Random Access Memorabilia

Schlock Mercenary #13

by Howard Tayler

Genres: Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Humor, Space Opera, Webcomic

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Howard spent most of his happy childhood in Florida where he was on the swim team in grade school, and in a rock band in high school. He graduated in 1985 and moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University.

After two years there, he served two years as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), after which he returned to school at BYU and decided to move to Provo permanently after graduating and getting married.

He currently works full-time as a cartoonist, writing, drawing, and coloring Schlock Mercenary , as well as doing comics for assorted corporate clients.

He is married to author and editor Sandra Tayler.

See the author page on Schlock Mercenary website

Reviews

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for the 2013 Hugos

There are two ways to read Schlock Mercenary: read each strip daily as they're published, or wait until an entire story is done and read it in a big burst. I do both. Reading daily is a lot of fun, but the plot lines can be so complicated (and there can be so many of them) that I sometimes get lost or forget what's going on. On the other hand, reading in a big burst is really, really fun. The jokes are still funny, but it's a lot easier to follow the plot.

This is particular story is a really good one. The plot twists and turns in some very good, unexpected ways. There were at least 2 points where I thought "I can't believe that just happened". The ending resolves things, but leaves enough hanging that you have to wonder what's in the works for future stories.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I didn't expect to adore this one, but I do. It really ramped up gloriously and kinda blew my mind with its great uses of nanotech, AI, dark matter monsters, and silly amorphs who are too stupid to know they can't fly without a full kit. The pacing was fantastic and even got my heart pumping near the end even if this was supposed to be a humorous space opera comic. Great stuff!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I have lots of money I Will buy these books, instead of just reading them online. Then I can ease the eyestrain on reading for hours just to find out what happens next. These are great storytelling.

[Shannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a part of me that was hoping this book was going to end with “Dun Dun DUN!!!!!”, but I guess that loses some of its impact without the audio.

Anyway, there were bits of this storyline that didn’t seem to fit and were wrapped up too quickly and neatly for me, so I wonder if they’re going to be expanded on in future books. I didn’t see any of the plot twists coming (you can always count on Para to be unexpected) and the ending left me with quite a strong feeling of trepidation. Forget silliness and mercenary work - are they Toughs even safe right now?

Very little was actually resolved in this book, but a lot more conflict was opened up for the future. It makes me giggly with excitement!

[Sonya Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

got this in a scratch and dent sale. Not scratched, not dented but autographed! Our beloved characters have to deal with the fact that their memories of a previous adventure had been written over. Lots of bang bang shoot-em-up action.

[Barry Haworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts on a new direct for the Schlockiverse when the crew are called on to provide security on a team investigating a large, ancient artifact.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two things bumped this up from just an average book for me.
1) The author's ability to both engage and subvert the tropes of science fication.
2) It made me chuckle every few pages.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I read the webcomic every day and enjoy it, but these days I enjoy the collections even more. I find that when the plot is playing out over 6-12 months, I lose track of the details, and how all of it connects together. When I get the collections, and can zip through it in a couple of days, it all holds together more and I can appreciate the storytelling better. As usual, this is excellent, good story, good characters, good worldbuilding, good humor. If you aren't reading this webcomic, do yourself a favor and start.

[Yashima · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt like this book was full of flashbacks to introduce newbies to the story? Not quite as perfect as the other books ...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Just couldn't get into the story. Amorphous slug and space koala....