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Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 16 May 2018, 12:27
by desantismt_17
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Geeks Conquer the Universe" by Keith Mackie.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Galaxy Quest meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in The Geeks Conquer the Universe by Keith Mackie, a satirical romp through science fiction land.

Kevin Macleod of Earth is the author of the popular online novel Space Rangers of Galaxy 4. Unbeknownst to him, however, the galactic empire of another universe has discovered the book and realized it bears a striking resemblance to the empire’s conflict with opposing forces. Convinced this Kevin is a spy, the empire dispatches agents to bring him into custody.

And so, Kevin, along with his geek buddies Craig and Alan, are abducted by aliens. The farther along they get in their abduction, the more Kevin and his friends realize how much everything resembles Kevin’s book. It turns out they were somehow transported to an alternate universe where Space Rangers of Galaxy 4 is reality. As familiar with science fiction as the three friends are, they know the only way to get home is to finish living the book. Can they get to the end without running into too many flat characters or bad plot devices?

When I picked this book up to review, the description read “It is written by a science fiction geek for other science fiction geeks.” Truer words were never spoken. The Geeks Conquer the Universe is awash in references and in-depth discussions of Star Wars, Star Trek, Battle Star Galactica, Blake’s 7, Dune, and many other science fiction stories. As someone with a working knowledge of science fiction tropes, I was able to follow the references and discussions, smiling or chuckling at ones I’m more familiar with. However, I don’t feel the same would be true for someone without at least a vague familiarity with science fiction. Kevin and his friends spend a good chunk of the book comparing the events to this movie or that TV show. While fans of the referenced stories might find this endearing, those who know little to nothing about them would be lost. I am unfamiliar with Blake’s 7, for example, and only my basic knowledge of how science fiction works allowed me to understand the parts of this book drawn from this show.

Mackie’s portrayal of the “geek guy” had me torn. At times, Kevin, Craig, and Alan reminded me fondly of my guy friends from college and their good-natured debates about their latest fandom interest. I was a bit disturbed at Mackie’s lack of female characters, though. I, as well as some of my other female friends, often joined the guys in their pursuit of fandom understanding. The only female character of note in The Geeks Conquer the Universe is Princess Zarona, who exists to fulfill the geeky guy’s fantasy of the hot alien princess. At this point, the guys started to feel more like caricatures than characters. Kevin and his friends are aching stereotypes of the (often fictional) geek guy who goes to a bar and talks about Star Trek with his buddies and then, unsurprisingly, is incapable of picking up a woman. So, instead, he dreams about his Zarona equivalent. I suppose this depiction is humorously accurate in a way, but it fell flat for me. As a woman who can quote several passages from the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio show from memory, I would have liked a couple of girls to be in on the debating action and for women to be shown as more than unattainable sex symbols.

The satirical side of this book was done well and very amusing. At the beginning, we meet Emperor Theosus Pindar Brotus Thar Dax Ottomire the Third (or Theo to his friends), who leaves all the work of running the empire to his prime minister, as Theo hates the job. Later, we are introduced to the three intelligence branches of the galactic empire (external, internal, and military) and how the three are more interested in keeping the other two from getting anything done than actually getting anything done, themselves. We also find out that the galactic empire is a misnomer. There are, in fact, several galactic empires that each lord over a different percentage of the universe. They are all at war, trying to establish themselves as the true galactic empire. Like many of Earth’s governments, the universe in Mackie’s book suffers from a bad case of dysfunctional politics. I was pulled right into the satire, except for the very few times where the universe was outright said to be just like Earth’s dysfunction. Otherwise, the subtlety outside those moments was fantastic.

There were a couple of other things that weakened this book a bit for me. First, we are constantly reminded we’re in a universe based on Kevin’s book. Once this was established, I kind of thought Kevin might think in the words he actually wrote. If Kevin remembered his descriptions when something occurred and then compared or contrasted the words to the experience, that would have added a neat layer to the story. It also would have been a creative way to keep up the notion that we’re in his book. There’s also a tremendous amount of cursing from both humans and aliens. Many books I’ve read with a cast of male geek characters employ a lot of cursing. Maybe I wasn’t in the right geek crowd in college, but my friends didn’t drop the f-bomb anywhere near as frequently as these characters do. Since this language is common in geek books, it must stem from somewhere, but all it does for me is weaken the dialogue and characters. A few well-placed swears is okay, but when it’s used with great liberty, the language loses its effect.

This was a tough decision, but I rate The Geeks Conquer the Universe 2 out of 4 stars. The satire and interesting plot twists keep me from rating this book 1 star, but after a while, the plot twists started to feel a bit contrived. This combined with a host of errors lowers my rating from 3 stars. Missing and misspelled words, as well as typos, persisted throughout the book, giving the whole thing a sloppy feel. The geek-talk appeals to me on some level, but there’s just too much of it. Thus, this book’s readership is severely limited. If you aren’t a die-hard science fiction fan who knows either your fandoms or tropes like the back of your laser-wielding hand, this book probably won’t be of interest. Even if you do fall into that category, this book seems geared very much toward guys. The book’s description says this is a mash-up, and that’s not a lie. For me, it leaned too heavily on other science fiction stories to really stand on its own. If that’s what you’re looking for, though, this will not disappoint.

******
The Geeks Conquer the Universe
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Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 17 May 2018, 07:10
by Samantha Simoneau
After the first 2 paragraphs of your review, I was ready to read this book. What a great premise! After finishing your review, I've changed my mind. Thank you for the warnings about the "contrived" plot twists, the absence of female Earthlings, and the f-bombs. Great review!

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 17 May 2018, 08:07
by Ginnamassa19
Aww. This seemed like such an interesting book--I love books and other media that deal with meta, but it's such a pity about the lack of female representation (ugh) and the heavy leaning on other scifi books! (Books should be able to stand on their own--while a few references would have been the well-placed literary equivalent of finger-guns, I agree that too many might have been overkill.)

Thank you for writing this review--it was informative and really helpful! :)

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 17 May 2018, 08:46
by kandscreeley
This definitely reminds me of other satires in the science fiction world - namely Space Balls. It sounds humorous and it does have a good premise, but with the drawbacks, I don't think I would enjoy it. Thanks, though.

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 17 May 2018, 09:05
by gen_g
Thank you for the wonderful review! It is indeed a pity that the book had no female representation - even more problematic that the only female present is the ideal male fantasy. The discussions of various science fiction novels a great idea notwithstanding, it seems that the author might have let his inner scifi geek go without appropriate tempering - it probably ended up more as a homage to his favourite genre instead of being his own novel. However, it does seem like once the book has gone through professional editing, it would read much better.

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 17 May 2018, 10:18
by Jackie Holycross
I love Galaxy Quest. This might be worth reading.

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 18 May 2018, 07:04
by Laura Ungureanu
Wow. What are the chances of writing something that actually happened in another galaxy? I would like to see how a situation like this is handled.

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 18 May 2018, 10:40
by Sanju Lali
Thanks for eyeopening review regarding grammatical errors which really make it little longer to read. Further more your sentence "plot twists started to feel a bit contrived" further gives a feel that it could be hard to read. Hope author reads review and improve upon it

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 18 May 2018, 21:32
by maggiechap
I'm not a sci-fi geek persay, but this book sounds amazing despite the errors. I think I would still like to read it to give it a shot anyway because I love the idea of the plot!

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 18 May 2018, 22:25
by jessicawallace6
This really does sound like an interesting idea at the start, but the presence of only one female character does, like many of the previous commenters, turn me off. Thanks for letting us know about it, though!

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 20 May 2018, 11:42
by NL Hartje
desantismt_17 wrote: 16 May 2018, 12:27 Kevin Macleod of Earth is the author of the popular online novel Space Rangers of Galaxy 4. Unbeknownst to him, however, the galactic empire of another universe has discovered the book and realized it bears a striking resemblance to the empire’s conflict with opposing forces. Convinced this Kevin is a spy, the empire dispatches agents to bring him into custody.
Heh, the premise for this book seems perfectly sci-fi slapstick. It feels Monte Python and Bill and Ted reminiscent. Thanks for outlining the cute comedy in your review.

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 20 May 2018, 16:26
by kdstrack
Geek talk and misspellings - think I'll fly by this one!

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 09 Jun 2018, 11:18
by sojimoh1
Thank you for this brilliant review, I can feel the same feelings Kelvine and his friends felt when they noticed how everything they have seen resembles Kelvine's book.

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 11:15
by Mary WhiteFace
It sounds like a science fiction comedy. Might just be the perfect thing for a light-hearted read after a hard day. I understand your reasoning for the 2 star rating, but just maybe for a not-too-serious personal investment... it might be ok. I tend to occasionally become Really absorbed in a story. :hand: :techie-studyinggray: LOL

Having been forewarned by your in-depth review, the issues you mention hopefully won't bother me as much as they normally would. I need to read it soon tho, so I don't forget what you said...lol

I will place this at my #1 position on my WantToRead shelf. That way it won't get lost in the shuffle. :doh:

Thank you

Re: Official Review: The Geeks Conquer the Universe

Posted: 25 Jun 2018, 01:40
by bclayton13
You make great points, I definitely wish this one had a geek girl or two. Still, it sounds pretty great and I'll give it a try.