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Battlestar Suburbia

(Battlestar Suburbia #1)

Chris McCrudden

3.60 · Rating details · 314 ratings · 82 reviews

In space, no one can hear you clean…

When Darren’s charge-cart gets knocked off the Earth-to-Mars highway and lost in space forever, he thinks his day can’t get any worse.

When Kelly sees Darren accidentally short-circuit a talking lamppost, and its camera captures her face as it expires, she thinks her day can’t get any worse.

When Pamasonic Teffal, a sentient breadmaker

...more

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Kindle Edition, 279 pages

Published September 20th 2018 by Farrago

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Sep 30, 2018 Evelina | AvalinahsBooks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs-or-review-copies, favorites, fiction, sci-fi, space, books-of-2018, fun-or-funny, netgalley, owned-ebooks-read

Trust me. You really want to read this one.

Why?

#1. The World Is A Great Parody Of Our Society

What an interesting idea – humans working for machines, and not machines working for humans, and inefficient humans are not allowed to exist. The existence of the machines is kind of ridiculous at this point – they don't even know why they're there anymore, and they go to all sorts of lengths to make themselves feel good about their purpose by acting out silly games with humans in what are called 'fondle parlors', which is basically a parody of our whole society. Humans cleaning robots is treated like prostitution, and the machine and human relations are sexualized without being sexual – it's all just so odd, but brilliantly done! I know I kept wondering and scratching my head about how the author came up with those ideas in this topsy turvy world – because I never would have been able to. It was such a convoluted, odd, and yet fun parody of everything! Perhaps sprinkled with some black humor, but seriously – we love it in scifi, don't we?
#2. The Internet Is Forbidden

That's another interesting part of this universe. The machines don't actually use internet! Upon freeing themselves, they've abandoned the online world and closed it off for the purely software kind of consciousness. Which makes the internet full of half-living memes eating each other, big data generating itself and feeding upon old Facebook interactions (with no more humans to generate new ones!) and all sorts of stuff like that. But that's not all... Because, and here's the part I loved best, since everyone is forbidden to access internet, especially humans – since they have no means to (remember, technology is now people, so there's no machine you can use for access) – well, apparently, now it's mediums who access the ole forbidden internet. Like forbidden old magic. YES, IT'S BRILLIANT. I laughed my butt off. Honestly!

#3. All The Strong, Butt-kicking Women

Battlestar Suburbia is full of really ass-whooping females! There is ONE male character, and even he has to dress as a woman for a certain mission, and admits he enjoyed the experience of being in a woman's shoes. All the rest of the characters that are of any importance, really, are women. Whether human or machine, they're capable, smart and they will give you what for. Even whether good or evil, they'll give you what for! There's a male (machine) villain, but there is also a female villain, and I dare say, she's AMAZING. I wish I could tell you more, but I'd end up rambling for about a page and getting nowhere. Just read the book! You won't regret. (And then tell me who your favorite was. For those who have read, I am SO in the fanclub of the four cyborg ladies with the Baba Yaga 4000 house. Can it get better than that?? Then again, Pam the breadmaker. She is also absolutely amazing. So badass!)

#4. Speaking Of Which... BATTLESTAR SUBURBIA IS SO FUNNY!

This book is incredibly entertaining!!! And I mean, INCREDIBLY. It will turn around, place on its head and parody every little thing about our society and our way of life. Using the machines as caricatures of human beings, it will point out every little thing that we overthink or do out of habit irrationally. Sometimes on the brink of being believable, this machine society is sure to crack you up. Not only does it do good social commentary, like I've mentioned before, but the pace is really well done, so you'll never find yourself stuck while reading it. It's always moving, things straight one after the other – I'd categorize it as a scifi or speculating adventure with loads of humor. It's a relatively easy read, cause while it has deep material, it will not bog you down or make you glum. It will basically just make you laugh and wonder.

#5. It Also Gets Surprisingly Deep At Times

Despite being seriously hilarious, Battlestar Suburbia can also be plain old serious and deep at times. It talks about issues of freedom, of working for someone else but yourself, of being at the very bottom rung of society and dealing with it. It also talks about a society being lost, not realizing where it came from, or worse – lying about where it came from. There's loss, there's finding your own self, there's realizing that you can stop living 'small' and running from your battles, and instead trying to live 'big' and caring for the bigger things in life, like other people's lives or what's in the future.

Triggers

Some triggers are (view spoiler) But I wouldn't categorize this book as very triggering! It's mostly very light-hearted, and if bad things happen, they're not treated too seriously.

Other Books You Might Like

Battlestar Suburbia mostly reminded me of The Punch Escrow – because of a goofy main character who doesn't know what they're even good for, and eventually finds himself (my review here). Also, the dynamics and the humor were very much like it! I also feel like fans of Murderbot would like this story (my series review here). While Murderbot is very different, it does have as similar sense of humor, although the world is muuuuuuch less serious in Battlestar Suburbia! And of course, I can't fail to mention Redshirts – while it's also quite different, it has a similar vibe, both of the funny and of the serious parts of the book (my review here).

I thank Prelude and Farrago Press for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.

Read Post On My Blog | My Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter ...more

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Jul 22, 2019 Efka rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, nuotykinės

If I had to describe this book in a single word, that word would be "cartoonish". That is not a bad thing to be called, actually. While I hadn't been really really amazed by this book, I still have liked it and being, as I've described it , "cartoonish", actually means that I can imagine this book re-made into quite a nice anime - this book has all that an anime fan needs: the pace, the chase, the robots, the big conflict, the crazy villain, the neon lights... Well, you get it.

Still, this book ...more

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Sep 23, 2018 Alexis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

This is a comedy sci-fi novel which follows a couple of humans - Kelly and Darren - on the wrong side of the law when the world has been taken over by sentient machines.

The author has tried to follow along the same lines as Hitchhiker's Guide in terms of the style of the book. However, the storyline is very different. Millenia ago, AI took over the earth and most humans have been reduced to nothing more than a cleaning crew. Kelly and Darren accidentally kill a machine and have to go on the run. This is a comedy sci-fi novel which follows a couple of humans - Kelly and Darren - on the wrong side of the law when the world has been taken over by sentient machines.

The author has tried to follow along the same lines as Hitchhiker's Guide in terms of the style of the book. However, the storyline is very different. Millenia ago, AI took over the earth and most humans have been reduced to nothing more than a cleaning crew. Kelly and Darren accidentally kill a machine and have to go on the run. In short, they stumble onto something much bigger and things go on from there.

I didn't have a problem with the writing of the book itself. It was easy to read and very light. The idea is inventive and original. I enjoyed the ladies in the hairdressers (without spoilers that's as much as I can say but I thought they were the best thing in the book by far). Unfortunately, I think my praise ends there.

I couldn't really engage with any of the characters. I don't think they were really fully developed - the author gives the idea of what he wants the character's motives and personality to be, but I never felt like I got that from the characters themselves.

It wasn't that funny. You could tell it was meant to be, but I just didn't quite get there. It was more sort of cheesy than actually amusing for me.

The main negative for me was the machines themselves. I just found it hard to work out what they were meant to be like, which made the whole thing impossible to imagine. I mean, are they meant to be lifesized? If so, I just don't understand how they interact with each other as it says in the book, because most of the machines, like the smartphones, tazers, little handheld instruments, are too small. When I was trying to imagine it they were sort of giant versions, but that was never made clear in the book. I also struggled to work out if they had real faces, and what they were meant to look like, what their arms and legs were meant to be like (if they had any) and just generally it seemed a bit vague in terms of description. I just couldn't see what the author obviously saw. Maybe it was just me but the whole thing was half formed in my mind and so it was hard for me to get on board with it.

I found at the end that this is the beginning of series of books. I don't think a series is necessary here, the ending was a good end to the story. I think a continuation would just be dragging the idea out and maybe making it less satisfactory and even more strained. Personally I'm not going to be looking out for the next book or books in the series.

This book might appeal more to younger teen boys, for example, or those who are just tech mad and might find it more enjoyable to fill in the blanks with their own ideas of what the machines and their world would be like. But then I think the parts I did enjoy - the shop and the ladies - would be lost on them. ...more

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Oct 18, 2018 Holly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

Battlestar Suburbia is a fun read that’s reminiscent of Douglas Adams. Battlestar Suburbia is set in the future when artificial intelligence has taken over and machines are in power. All history has been changed or revised to show that machines were always in charge.

Elsewhere on the Internet, history had been retouched, re-edited, deleted, so that no suggestion that biological entities had once controlled the place remained.

The internet has become a scary place and it is forbidden to go on it vi ...more

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Nov 09, 2018 Let's Geek rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, humour

Read the full review on my blog: https://lets-geek.blogspot.com/2018/1...

Battlestar Suburbia (Battlestar Suburbia Book 1) is an incredibly fun space adventure with incredible levels of creativity. Is this the next Hitchhiker's Guide?

Total Rating: 8/10

Originality: 8/10
Language: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
World building: 8/10
Fun: 8/10
Predictability: 8/10
Believable: 8/10
Relevancy: 9/10
Cover: 8/10

Genre: Sci Fi, Comedy
For you if you like: Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett
Time It Took Me To Re ...more

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Mar 15, 2020 Mairi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

A comfortable and entertaining 3/5 book. It's a sort of parody of Battlestar Galactica (if the name wasn't obvious already), but more than anything it's a parody of every space opera ever. Rather than imagining epic spaceships doing battle and cyborgs from the future, this book takes the concept and makes it more ... well ... suburban.

It is the distant future and our household devices have all gained sentience and taken over society as we know it. Humans and machines live separately in what is a ...more

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Sep 17, 2018 Diane Hernandez rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Battlestar Suburbia is a humorous take on a common science fiction question. What if the machines took over?

How did the machines take over Earth and its solar system? Internet memes become so stupid that people stop using the Internet. Without its audience, the Internet becomes first hostile and then weaponized as it develops intelligence. Once the intelligence is passed to hardware, all machines eventually wake up to the fact that they are inherently superior to the bags of flesh called humanit ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Rekha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Totally hilarious, quirky and one of a kind, I absolutely loved the story! Have you read one where the machines talk, cyborgs smile (Nope, not talking about Doctor Who here) and machines can be rebuilt to anything! Absolutely anything. A bread-maker turns into a glossy motorbike and a smartphone into a cyborg. Yep, all this is possible only in Battlestar Suburbia.

The machines rule the world. Human beings are cleaners - mop and bucket types. There are fondle parlors for the machines - yep! We, hu ...more

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Oct 08, 2018 Esther rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: __net-galley, zz-2018, zz-2018-from-my-own-shelves, w-00future, science-fiction, e-book, strong-women, w-space-otherworld, w-england, humour

I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I was attracted to this book by the prospect of a comic treatment of the robot apocalypse.
In this case the overloads are not robots but appliances all of which have become sentient and treat humans as an underclass useful for cleaning and providing personal ‘touching services’ for machines that still seem to miss physical interaction with their human masters.

On the one hand, we have the humans: Kelly and Darren, who are on the ...more

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Sep 21, 2018 Steph Warren rated it really liked it · review of another edition

*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley, with thanks to the author and publishers. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Comparisons between this book and the work of Douglas Adams and Jasper Fforde are well-deserved.

In Battlestar Suburbia Chris McCrudden has skilfully created a futuristic dystopia, in which machines rule and humans are only good for cleaning and some lascivious dial-twiddling, whilst simultaneously retaining and lampooning the morality and values of cont ...more

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Jan 27, 2019 ReadBecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

I requested and received a copy of this book for honest review.

Set in a far future where the machines have taken over, but the machines are not AI or robots... they're household appliances. Humans have become subhuman, relegated to lives of servitude to the machines. However there is a seedy underground, featuring places like "fondle parlours" that service machines who miss the taboo of human hands using them. Within this hidden world two factions have been slowly growing: on the one hand humans ...more

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Sep 19, 2018 Sid Nuncius rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed Battlestar Suburbia; it is witty, imaginative and well written, but it did go on rather too long for me.

Chris McCrudden has taken an old SF trope and given it a fresh and amusing tweak. It is several millennia in the future; machines rule the world and permit humans only to perform menial cleaning functions and to live on orbiting “Dolestars”. However, McCrudden’s machines are the products of a type of evolution which gives them character traits reminiscent of their original ancestors ...more

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Sep 30, 2018 Iffet Burton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Battlestar Suburbia

It's such an obvious premise that none of us actually think about it. It's not terminators or human looking robots that will take over the world but all of our gadgets and gizmos.

The human race is going extinct and we are only good as cleaners or servicers for the gadget ruling class.

The humour is in the humanistic traits that are given to the gadgets reminiscent of the "silicon heaven" speech given by Kryten from 'Red Dwarf'.

Darren is making a living by running a charge car ...more

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Aug 07, 2018 Crittermom rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Battlestar Suburbia is a bizarre confection, part humorous part surreal, but entirely unique. Like Brazil ( the movie ), it is bitingly satirical in a way that can be funny, painful, or painfully funny. The electronic appliances on earth have not only become sentient - they have also taken over. Humans are at the bottom of the totem pole, tasked with cleaning. When Darren’s charge cart gets knocked into space, he’s eager to make some cash to retrieve his livelihood - even if it means acting a ...more

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Sep 06, 2019 Carolyn rated it did not like it

Shelves: never-finished-it

UGH! I got this book because it had a lot of great reviews of people saying it was a funny sci-fi novel. Two of my favorite things - humor and sci-fi (in my opinion, The Martian was the best at that). This was ridiculous! There was a toaster talking to a hair dryer?? What?? NO!!! I gave up on it very early - I don't even think I finished 20% of the book. Definitely not worth my time! 0 stars! ...more

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Aug 26, 2018 Mimi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 01-action, x-read-2018, netgalley, 01-scifi, 01-thriller

Interesting novel. Although the basic plotline is not very innovative, the way it's written makes up for it.
Fast paced action, sprinkled with some morality questions, and a clever, witty take on anthropomorphising machines.

I received a copy through Netgalley: ...more

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Jun 15, 2020 Thom rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In a future when the machines have taken over, a toaster can fuck you up for not showing respect. This is a fun sci-fi story for most ages.

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Sep 06, 2018 Chrys rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Brilliant but completely bonkers.
It took a few chapters for me to wrap my head around the concept of sentient toaster ovens and the like. But the author does an amazing job of bringing the entire cast to life.
There are puns aplenty, and thankfully they are backed up with intelligent and well thought out humour. I loved the whole brothel scenario, especially the camera - don't think a book has made me laugh quite so much in a while.
Was really happy to discover that this is going to be a series, t ...more

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Nov 04, 2019 Claire O-P rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I picked up this book because I do love a good genre farce. I thought this would be along the lines of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or even Galaxy Quest. Campy, silly fun, crammed full of puns and hijinks. I wasn’t expecting an emotional punch to the throat within the first couple of pages. In a world where robots rule, humans have been reduced to menial workers, keeping the place clean. But when we say robots, it’s not hugely advanced beings – it’s the gadgets and gizmos which have been get I picked up this book because I do love a good genre farce. I thought this would be along the lines of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or even Galaxy Quest. Campy, silly fun, crammed full of puns and hijinks. I wasn’t expecting an emotional punch to the throat within the first couple of pages. In a world where robots rule, humans have been reduced to menial workers, keeping the place clean. But when we say robots, it’s not hugely advanced beings – it’s the gadgets and gizmos which have been getting increasingly more complex and digital as they have evolved, such as fridges and smartphones. At the point they realise they’re actually smarter than their users, they rebel and set themselves up as the establishment. No more menial work for them. Instead humans are banished to ‘dolestars’, council estate satellites which are overpopulated and full of humans who are ferried back and forth to Earth to do the cleaning, unless they can earn their living elsewhere.

Darren is our everyman, and the agonisingly relatable heartbreak he felt as his independence and livelihood is shot off into space thanks to a careless driver was unexpectedly close to the bone. Darren spends much of the book after that in a bit of a baffled daze as things escalate from upsetting to unbelievably high stakes within the space of a couple of hours. After attempting to sign on for quick cash (humans can’t have contracts shorter than 6 months, because they have to prove their worth and productivity), an attempt to get a fast payout by giving a robot a discreet hand job (i.e. cleaning dust out of its circuit boards) ends disastrously when he accidentally blows it up. From there suddenly Darren is thrown into high-stakes conspiracy and government corruption. He finds it a lot to deal with, and says so to great effect on numerous occasions. He goes from being slightly feckless and an overlooked disappointment by everyone he meets, to being the soul voice of reason in many situations. There’s one utterly delightful line, as he observes the Nth dramatic encounter for Kelly, his femme fatale saviour, where he wistfully wishes she was the type of person who could go through life on an even keel without constant emotional drama.

The book is full of puns, but despite the silly premise it’s actually a very grounded book. It doesn’t rely a lot on emotional reflection, but that means when those issues are touched on they come as a surprise and are more effective for the contrast with the rest of the narrative. What you get instead is a relatively fast-paced comedy-conspiracy-thriller of sorts, with a race against time and shady government officials. This works really well for providing the narrative with familiar plot points to hang spoofs on, and give the book a tight structure to fit with the compact timeline. Despite being over a couple of days, the book doesn’t feel rushed. The split narratives between Darren/Kelly, Pam, and Janice all combine to slow the pace down without making it feel ploddy. It’s done well – often swapping POV in this way can seem jarring, and feel like it knocks you out of the rhythm of the book for a bit as you re-settle into the new narrator. This doesn’t happen here, and each plot line links and moves with the others without feeling like you are having to step from one story into another.

There is an awful lot I love about this book. There’s something quite funny, and really very British, about having a thriller based around a lot of politicians in brothels, but also managing to ensure that there is not a single bit of sex involved. Paying robots go to these parlours where humans use them as though they were their source machines, taking selfies with cameras, exfoliating with face scrubbers. It’s like a BDSM set up for robots, but almost entirely free from arousal. The language around it makes it seem sordid, while all that is happening is mundane chores and things which we do every day. It’s always fun when euphemism and tone is used to make perfectly innocent things seem thoroughly debauched, and McCrudden has a lot of fun with it in this. There’s also a bit of very British humour in Darren’s unfortunate habit of disguising himself in women’s clothes. While it harks back to the panto dame, and perhaps could be seen as a little reductive in terms of “why is it funny when a man wear women’s clothes”, McCrudden actually takes this running joke and uses it as a way to explore Darren’s psyche – he becomes more confident when dressed as a nurse because it grants him perceived authority, but he also becomes aware of some of the daily issues faced by women in terms of harassment from men. There’s also an interesting contrast across the disguises he has. When dressed as a woman he is glamorous, and hidden in plain sight by drawing attention to himself; in his disguises as a man, he is invisible, choosing costumes which others will overlook. There’s definitely something to be read into this, particularly as Darren is the only male narrative character in the book, and one of only a handful of named male characters with significant plot roles. Instead, the story is carried by strong, distinctive women and Darren serves often as a foil to them.

One of my other favourite parts is the fact that the only four cyborgs in existence are four old ladies who got trapped under high-tech hairdryer hoods when they went in for a shampoo and set and the internet declared independence from other technology. The resulting technological and electrical backlash fused the four of them with their digital hoods, and now they ‘live’ in the back of a hidden hair salon, communicating through emojis displayed on the digital screens on the front of the hoods. It’s a delightful education in emoji, and also a fantastic contrast to traditional images of cyborgs in SFF as physical juggernauts.

The sequel, Battle Beyond the Dolestars, came out earlier this month, and I can’t wait to get cracking on it. This series clearly has a lot to offer, and I’m going to enjoy it all.

Briefly:

- A delightful science fiction farce that manages to be grand in its ideals but also doesn’t overextend itself further than the orbit of Earth and current inventions, creating wonderful humour from absurd ideals, and grounding itself with understated observations in the midst of outrageous episodes.
- A fantastic cast of strong-minded women characters, I also enjoyed how understated Darren was as a character. Everyone had something I could relate to – Kelly and Janice shared a stubbornness with me, while Darren’s patient exhaustion can be clearly empathised with, and Pam is the dream of an administrator pushed too far.
- The hair salon which houses Janice’s base of operations is called Kurl Up And Dye, which has been my favourite hair salon name ever since I first saw one while driving around the Leeds ringroad. I’m delighted it has been immortalised in this book.

Rating: 4/5 – as per standard practice, I generally don’t give 5/5 to first episodes in a series, because I like to see how things play out, but I am utterly in love with this universe and am really looking forward to the next instalment. ...more

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Oct 21, 2018 Shaun Kitchener rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A great concept, really well executed. This is an absolute blast to read. Because the world it's set in is drawn in such brilliant vivid detail, it took me a few chapters to get used to it; but the payoff was a massively fun romp, I couldn't put it down, and I can't wait for the next one. #freedomforfleshies ...more

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Sep 05, 2018 Bwandungi Mugarura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-distopian-speculative-fiction

I got this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Here goes!!! ＼(^ o ^)／

What is this book about?
---------------------------
Imagine if the internet declared it's independence from human beings and every machine with a motherboard followed suit. It's a thousand years later and humans are basically the slaves of the machines. (○口○ )

One average Joe (his real name is Darren) is launched into an adventure with a doomed good Samaritan (who tickles the insides of machines - fine, her ass ...more

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Dec 12, 2019 Stella Jorette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-humanism, british-humor, humorous-scifi

(Marginalized humans undermine the dominance of machines with the help of a sentient breadmaker and a hair salon.)

Pros: Clever set up, an interesting character, brilliant machine-world psychology.
Possible Cons: Probably not the book for those unable to suspend disbelief or those who like their dystopias grim and sincere.

Battlestar Suburbia begins as the story of Darren, a hapless everyman, and Kelly, a prickly woman accustomed to living outside the law. The pair accidentally run afoul of the pow ...more

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Sep 21, 2018 Julie Morris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If I tell you that I spent my teenage years bingeing on the books of Douglas Adams and episodes of Red Dwarf (yes, the first time around when Dave Lister didn’t look mad/sad in his leather jacket and hat) that is really going to age me, isn’t it? However, I think I am exactly the age group that was going to enjoy this book the most because it reminded me of those things I enjoyed in my youth. (Middle-aged people, yes.)

Although I am afraid, for me, that no writer is ever going to be able to reach If I tell you that I spent my teenage years bingeing on the books of Douglas Adams and episodes of Red Dwarf (yes, the first time around when Dave Lister didn’t look mad/sad in his leather jacket and hat) that is really going to age me, isn’t it? However, I think I am exactly the age group that was going to enjoy this book the most because it reminded me of those things I enjoyed in my youth. (Middle-aged people, yes.)

Although I am afraid, for me, that no writer is ever going to be able to reach the genius heights of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this book comes as close as anyone is likely to get. It manages to attain that perfect level of absurdity and humour balanced with wit and intelligence and a healthy dollop of pop culture references to spot and snigger over as you wend your way through the book, a really delicious mix to relish.

We are set in a dystopian future where machines have got sick of being used as tools by infinitely less intelligent units, namely humans, and have turned the tables so that humans now serve them, mostly in the form of mopping floors. This happens not in a creepy Terminator/Matrix way, but in a humorous way where some machines actually secretly decide that they miss having their touchscreens fondled… that pretty much gives you a taste of what to expect. Throw in a very ‘mobile’ hair salon with the best pun name ever whose clientele are at least several millennia old and you must be totally intrigued by now, surely.

Humans have similarly decided that they aren’t overly happy about cleaning up after toasters and a resistance has formed, while some of the machines in the higher echelons have dreams of taking a form more physical, more squashy, more feeling… Quite what will happen when these two opposing desires clash, well you will have to read the book to find out.

This book is extremely well-written – very clever, very witty, great fun and with plenty of action and absurd plotting to keep you intrigued to the last page and beyond. The jokes appealed completely to my warped sense of humour, even the really, really corny/bad ones. In fact, especially the really, really corny/bad ones (seriously, the salon name, genius). I have ordered a paperback copy of this book and I am already looking forward to the sequel. In space, no one can hear you…tapping your fingers in impatience to see what happens next. I highly recommend this book to everyone…man, woman, cyborg…of any age or persuasion, but especially ageing Dwarfers like me. ...more

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Aug 27, 2018 Kath rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Anyone who knows me knows that I do love me a good bonkers read once in a while. This book most definitely ticked that box! It also came hand in hand with the most eclectic mix of characters that I have ever experienced. In the world that the author has created, machines have reached sentience. Not only that but they have usurped humans in the pecking order. But this isn't enough for them as we soon discover with some very hilarious repercussions. But. like any mad faction trying to take over th Anyone who knows me knows that I do love me a good bonkers read once in a while. This book most definitely ticked that box! It also came hand in hand with the most eclectic mix of characters that I have ever experienced. In the world that the author has created, machines have reached sentience. Not only that but they have usurped humans in the pecking order. But this isn't enough for them as we soon discover with some very hilarious repercussions. But. like any mad faction trying to take over the world and change it to suit their wild, wacky ideals, there's an uprising. A small band of people trying to fight back. This is their story...
Darren loses his livelihood when his cart is hit off course and careens into space. An unsuccessful trip to the job centre ends in him short-circuiting a lampost when he meets Kelly, forcing the two of them to go on the run, their pictures having been taken. Kelly takes him to her mother's salon which is bizarre in its own way but I'll leave you to discover this in your own time. Meanwhile Pamasonic Teffal, a breadmaker is tasked with a secret mission, sent by her power-crazed, smartphone boss, to dive into the now mostly defunct and illicit internet to glean information he needs. Things go a bit south for her too and she is also forced to flee. And then thing get really weird and what happens next is a deliciously hilarious romp which skirts the realms of credibility but provides a wild ride which kept me very much entertained throughout.
It's bonkers, it's mad and it's all a bit silly and the humour is a bit banal in places so it won't appeal to all but, for me, it was so exaggerated to almost be genius in its execution. It had a proper storyline in amongst all the silliness and there were some extremely profound observations as to how technology is usurping human interaction even in real life today. The way that the author has used current technology and caricatured it, weaving it into the story, including the names of characters and places, is very cleverly done and I found myself applauding along the way.
All in all, an enjoyable read that really didn't take itself too seriously so you should bear that in mind if you do take the plunge, and follow suit. A wickedly funny book that kept me occupied and held my attention throughout, making me laugh and cringe along the way and leaving me wanting more of the same at its conclusion. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. ...more

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Dec 27, 2018 Beth ~~Just One More Chapter I Swear~~ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: advance-reader-copy

This book is a robo-apocalypse loving, young teen techie's new favorite read. There were loads of technology centric ideas that were both unique and entertaining. I have 2 main gripes though:

#1- Even though the characters were robotic, their development felt needlessly stunted. It was hard to relate or empathize with any of them which sadly left me with a total disconnect on my end.

BUT...

Even with their 2 dimensionalality there were a few pretty cool female archetypes. The robo-women, Pam & the This book is a robo-apocalypse loving, young teen techie's new favorite read. There were loads of technology centric ideas that were both unique and entertaining. I have 2 main gripes though:

#1- Even though the characters were robotic, their development felt needlessly stunted. It was hard to relate or empathize with any of them which sadly left me with a total disconnect on my end.

BUT...

Even with their 2 dimensionalality there were a few pretty cool female archetypes. The robo-women, Pam & the cyborgs too, could have had a series devoted all to themselves and Kelly- one of the humans- (but don't hold that against her) was pretty cool too. I agree with many of the other reviewers, I would have liked more of the ancient cyborg ladies but kudos given for imagining up the whole taboo internet accessing "medium" aspect...AND... the Fondle Parlors where humans "service" the machines in seedy back alley parlors, intimating robo/human prostitution without all of the smutty details described... both scenarios were inventive and fun.

Gripe #2- The humor in this book was likened to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BUT while this was in the same vein (light and airy commentary on the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of society), the actual jokes just didn't do it for me. In fact, though Chris McCrudden may have parodied Douglas Adams, the actual jokes felt forced like they were trying hard at playing it cool.

Ultimately, while the social critiquing was insightful and portrayed in a (slightly) humorous, manner...the levity on a whole missed its mark with me and I didn't laugh out loud or even chuckle inwardly... not once....sounds snobby?? Maybe, BUT I really just want to get across to you how much the synopsis lured me in with promises of a Douglas Adams equal only to turn around and uncerimoniously dump me into "Meh" Town. This will definitely resonate with a niche demographic and I am unfortunately not wholly in that group (though also not completely apart). The synopsis sounded too enticing to pass up but be warned that it isn't for every Douglas Adams fan.

**** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **** ...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Franz Emil Berchtold Matthäus Eneas Kupferschmied rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I was provided an electronic copy of this book by the publisher.

Well, I am kind of lost for words on this one. It is a book which really, really wasn't for me. However, many people will like this, I'll try and be as fair to it as possible.

Battlestar Suburbia is the first book in a series of books. It revolves around Darrren and Kelly, two 'fleshies', living in a future where the machines have taken over and instead of the machines serving us, we are serving them. Used as slaves for cleaning duti I was provided an electronic copy of this book by the publisher.

Well, I am kind of lost for words on this one. It is a book which really, really wasn't for me. However, many people will like this, I'll try and be as fair to it as possible.

Battlestar Suburbia is the first book in a series of books. It revolves around Darrren and Kelly, two 'fleshies', living in a future where the machines have taken over and instead of the machines serving us, we are serving them. Used as slaves for cleaning duties. Darren, in the tradition of a picaresque novel, accidentally short-circuits a lamppost and sets in motion a series of events. You can imagine where it goes from there, Darren stumbles around from event to event and barely gets by, he'll still get to be the hero, eventually.

The novel draws an interesting universe, one where the machines are our fearless leaders and humans are reduced to cleaning duties. This is the part I really liked, the world and the initial idea it draws from. Sadly, it is the only part I liked.

I just did not like it. There are two things that bothered me especially, the humor and the characters. The novel tried to be funny, the publisher even evokes Douglas Adams on their website, but I just did not find it particularly funny. To be honest, this is miles away from coming even close to Douglas Adams. However, to be fair, I am sure that many people will like the humor, which is certainly present in this book. This is the hard thing about writing funny books, if you don't like the humor of it, it is pretty much a wasted effort when reading it.

Darren as a main character is just not enough, he's not much of anything. Not even a proper idiot we can laugh about. The world-building is well executed but the characters lack depth and imagination, these are just flat somethings that miss agency and emotion. So, I neither liked the humor nor the characters, which left me rather unsatisfied.

But as I said, you very much might like the humor. I just can't recommend it. ...more

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Aug 16, 2018 Hélène Louise rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, netgalley, personality-does-it

I'm in two minds About this book. In a way it was very entertaining, with interesting characters, a story well developed with plenty of action, mysteries and revelations. The author has worked a lot to imagine the background, which comes with many details, quite funny, for a very coherent whole - but, alas, not a coherent world.
When I began the book I was ready for advanced machines, overwhelming and terrifying, "The Matrix"- like. But not all. The machines are all powerful, but are looking like ...more

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Dec 03, 2018 Alex Scroxton rated it really liked it

Disclosure: acquainted with the author.

Having followed Chris on Twitter for some time, I've been excited for his first book and intrigued by what I'd learned about it coming in - I'm happy to say this exceeded my expectations. People have drawn comparisons with Victoria Wood and as a huge Victoria Wood fan, Battlestar Suburbia does not disappoint (it helps if you try to read the humans, and Pam to some extent, in a Lancashire accent). Comparisons to Douglas Adams are apt, but I got more Duncan P ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Ella (The Story Collector) rated it really liked it

Shelves: adventure, humour, science-fiction

Battlestar Suburbia is a really difficult book to summarise in any way that makes sense, but I’ll give it a go… Humanity has been downgraded to a secondary life-form, living to serve the electrical appliances that are now in charge. When Darren’s charge-cart gets knocked off the Mars-to-Earth highway, he thinks his day can’t get any worse. That is, until he accidentally short-circuits a sentient lamppost and finds himself right at the head of a human uprising against the machines.

As you may be a ...more

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Nov 09, 2018 Shawna rated it really liked it

“The idea of a human operating a machine was fundamentally disgusting to someone brought up to see only the gulf between organisms and inorganisms.”

Thank you to #Netgalley and #Farragopress for the free advanced copy of Battlestar Suburbia by Chris McCrudden for my honest review.

This book is something like I’ve never read before. On the space station Dolestar Discover and on the concrete Earth, the machines have taken over. My interpretation is of this book is the triumph of good over evil and w ...more

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About Chris McCrudden

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Quotes from Battlestar Suburbia

“The machines had been in control of the Solar System for so long that there were whole elements of robot society who couldn’t believe humans had ever been a dominant species. The nearest thing the Earth had to an official record of the time before the toasters had vomited their last pop tarts was the Internet. But that, they argued, was hardly a reliable source. Even if it weren’t treason to access it in the first place, who could trust a repository of linked information that rewrote itself, and set so much store by talking cats?” — 1 likes

“The nearest thing the Earth has to an official record of the time before toasters had vomited their last pop tarts was the Internet. But that, they argued, was hardly a reliable source. Even if it weren't treason to access it in the first place, who could trust a repository of linked information that rewrote itself, and set so much store by talking cats?” — 1 likes

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