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Smallworld: A Science Fiction Adventure Comedy
 
 
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Smallworld: A Science Fiction Adventure Comedy [Kindle Edition]

Dominic Green (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
Kindle Price: £0.00 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

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Product Description

Product Description

"A showcase for Green's bone-dry satire and deadpan humour ... Green's agile imagination constantly wrong-foots the reader. A delight."
-Peter Ingham, The Telegraph

"The work of a talented writer having lots of very smart fun"
-- S F Winser, Booksquawk.com

Smallworld is like nothing you've ever read before... truly innovative speculative fiction from Hugo-nominated Brit SF writer Dominic Green.

Mount Ararat isn't your average extrasolar agrarian colony. A world the size of an asteroid yet having Earth-standard gravity, Mount Ararat plays host to a strangely confident family whose children are protected by the Devil, a mechanical killing machine, from such passers-by as Mr von Trapp (an escapee from a penal colony), the Made (manufactured humans being hunted by the State), and the super-rich clients of a gravitational health spa established at Mount Ararat's South Pole. But it soon transpires that the Devil is harbouring an ancient and deadly secret.

Enjoyed Smallworld? Its sequel Littlestar hugely expands on the universe established in the first book, with an astounding story arc that follows troopers Beguiled-of-the-Serpent and Only-Begotten as they become embroiled in the second star-spanning war against the Made.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 451 KB
  • Print Length: 308 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Fingerpress Ltd; 2 edition (17 Dec 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004GNFMLO
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,214 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars darkly funny intro to a space opera series 17 Feb 2012
By D. J. Ketchin
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Science fiction with an absurdist slant.

A 20 mile across asteroid with a collapsium core.
Home to a failed colony of religious emigres, a mad hermit the devil and a few goats.

The book starts with the early chapters each reading as a short story - each with its own absurd set up and conclusion. the early chapters are a joy and it reads more as a collection of short stories than as a novel. Each substory is very well set up and grows the setting and the characters - revealing another layer of the world outside of the planetoid.
Theres a lot of dark humor in the early chapters. The style shifts in the latter half of the book to a less humorous vein and the episodic nature of writing disappears and the book settles down into what appears to be the introduction to a standard space opera. By this point most of the characters have evolved far from the charming and funny facades we were initially introduced to. To some extent the charm of the early book is lost, though it has served to introduce us to the authors universe where the rest of the story will play out.

Its a good read - particulary the first half of the book is very entertaining. And its a very amusing conceit to start an epic space opera and stick to such a limited setting for the first book. The last half of the book changes the tone and is slightly less satisfying as the conclusion is a lead in to a series rather than a nicely rounded finish to the book.

Entertaining with a twisted sense of black humor.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Fine book - but not really comedic! 11 Feb 2012
By Morgan Murray
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was browsing for something light to read for a long plane journey and this book was marked as humourous and it was free, so I downloaded it. I got about 2/3 of the way through and I'm a bit confused. It's the story of an isolated family that live on an artificial asteroid in some far-flung future. The narrative follows the family as they get into various scrapes with the government, pirates and other passers-by. The writing is sharp enough and the book is wroth reading, but it's not funny as such; it reads like an absurdist sci-fi version of Little House on the Praire. There are few jokes and no laugh-out-loud moments - the humour comes instead from the way that the characters react to the absurd events. The style of humour is similar to Tom Holt's, but the characters aren't as likeable or sympathetic as the characters in Holt's The Portable Door series. I like the book well enough, but I probably won't reread it after I'm finished.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Slow start, but enjoyable SF 22 Feb 2012
By Mole TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The story is set on a small asteroid. However, it is made of two parts and contains a gravity source in the centre that keeps an atmosphere in place and allows people to move around on the surface. It's inhabited by a group of religious fundamentalists trying to farm the land as well as a hermit, and details their interaction with outsiders.

At times the story can be quite funny, in a rather dark way, although it can also be a bit surreal. It holds a mirror up to some of the absurdities of the modern world, then makes them seem quite normal; rather in the manner of Jonathon Swift but set in the future. It's not a book that takes itself too seriously, although it does have some interesting and somewhat serious points to make.

I found it a really interesting read, and one that could appeal to a wide range of people. The Kindle version does have a few slightly annoying paragraph and page break issues, but I won't be too harsh on that as the book was free. I would certainly want to see if there are any more by this author.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars very funny 17 Feb 2012
By Rainbird
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved this book. The humour is subtle with lots of sci-fi and media references which made me want to read bits to my partner. It is episodic which makes it an easy read but does tail off a bit in the last chapter when it gets a bit darker. Well worth the money. I bought the sequel too. Why not.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Witty SciFi 18 Jun 2013
By Dave Henniker
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The notion of a tiny planet but with Earth-normal gravity does appeal, especially when populated by a large family who farm its land. Although simple farmer folk, they're wise to the ways of dubious visitors who want to exploit the planet's resources. Very enjoyable novel.
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4.0 out of 5 stars love it 16 Jun 2013
By Jonathan Hind
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
i love science fiction and am really enjoying this greatly and cant wait to see what happens in the next part much better than star trek lol
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4.0 out of 5 stars Different! 23 Mar 2013
By Chenmunka
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Follow the fortunes of a family living on a small planetoid orbiting a red giant star.
The series of adventures studies the effects of such an environment on life and is logically thought out, with none of the jarring contradictions that you find in inferior works.

The chapters are episodic, as though the intention is that each chapter becomes a 1-hour television episode.
A number of characters arrive and leave, at times I was reminded of the Planet of the Clangers.

The writings style is light-hearted and jokey, which takes a moment to get used to. To me it grated a bit from time to time, hence a loss of a star.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A good read 20 Mar 2013
By Deborah Pearson
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
A collection of stories a about an off world family, a mechanical devil and a miscreant uncle protector. Thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A bit out of this world
Kept me interested, but I think there are some things that I did not get on the first reading. I think I need to read again.
Published 3 months ago by Michael Samuel PEAK
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good in parts
This is a very ambitious story and in places it is really very good, in a few places you really wish you had taken notes earlier, it is that complicated. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr Michael J Oates
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read.
Funny, quirky and well written. Reads a bit like Douglas Adams in places. Worth a read even if you aren't into sci-fi. Enjoy.
Published 5 months ago by col's
3.0 out of 5 stars Had potential but didn't deliver for me.
An intriguing concept of family life on very small 'planet' sometime in the future, with very different trials and tribulations of pioneers. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Colin Woodbridge
5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun story
I really enjoyed this book. While it certainly is a comedy, it nevertheless managed to come across as believable (as far as SF can), and its approach to religion in particular was... Read more
Published 6 months ago by F2Andy
3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't find it funny
A number of the reviews say this book is funny or humourous but I just didn't get it. Sure I can see where he was attempting to be funny but I just didn't actually find it... Read more
Published 7 months ago by P. Hannam
4.0 out of 5 stars Good light hearted sci fi
I tend to stick to the classics (Asimov ect) or 'hard' sci fi (Alastair Reynolds ect) and find it difficult to find new authors I enjoy but I've really enjoyed this book and would... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Bluecows
1.0 out of 5 stars Utter garbage
I started reading this book and thought to myself "what a load of crap", but I continued to read, thinking it had to get better.
It didn't!!!!!!
Published 8 months ago by Mr. P. A. Hancock
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved It
My first Kindle download and really loved it. Wry and darkly funny. Found the end odd though, it just sort of stopped. Off to buy the follow up Small Star now though
Published 8 months ago by Brewer47
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“Potatoes and milk, the diet of peasants. Peasants eat better than kings, as a rule; their survival strategy is to outbreed the aristocracy, and you can’t breed if you’re not healthy. The only thing better than potatoes and milk is good solid meat, &quote;
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