any damage; there's an intriguing sexual encounter between the Journalist from the other system and a human female in the desperate seconds before they think the bomb will destroy them all and the subsequent attempts by the Journalist to get that female to repeat the performance; and then there's the bomb, itself. Lacking a special memory crystal, the countdown for this bomb cannot by stopped. Yet, it seems possible to distract him from the countdown, causing him to lose his place and have to start over again.
Having yet to read Adam's "Hitchhiker's Trilogy" (now at five books), I cannot comment as to how this little tale fits into the overall arc of that story and how it meshes with his writing style. That being said, Jones' Pythonesque influence makes this one of the craziest books to come along in awhile and definitely worth reading.
Rating: 2
Summary: A few good skits, a lot of wasted space.
Comment: Based on a line from D.A.'s Hitchhiker's Guide, and the computer game spinoff. Terry Brooks, of Monty Python fame. About the Starship Titanic (surprise surprise!) which seems to undergo SMEF - Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure.
I'd gotten my hopes up before reading it, since it is a collaboration between two people whose humor I hold in very high esteem. But it just...fell flat. It's sort of amusing. But not. Several of the gags are ones which would make good skits (One of the characters reminds me of the skit where a couple goes to a marriage counselor, and the wife winds up hooking up with the counselor.) but horrible book premises. And Brooks seems to think that the funny name gag is just mega-hugely-HIGHlarious! Maybe if it was being read out loud or something - but if a name takes me a full minute to pronounce, I don't care how silly it is, I'm just going to skip it. While Adams' hand is obviously visible, it isn't enough to turn the trick. It's simply yawnworthy. Not hard to finish, but that's just because it's a quick read. Besides the lack of real humor, I think I hate some of the characters. I mean, the way that they're presented, it's obviously meant to make them comical - but they just come off as shallow, self-involved, manipulative. And I find myself asking the question - "Why do these people stay in these relationships?" He tries to save it in the end by explaining some of their actions - but it's too little, and far far too late. I should see signs of these emotional patterns long before page 230 of a 240 page book. While Adams might not make his characters mega-super-heroes, but he at least makes them generally sympathetic. Or understandable. 3/10
Rating: 1
Summary: an abomination
Comment: Get out of print already, "Starship Titanic". Your very existence is an insult.
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Title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Adams ISBN: 0671746723 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1991 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time by Douglas Adams ISBN: 1400045088 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 07 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Last Chance to See by Mark Carwardine, Douglas Adams, Mark Carwardine ISBN: 0345371984 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 13 October, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams ISBN: 0671742515 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 15 February, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams ISBN: 0345418778 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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