I was not prepared for this book… It should come with a warning label… maybe even 10 warning labels. I laughed so hard, so many times, that I practically drained an inhaler because I couldn’t breathe. As best as I can figure, this book is basically the result of throwing Fortnight, Sgt Bilko, Independence Day, and an Andrew Dice Clay stand-up routine into a blender on puree. The dialogue is a riot, the plot is beyond insane, and the jokes… dear god, the jokes! I can’t count the number of times my wife/kids/dogs looked at me incredulously as I belted out laughing while listening to this book with headphones (which you DEFINITELY need if young ears are about, lest you deal with an unending stream of “what does that mean?”).
From a technical story standpoint, Space Force can feel like a bit jumbled morass of really funny and/or ridiculous ideas (the book actually pokes fun at itself for this several times). The perspective switching from the two main characters sometimes gets in the way of the progression of the story and can be confusing to come back to certain plot points in subsequent chapters. SOMETIMES this works well as a vehicle for driving tension in the book; but more often than not, it feels jarring in a bad way. In either case, you’ll be laughing so hard, you won’t really care anyway.
The narration, on the whole, was well-presented. Jeffrey Kafer did a fantastic job with Stone and Emily Woo Zeller was a great Hale. I’m not sure I liked the way each narrator did the whole chapter for their assigned character though. I feel like they should have done all of the lines their character’s said, as opposed to just the ones in their assigned chapters. It just took me out of the story a bit each time the perspective and narrator shifted and they delivered the other person’s lines.
On the whole, 100% worth-while listen if you’re in need of some levity in your life. The jokes may often be crude and/or juvenile, but that’s what makes it fun! Definitely will be on my recommend-to-friends list for years to come!
**Note: I asked for and received a promotional copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review**