Blackadder in Space!

I’ve just finished reading Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost. Published by the small press, Mermidon, this is fun debut novel that has the feel of Blackadder (the WWI setting), but is set in space (no kidding!). Smith is a well-meaning individual, but hopelessly incompetent. In this story he is sent on what looks like a simple ferrying mission to pick up a single passenger and take her to another world. Surrounded by his band of misfits (a homocidal alien who collects the heads of his enemies, an android pilot with a dubious past and a hamster called Gerald,) Smith bravely sets off into the void of space. Unfortunately nothing is as simple as it seems.

There is a fair amount of sexual innuendo in this book (it is written for the adult market). I would probably give it a 15 certificate if it were a film, but there is nothing so graphic that I would place an ‘adults only’ label on it. Space Captain Smith definitely gets the thumbs up. It is a light read, which is fun, but on reflection I would probably say it’s a book that men will find more funny than women. Some of the jokes are definitely boys’ toilet humour. I can see it gaining a cult following amongst adolescent males and those with an adolescent male mentality! I will definitely read the sequel - The God Emperor of Didcot - if only for the title! As I used to live just outside Didcot I look forwards to seeing what aspects of the place Toby Frost has translated into space.