- Paperback: 365 pages
- Publisher: Fremantle Arts Centre Press; 1st edition (30 Aug 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 192073189X
- ISBN-13: 978-1920731892
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 342,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Hal Spacejock
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More About the Author
Product Description
Tom Holt, SF author
Fast, funny, quirky, enthralling comedy adventure; not just a genre parody but a well-made story in its own right.
Joules Taylor, SFCrowsnest reviewer
A laugh a page and dryly witty: this is a book to be enjoyed over and over again.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Concept/World
I loved the rustbucket spaceship, the Black Gull. The description of the food aboard the space station had me in fits.
Story
The story rockets along right from the start. Hal Spacejock leaves a trail of destruction everywhere he goes, with non-stop action all the way through.
Characters
I just loved the characters - Navcom, the spaceship computer with attitude, the brilliant and much put-upon Clunk and, of course, Hal Spacejock himself. Hal is hilariously stupid, doing whatever seems like a good idea at the time with no thought for consequences. He manages to survive far more by luck than judgement, and usually because he's saved at the last moment either by his ship's Navcom or by Clunk, his robot sidekick. The villains are convincingly unpleasant, greedy and ruthless.
Overall
I highlighted parts of this book that made me laugh out loud. By the end of the book I had 29 of them. The only other books I've read that made me laugh this much are Terry Pratchett's. This story does contain swearing so isn't suitable for younger readers. Simon Haynes is also writing a series for younger readers, though,"Hal Junior". I enjoyed Hal Spacejock so much that I bought a copy of that to review as well. I have also bought the next in the series to read just for fun. I'm a big fan of Red Dwarf so I'm not sure I'd agree with the blurb on the cover that says Hal Spacejock is better than Red Dwarf, but it's certainly up there alongside it.
I loved the rustbucket spaceship, the Black Gull. The description of the food aboard the space station had me in fits.
Story
The story rockets along right from the start. Hal Spacejock leaves a trail of destruction everywhere he goes, with non-stop action all the way through.
Characters
I just loved the characters - Navcom, the spaceship computer with attitude, the brilliant and much put-upon Clunk and, of course, Hal Spacejock himself. Hal is hilariously stupid, doing whatever seems like a good idea at the time with no thought for consequences. He manages to survive far more by luck than judgement, and usually because he's saved at the last moment either by his ship's Navcom or by Clunk, his robot sidekick. The villains are convincingly unpleasant, greedy and ruthless.
Overall
I highlighted parts of this book that made me laugh out loud. By the end of the book I had 29 of them. The only other books I've read that made me laugh this much are Terry Pratchett's. This story does contain swearing so isn't suitable for younger readers. Simon Haynes is also writing a series for younger readers, though,"Hal Junior". I enjoyed Hal Spacejock so much that I bought a copy of that to review as well. I have also bought the next in the series to read just for fun. I'm a big fan of Red Dwarf so I'm not sure I'd agree with the blurb on the cover that says Hal Spacejock is better than Red Dwarf, but it's certainly up there alongside it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Hal spacejock is sci-fi's answer to Mr Bean ,everything he does is a catastrophe but he always seems to comes out on top in the end.
Some really funny moments in this book and the characters are great. The story covers Hal's attempts as a down and out freelance freighter pilot struggling to stay above his debts. He meets a robot called clunk who seems able to get him into and out of even more trouble.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it kept a good pace all the way through the story,and gave some laugh out loud moments.
I will try the second in the series to see if the humour carries on but as the first is free at the moment its definitely worth a try.
Hope this helps
Some really funny moments in this book and the characters are great. The story covers Hal's attempts as a down and out freelance freighter pilot struggling to stay above his debts. He meets a robot called clunk who seems able to get him into and out of even more trouble.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it kept a good pace all the way through the story,and gave some laugh out loud moments.
I will try the second in the series to see if the humour carries on but as the first is free at the moment its definitely worth a try.
Hope this helps
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Can't believe I have had this in my reading pile for over five years. I picked in up in Oz back in June 2006 and it kind of buried itself in my pile of books.
It's not bad and the author does show potential. It took a while to get going, initially I was slightly underwhelmed but by the end I discovered I had grown more fond of Hal and Clunk then I was expecting.
It's slapstick space humour with a daft cago pilot and a sidekick robot that is slightly less daft. Here they try to transport a dodgy cargo in a ship that is barely spaceworthy and mayhem is the order of the day.
So it grows on you and it does have some very nice moments. Not Douglas Adams yet though.
It's not bad and the author does show potential. It took a while to get going, initially I was slightly underwhelmed but by the end I discovered I had grown more fond of Hal and Clunk then I was expecting.
It's slapstick space humour with a daft cago pilot and a sidekick robot that is slightly less daft. Here they try to transport a dodgy cargo in a ship that is barely spaceworthy and mayhem is the order of the day.
So it grows on you and it does have some very nice moments. Not Douglas Adams yet though.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the funniest books I've read
Admittedly the title put me off, not a fan of the title at all and the comparisons to Pratchett put me off since I've struggled to get into the Discworld books but, as it was free... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Josh Turner
Enjoyable book
I found this book to be an enjoyable read, it was easy to follow and was well written. It had a good sense of humour throughout and is one i would definitely recommend to others. Read more
Published 20 days ago by hippy
A great light hearted ready!
Great book, i've already started ready book two! Set in space but not a sci fi story it tells all about Hal & his robot as he stumbles his way through life. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Kris
Hal
The book was a easy read at the end of the day,it does go off plot a little and things like the Volent ship had crash
landed but the two droids had managed to reverse a truck... Read more
landed but the two droids had managed to reverse a truck... Read more
Published 1 month ago by crbuk
Highly Enjoyable Sci-Fi Romp
This is a highly enjoyable sci-fi romp, a kind of written-word crossover of Red Dwarf and Spaceballs. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Craig P. Kelly
Great Fun
This was a fun and action packed story. Great characters and can't wait to read more in the series. Not a boring moment.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. S. J. John
Space comedy
Hal SpaceJock - broke, dangerously incompetent and about to have his ship repossessed.
Hal takes on a dangerous cargo job and Clunk an obsolete but competent robotic... Read more
Hal takes on a dangerous cargo job and Clunk an obsolete but competent robotic... Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. J. Ketchin
It passed the time
It was reasonably entertaining but derivative - I'm not calling plagiarism here but will settle for 'heavily influenced by' instead. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. J. Powell
Aussie humour (with a touch of SF)
Hal Spacejock is down on his luck; no money and a rocket that is falling apart. Add to that, a debt collector who won't quit until he gets paid and as Hal has no job or way to pay... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mole
Typical Aussie
I wasn't sure at first, the humour was awful, but as soon as he said "Chook" I thought... Ahh Oz... and it all made sense. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rainsbury
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