The Yanthus Prime Job: A Pepper Melange Novella

Rex Nihilo #0.3

by Robert Kroese

Pepper Melange, a bartender on the backwater planet Yanthus Prime, has sworn she'd never go back to her life of crime. But when she finds herself in debt to the Ursa Minor Mafia, she decides to bet everything on one more score: the theft of the Emerald of Sobalt Prime, the most valuable gem in the galaxy. To pull off the heist, Pepper has to recruit some very unusual allies--as well as outwit local law enforcement and the Mob. It's a delicate and dangerous balancing act, and when Pepper learns the truth about the Emerald, she realizes she's only a pawn in a game far beyond her understanding....

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor

67 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 8, 2016

About the author

Robert Kroese's sense of irony was honed growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - home of the Amway Corporation and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, and the first city in the United States to fluoridate its water supply. In second grade, he wrote his first novel, the saga of Captain Bill and his spaceship Thee Eagle. This turned out to be the high point of his academic career. After barely graduating from Calvin College in 1992 with a philosophy degree, he was fired from a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he stumbled into software development. As this job required neither punctuality nor a sense of direction, he excelled at it. In 2009, he called upon his extensive knowledge of useless information and love of explosions to write his first novel, Mercury Falls. Since then, he has written 18 more books.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Yanthus Prime Job is a Pepper Melange novella, and part of Robert Kroese’s Starship Grifters series. I did not know this book connected to any of Korese’s other books, and am now eager to check them out. I had previously read the author’s books The Big Sheep and The Last Iota, which I loved, and had high expectations for this story. For the most part, it delivered. I think readers of John Scalzi, particularly fans of Fuzzy Nation (his adaptation of H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy), will find a lot to love in this heist story. Pepper Melange is a loveable protagonist. The book definitely has a pulpy feel, sometimes in both good and not so good ways, and if I’m going to be totally honest I didn’t feel like there was anything terribly original here. With that said it was an enjoyable and short romp that’s a fun listen for genre fans. The audiobook narration is serviceable. J.D. Ledford did a great job with the protagonist and some of the supporting roles, but made bold choices with others that sounded annoying in this listener’s opinion.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Side quest for a side character, but an entertaining one with no wasted space.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently here with a foundational work of space opera-comedy. Enjoyable chance to follow a desperate small-time crook coming up with an elaborate plan to escape an equally small-time hell-hole, with a major role for making a deal with swamp flies. (Don't underestimate the pests in your bar.)

[Maria Riegger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and fast-paced. The witty dialogue made for several humorous bits. Highly enjoyable!

[Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my assessment of this book according to 5 criteria:
1. Too long and Strenuous action - exciting - 3 stars
2. Boring - fun - 3 stars
3. Not difficult to read (as non English native speaker] - 4 stars
4. predictable (common) - good story (unusual) - 3 stars
5. Shalow story - has a deeper story - 3 stars

Total 3.2 stars.

[John Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was short and sweet. Pepper is a bartender who used to be a very good thief. She needs money to pay off the Mob and take ship elsewhere, and it just so happens a very valuable emerald has just arrived on her planet.
Somehow, she plans a heist that uses the native fauna to help her take the score, and get away. I hope she shows up in the later books.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Space heist story with one of the more colorful characters from the Rex Nihilo book(s). Twists, double-crosses, very short but fun read.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story preceding the Starship Grifters books, tells the story of Pepper Melange as she bartends on a small planet looking for a way out. Enjoyed it.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

A fantastic novella in a fun science fiction world. I love the series and can't wait for more. I am a huge fan of Robert Kroese and so should you.

[Tracy Cuchia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Surprise

I wasn't sure what to expect. As I began to read this book was getting more enjoyable each chapter. Glad I read it.

[Al Lock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really special about this book. It is a run of the mill science-fiction story that doesn't really address any interesting ideas or challenge any perceptions. Nothing to identify as "Wow".

[Gr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short came with 2nd book. Actually, I enjoyed this short more than the series because Pepper has a brain.

[Justin Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

This was an entertaining and funny story. I liked the sexy but slightly downtrodden main character and hope to see her in something again.

[Graham Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story was fine, narration was really good

[Jeffrey Schmieder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great heroine and Kroese has created a funny, interesting world.

[Daniel Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Starship Grifters. The character was even better in that book. This was ok but just ok.

[Becky L Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Clever thief. If you like the Rex Nihilo series this one shouldn't be skipped. Audio version included with Aye Robot.

[T Sunclades · Rating 4 out of 5]

More good fun from Rob

Pepper is in debt and is just treading water so she decides to steal a priceless gem on loan to the local museum.

Rob has great fun with the alien characters and elements of the mob and corruption.

Its a dollar and its 60 pages, just read it.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished up this last story in the universe before the novel sequel comes out. Cool that Kroese went to the trouble of putting backstory together for this side character who I hope continues to play an important role in the series. A classic, fun little heist, some quirky amusement and a bit of a twist. Solid sci-fi concepts as well.

[Robert Defrank]

Lovers of the off-the wall hilarity of Starship Grifters have a chance to revisit the world of Rex Nihilo with a prequel adventure starring Pepper Mélange, the seductive and deadly female bounty hunter who acted as Rex’s sometimes-nemesis, sometimes-ally as the spacefaring ne’re do well attempted to pull off his schemes.

We join Pepper at a definite low point, stuck running a dive bar and in debt to the space mafia, with no choice but to undertake their flunky work to make ends meet. All this changes when she learns of a valuable treasure that will soon be touring the planetary museum, and resolves to steal it, but in attempting to penetrate the formidable security system, she will have to take on some unlikely partners with an irritatingly eco-friendly and non-profitable agenda of their own.

An impressive look at a thief’s elaborate plotting to pull a high-tech job, as well as a look into an interesting side character’s past and thoughts. Pepper lacks the sheer, glorious amorality of Rex, and has a bit more common sense, these being the qualities that made SG so compelling as the reader loves watching Rex’s attempts to make his insane schemes work, his reaction when said schemes blow up in his face, and his scrambling to pull a new plan together on the fly.

By contrast, Pepper brings a dryer humor, and her occasional regard for her partners and for innocent bystanders compels the reader to actually root for her. Then the ante is upped when the depth of double crossing is revealed to the reader. The quality is not quite as side-splitting then, but a must-read for fans of the Galactic Malarchy eager for fresh misadventures.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in Aye, Robot. A caper story about Pepper without Rex or Sasha. With some weird aliens.

[Onionboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many of this author's books, the silly character names are a distraction from a well-written story. Also, like many of his books, it sits on the fence between science fiction and comedy, never quite becoming either one.

*** SPOILER ALERT *** The next part reveals things that are better to discover yourself when you read this.

This introduced the intriguing concept of sentience being a scale of degrees instead of a binary 'yes' or 'no'. Also, the concept of a group sentience. The idea worked until the flies spell out words in English, then he completely broke my suspension of disbelief. It would have worked better if they would have developed some non-English way of communicating, but that would take more time than you could fit into a short story.

*** END SPOILER ALERT ***

Starship Grifters was an outstanding fun read. So it makes the reader want more. But this prequel short story just doesn't quite satisfy that. There isn't room for a follow up story to Starship Grifters because of the ending. As good as it is, the best thing to do may just be to leave it as it is.

[Angie Boyter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heist story. Has its ups and downs. A cute premise but I did not like the extent to which the protagonist cooperated with the mob.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting prologue to Robert Kroese's Starship Grifters which describes the events that propelled Pepper Melange into that tale.