[Review] Will Save the Galaxy For Food by Yahtzee Croshaw

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Jacques McKeown #1

Release Date: 14 February, 2017

Publisher: Dark Horse Books

Genre: Space Opera/Science Fiction/Parody

ISBN: 9781506701653

Edition: Paperback (available in eBook, and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 6 August, 2020
Warnings: Death, Violence, Sexual Tension

Summary:  

A not-quite epic science fiction adventure about a down-on-his luck galactic pilot caught in a cross-galaxy struggle for survival! Space travel just isn't what it used to be. With the invention of Quantum Teleportation, space heroes aren't needed anymore. When one particularly unlucky ex-adventurer masquerades as famous pilot and hate figure Jacques McKeown, he's sucked into an ever-deepening corporate and political intrigue. Between space pirates, adorable deadly creatures, and a missing fortune in royalties, saving the universe was never this difficult!

See more by Yahtzee Croshaw at his website.

This is, once again, a book I picked up for the Charlotte Sci-Fi Book Club. After skipping the last couple of months (things came up, even during a pandemic), I finally managed to rejoin the book club for the August meeting.

Will Save the Galaxy For Food is a lovely parody of the normal space opera genera. This book's tongue-in-cheek over-the-top trope was a refreshing read after some of the heavier novels earlier this year. Our protagonist (never actually named beyond Jacques McKeown) is an out of work space-pilot who is rather down on his luck. Ever since quantumtunneling has become a thing, people like him are completely out of a job. That is, of course, if they can't grab a few tourists to pay the bills.

Sadly, our leading man is not as good at tourist jobs given that his ship's com stays on when he tries to converse with space pirates and ends up getting himself sued. That means a lovely court-date not too far in his future... or it would have been had he not been grabbed by a secretary trying to save her own ass. Now, our hero is going to be masquerading as Jacques McKeown, sellout of the space pilots who steals from others to write his books.

Also thrown in are Daniel, the mob-boss's son, and Jemima, the daughter of the president of earth (the last known power on earth). When things go awry, the unlikely crew has to fight space pirates, finding an amusement park version of the battle on the planet the narrator saved in the golden age, and just a twisted plot, this book threw me for a loop but also gave me a number of laughs.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good parody of a space opera.