Xenotech Rising

Xenotech Support #1

by Dave Schroeder

Fifteen years after Earth joins the Galactic Free Trade Association the planet is flooded with alien technology. Somebody has to support all the new galactic tech and Jack Buckston, President, CEO and sole employee of Xenotech Support Corporation, does his best to keep his clients happy, find true love and prevent interstellar war. Galactic technology has cured cancer, solved the energy crisis, and eliminated global warming--but what do the aliens want from us? They can't get enough Congressional subcommittee broadcasts--they consider them reality comedies! Xenotech Rising is a light-hearted romp and the first book in the Xenotech Support / Galactic Free Trade Association series.

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2015

About the author

Dave Schroeder (SHRAY-der) is a former Chief Information Officer who's done his share of tech support. He's served as Chief Technology Officer for a Bay Area dotcom and led the ecommerce division of a major Internet consulting company. He also wrote the book, music and lyrics for Softwear.com, a musical comedy produced off-off-Broadway. Dave lives in suburban Atlanta where he enjoys writing and voice acting with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company.

Reviews

[David Rutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an incredible value and I'm eager to see where the series goes with it.

Pros:
-A silly lighthearted SF adventure
-Truly feels like it's set 20 years into the future
-A paean to early 21st Century Atlanta. Feels like home.
-Not shy about making Geek Culture references, even if they end up dating it. (Indeed, the book is already showing its age, featuring an entire scene at a restaurant that no longer exists at that location, but who cares?)
-The author's tech support background really shines in some of the book's most humorous moments.
-The futuristic tech is handled in a believable, integrated fashion (even when it is obviously impossible).

Cons:
-The heroes seem a bit too Marty Stu/Mary Sue-ish. They are far too capable and perfect for explanation, and you never really feel like they are truly in danger. I like to see the protagonist truly suffer. (Be honest--who doesn't?)
-The hero also frequently suffers from frequently holding the Idiot Ball, which would be great (no one's perfect) if anything bad ever came as a result of it. But he always gets away with it...
-Crises don't come often enough. Sometimes, we go for several pages of fluff before something thrilling kicks off, which is long enough that the tension falls off.
-It sometimes tries too hard to be "hard", so there are occasional moments of fridge logic where you are forced to step back and say "that doesn't make any physical sense at all!" I'd like to see a bit more lampshade hanging with respect to the impossible tech and circumstances.

But these minor flaws in no great way discourage me from selling out the next in the series. Thanks, Dave, for the fun and fascinating read!

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The funny thing about this book --

OK, this book is very funny on the whole. So the irony of saying, 'the funny thing about this book' when the whole book is funny is . . . well, funny.

And it is funny. It has puns. Low-brow humor. High-brow humor. Humor that makes you raise just ONE brow. It's got action. It has romance, but not the 'heaving breasts and manly chests' type.

It is science fiction with a full load of tropes you'll recognize. If you're from/living in Atlanta (no one is actually 'from' Atlanta), you'll have fun identifying all the landmarks Dave includes in the novel that make the city an integral part of the story. It has aliens, advanced technology, and futuristic extrapolations of what Earth would look like after first contact.

It is also urban . . . I was going to say 'Urban Fantasy,' but that typically involves vampires (see 'heaving breasts and manly chests' above) and werewolves and, on occasion, sparkling. Maybe it deserves to be called 'Urban Science Fiction.' Is that a genre? WELL IT IS NOW.

The main characters, Jack and Poly, remind me a bit of the Nick and Nora Charles duo from the old Thin Man series. It would not surprise me in the least to find out that was intentional on Dave's part. Witty repartee abounds, and they are intellectually and physically matched.

It's a fun romp, and you'll turn the pages and end up reading way more than you intended to read and maybe forget to pick the kids up after soccer or burn dinner. They'll get over it, eventually. If not, hand 'em this book and they'll understand.

Oh, and the thing I was going to say at the beginning? The 'funny thing' about this novel? It has a driving, fast-paced plot, memorable characters, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it . . . and yet the main character, Jack, never really fails at anything. His plans succeed as planned. Little goes wrong that he wasn't expecting (some things do, granted).

Normally, I would ding a book for being boring for having the main character always succeed.

But the funny thing about this book? I didn't even really notice or care. It was just fun to read. And not at all boring.

(Disclaimer: I was one of the early alpha readers of the first 2/3 of the novel, as Dave is in the same writing group as me. That doesn't change the review by a single word.)

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to say I read everything, so I try to read at least one sci-fi a year, just to keep myself honest. 2016 will be the exception, now that I have finished Xenotech Rising, as I look forward to reading the others in the series. The best thing about putting off the start of a series is that I won't have wait a long time between new books.

This is a very funny book about a tech support guy living in Atlanta sometime in the distant future. Schroeder has created worlds of various aliens, who seem to manage to live well in Earth's atmosphere. (How do they do that Dave?) I think that if I were a sci-fi buff I would find it even funnier. I read a review where the hero Jack was criticized for being too good. Well, I love him, Poly, the adorable Therri, Lieutenant Lee, and all the others just the way they are.

And I am now hungry for a Fellini's pizza and/or some fruit flavored cheeto thingys.

[William Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Echoes of RAH

A very capable young man deals with various corporate mistakes as he supports small and large businesses that are trying to integrate human ideas with alien technology. He meets a beautiful, smart woman and they start dating. Meanwhile, an oligarch tries to take over the galaxy. And the SF references get blasted forth.

Good copy editing. Quick pace. If you like your SF mildly heroic with a dose of humor, this is a good one. I will pre-order the next book (the best compliment to give...money).

[Amie Ravenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci-fi isn't my normal genre, but this was a joy to read! Funny and exciting, and filled with enough geeky, corny jokes to satisfy. I can't wait for the next one to come out. :-)

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun and punny. There are pink elephants. (Not exactly). If you enjoy Douglas Adams, you will probably get a kick out of this. I'm ready for the next in the series

[beentsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced, lots of fun. A romp really.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I met the author at a local convention, and he sold me on the book (both literally and figuratively). I'm a sucker for humorous SF, so I thought I'd give it a try. This isn't quite at the level of Douglas Adams, but it's a lot of fun nonetheless. There are a lot of puns, which I find amusing but which may not amuse everyone equally. There's something funny about the idea of tech support for alien technology. There's even a nice message about openness and respect for people of all types and planets of origin. I love the aliens and the galactic civilization. I hope to learn more about all that in future books.

While I enjoyed the book overall, there are a few criticisms. The prose is smooth for the most part, but it's not Shakespeare (not that Schroeder is aiming for that, although he does manage a few Shakespeare and other smart references from time to time). Occasionally the book dragged a bit in the middle, especially with descriptions of things like the protagonist, Jack, cleaning his apartment or being stuck in traffic (although being stuck in traffic is an existential condition in the Atlanta metro area). The relationship between Jack and Poly is almost hard to believe, but then this is a book that features pea-sized inter dimensional beings and elephant-sized six-legged aliens so it seems silly to complain much about that.

I was in the middle of reading a decent, yet dismal space opera (Dark Intelligence). I'll probably get back to that book later, but putting it down and picking up a fun book like this was good for my sanity.

[William Ritch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun light adventure novel. Our hero is in tech support - but more like a Retief-level tech support and not some slub at a call center.

A fast read and a good start.

Quibbles: I wanted the hero to have some flaws. He's just too damn nice.

[Jim Corbett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as funny as I was led to believe. It took me about 20% of the book to finally understand where the story was going. But after that I really enjoyed it.

[Don Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining with a decent plot and good humor.

[Melinda QV · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.

Not a polished work, too much descriptive background delivered with a heavy hand. Some fun ideas and cultures. Characters are fairly one dimensional and the love interest is boringly saccharine.

[Jim Heivilin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aliens? You bet

A fun hearted romp about a tech support guy who gets into a spot of trouble. And another. And then more than a spot.

[Chris Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun!
I did enjoy the crazy ride, Dave Schroeder. Time to get the others soon.
Do you like IT? Do you like Aliens? Do you like intrigue? If yes to any this is a book for you.

[Stacey Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern day Piers Anthony

What a fun and exciting read! Felt like a Piers Anthony novel but with a future technology feel. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

[Lukas Lovas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun and quite humorous. I've enjoyed this much more than I expected I would :)

[Judy]

Really fun book! Lots of action, fun characters and serious characters. The author did a good job of tidying up loose ends of the story. Enjoyed it start to finish.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[H.P. Holo · Rating 4 out of 5]

If The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets The Office is a phrase that makes you want to fling all your money at whatever inspired it--well, grab your wallet.

In Dave Schroeder’s Xenotech Rising (Xenotech Support #1), first contact has been made in the form of aliens teleporting straight into the office of JP Morgan Chase and offering Earth a space in the Galactic Free Trade Association. Now, fifteen years later, Earth is bonkers with hyper-advanced alien technology, and when that tech breaks (or, more likely, when the user does something stupid to it), someone’s gotta fix it.

Enter Jack Buckston. As the head of Xenotech Support Corporation, he’s the guy to call when alien tech goes weird. Little does he know that what starts as a simple fix-it might tangle him in a plot that threatens Earth’s new place in the universe…

Okay, there are two things you need to know about this book going in: 1) Xenotech Rising is a sci-fi comedy, and 2) a lot of that comedy hinges on puns, dad joke humor, and geek references. Jack’s very first job in the book involves fixing an issue with “rabbot” lawn mowers that are replicating like rabbits at an organization called Widget Tech & Fabrication (or, WT&F). If that alone made you groan, you can put your wallet away now and go read something about taxes or whatever it is humorless pun-haters like to read about. Meanwhile those of us who thrive on silly wordplay will find a smorgasbord of nourishment here.

Even so, there’s more to the humor than puns. Xenotech’s is a setting in which one of Earth’s biggest exports is government session broadcasts repackaged as reality TV shows, and they’re so profitable that the most...erm...entertaining congresses have added extra chambers and extended sessions to maximize their on-screen time and profits. And even though Delta American Air-Space is first introduced as “the D’Am Company,” that introduction is immediately followed by a look at how airline travel even managed to remain A Thing in a universe where teleportation is also A Thing--and it all comes down to economics. Though it’s certainly a source of humor, the galactic economy is an elaborately imagined and genuinely intelligent part of this world.

Of course, with alien tech comes alien civilization, and the aliens in this novel are equally imaginative. They range from the Murm, which are tiny intelligent beetles with even tinier wormholes in their heads that allow their hivemind to communicate across galaxies (whew!), to the Dauushans, which are six-legged elephantine centaurs with three trunks that have three more trunks, which grant them the mobility they need to be one of the most high tech civilizations in the setting, despite their clumsy bulk (whewwww!). These don’t even scratch the tip of the iceberg as Xenotech’s alien races are concerned, and the unique characteristics of these races often shape the story in such a way that they’re inseparable from it.

The cast of characters is infinitely likeable, too. Jack is a regular guy who just wants to finish his jobs without some idiot getting in the way (so, relatable for anyone who works with the public). He’s also a perfect, if awkward gentleman to Poly, his tech- and disaster-savvy maybe-hopefully-girlfriend. Most notable to me, though, is Terrhi, a young Dauushan who, despite being one of the least human-looking and potentially least relatable of the alien species, ends up being one of the single most adorable characters I’ve ever read--and plays more of a role in the story than one would initially expect.

Most criticism that I have comes down to personal taste:

Its opening is slow-paced enough that it took several chapters for me to realize where the story was even going--but once the threads began to come together, I realized that everything had actually been set up from the very first chapter, which made the eventual “Aha!” moment that much more fun. Similarly, part of the climax goes long and seems to amount to “Well, it would be a waste to have an immersive virtual reality company in this book and not have an extended virtual reality video game battle, so...here’s some of that.” Still, even though it doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the plot, it’s still fun to read (even if some of its puns are shoehorned in way too hard, even for a book defined by puns).

The closest thing I have to a real complaint is that Poly’s insistent romantic advances on Jack become a little tiring. On the one hand, it’s refreshing to read a relationship in which the woman is the initiator. On the other, there was more than one scene in which I went, “Dang girl, he said no! How much clearer can he be?” It’s played mostly for humor, though, to accentuate the gentleman that Jack is, and ultimately the positives in their relationship outweigh this one small negative.

All this to say, if you’re in the mood for self-consciously dorky humor and unexpectedly complex sci-fi comedy, you’d do well to pick up Xenotech Rising.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the future, and everything is wonderful. This book is a series of nice things happening, generally as a result of friendly aliens. Not a bad book, exactly, but it felt really improbable in places.

[Cs Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED it. Fresh, entertaining, and very satisfying read.