Willful Child: The Search for Spark

Willful Child, Book 3

By: Steven Erikson

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen series, continues his hilarious science fiction series - parodying and paying homage to exploring the final frontier - with Willful Child: The Search for Spark.

These are the adventures of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms.

We join the not terribly bright but exceedingly cocksure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through the infinite vastness of interstellar space.

Steven Erikson has taken his lifelong passion for Star Trek and transformed it into a smart, inventive, and hugely entertaining spoof on the whole overblown mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-high-tech-gadgets-along-the-way adventure. The result is a novel that deftly parodies the genre while also paying fond homage to it.

©2018 Steven Erikson. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Humorous and entertaining

this series is truly a great listen. if you are like me and listen at work, just remember to not bust out laughing because you will get concerned looks. great character setup, the performer has a good range of voices which he uses to perfection.

Hey, It's still Zapp Brannigan and GladOS

It’s the third book, so let’s get right to it; did you like the previous ones? If yes, then continue the series.

With this release, I feel that Steven Erikson has found his footing with the series. The first book was a little too misogynistic in the beginning for me to recommend it to any women. Thankfully, none of that is here. The second book was a bit preachy at times, but I still say that’s the point and not something to complain about. This too has been toned down. So yeah, this book, though a bit shallow is just pure entertainment while maintaining commentary on current events in a very tongue-in-cheek, self-aware manner.

Really, what I’m saying is that I really hope Erikson continues the series.

With the caveat of that first little bit in the first book being a little too slimy, I still whole-heartedly recommend this book to fans of humorous sci-fi, Star Trek, Futurama, and GladOS.

funny end to a hilarious series

This series plays with all my favorite sci-fi tropes, especially the ones from Star Trek. It made me laugh out loud several times. The story is kind of a mix of short stories (the characters even call them episodes) rather than one cohesive plot, which I think is funny but also keeps the story from becoming stale. It's pure ridiculousness, and fans of sci-fi who need a good laugh will love it.

Hilarious

There are moments in this book that will double you over in laughter. There is also heavy handed social, political and religious commentary.

Addition

Wonderful satire and I will leave you to find out the satire of what as it is more fun to find out as you read. Enjoy!