On the HahaFiction shelf
Mechanical Failure
Epic Failure Trilogy · Book 1 · 2016
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.
From the publisher’s blurb
“With an experienced ear for military double-speak, Zieja has created a remarkable and sarcastic adventure.”Read the full description at Simon & Schuster, publisher description
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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.
A few distinguishing details
- A serviceman trying to restore military idleness
- Promotions awarded through mistakes
- Officers demanding the shutdown of disabled engines
More funny space opera
Sources & further reading
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