# Mechanical Failure

By Joe Zieja · Epic Failure Trilogy, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/mechanical-failure-c621b565/

R. Wilson Rogers returns to military service after his smuggling career goes wrong, hoping for the comfortable idleness he remembers. The service has changed: it now expects work, discipline and preparations for war. Getting his old life back means dealing with an organization as badly run as he is reluctant to serve it.

## What makes it funny?

Engineers get kitchen duty, and mistakes earn promotions. Rogers wants to avoid responsibility, but a military that keeps rewarding the wrong people makes that harder than it sounds.

### The comedy at work

The chain of command treats procedure as more important than what is actually happening. In the opening, officers demand that Rogers shut down engines that are already disabled; his evasions and their insistence keep the argument going past the point of usefulness.

### Try this if…

This is military science fiction for readers who enjoy watching authority embarrass itself. Rogers is a self-serving shirker, and the command structure gives him plenty of opportunities to expose poor leadership while pursuing his own comfort.

### Good to know

The opening includes profanity, drinking and an armed confrontation with pirates.

## What to expect

- Genre: Science fiction
- On the shelf: Space opera
- Kind of humor: Satire
- Story ingredients: Incompetent heroes
- Format: Novel
- Length: 352 pages
- Published: 2016

## A few distinguishing details

- A serviceman trying to restore military idleness
- Promotions awarded through mistakes
- Officers demanding the shutdown of disabled engines

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [Simon & Schuster Canada lists Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja as a 352-page trade paperback, ISBN 9781481459266.](https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/Mechanical-Failure/Joe-Zieja/Epic-Failure-Trilogy/9781481459266)
- Review: [SFBook review](https://sfbook.com/mechanical-failure.htm)
- Publisher: [Canadian publisher and excerpt](https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/Mechanical-Failure/Joe-Zieja/Epic-Failure-Trilogy/9781481459266)