What do you think?
Rate this book
Slab Steele and the Venusian Exchange
Two Flytrap fans had a plan. But unfortunately for them, they kidnapped the wrong guy. Or did they?
In the near future, the invention of the Io Mega-Zip Drive has allowed humanity to spread throughout the Solar System. This new age of discovery brought with it a bold new sport: craterball. Played in low gravity on massive domed craters, craterball has taken the System by storm and made all other Terran sports all but obsolete.
Slab Steele was once the hottest craterback prospect coming out of Texas Space University, but a series of self-engineered screw ups have left him without the hope of joining the greatest craterback to ever play the game, Mirt “The Whip” Ballfeather, in the Craterball Hall of fame.
Once reduced to playing backup for the worst team in the league, the Venus Flytrap, Slab has finally got his life back on track. Slab Steele—through no significant achievement of his own—is on the verge of winning the Crater Bowl. On the eve of the biggest match of his life, the deciding Match Seven of the Solar Craterball Finals, Slab Steele is knocked out and taken captive by two die-hard fans of the rival team. There’s only one problem: Slab isn’t even the starter.
Suddenly, Slab Steele is thrust into an adventure that forces him to confront a ghost from his past, meet a hero from his present, and ultimately come to terms with a future unlike any he has ever known, all while trying to make it to Venus in time for the Crater Bowl.
Featuring copious amounts of dad jokes, shameless puns, a sentient slice of cheese, and a bipedal urinal, Slab Steele and the Venusian Exchange is a perfect read for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, the Galactic Football League, Space Team and the greatest sports films of the 80s and 90s.
In the near future, the invention of the Io Mega-Zip Drive has allowed humanity to spread throughout the Solar System. This new age of discovery brought with it a bold new sport: craterball. Played in low gravity on massive domed craters, craterball has taken the System by storm and made all other Terran sports all but obsolete.
Slab Steele was once the hottest craterback prospect coming out of Texas Space University, but a series of self-engineered screw ups have left him without the hope of joining the greatest craterback to ever play the game, Mirt “The Whip” Ballfeather, in the Craterball Hall of fame.
Once reduced to playing backup for the worst team in the league, the Venus Flytrap, Slab has finally got his life back on track. Slab Steele—through no significant achievement of his own—is on the verge of winning the Crater Bowl. On the eve of the biggest match of his life, the deciding Match Seven of the Solar Craterball Finals, Slab Steele is knocked out and taken captive by two die-hard fans of the rival team. There’s only one problem: Slab isn’t even the starter.
Suddenly, Slab Steele is thrust into an adventure that forces him to confront a ghost from his past, meet a hero from his present, and ultimately come to terms with a future unlike any he has ever known, all while trying to make it to Venus in time for the Crater Bowl.
Featuring copious amounts of dad jokes, shameless puns, a sentient slice of cheese, and a bipedal urinal, Slab Steele and the Venusian Exchange is a perfect read for fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, the Galactic Football League, Space Team and the greatest sports films of the 80s and 90s.
- GenresScience Fiction
Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2020
31 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 8, 2020
My real rating is about a 4.5 but I went ahead and upgraded based on the fact that the characters were and world was so entertaining. It was a bit of a slow start, but on analysis I realized the fault was mine. I'm not into sports or the dynamics of trades at all. I noticed a humorous "Guardians of the Galaxy" vibe to it, There'sa witty talking urinal named Wizzer who is also a wizard of info as one of the sidekicks and quite a few other moteleys in the crew. Yes there are puns and fun and a quite exciting championship game of Craterball at the end. It's a LONG read but worthwhile.
June 24, 2020
The comic book style cover for this rollicking sci-fi/sports tale is appropriate; this story is in many ways a comic book without pictures (except those drawn by the words). It’s well-edited, fast-paced, and has character development. The humor is often adolescent.
The main character, Slab, is a jerk. He’s a couldabeen sports star who screwed up his own career and is desperate for a second chance. A couple of robots, one a urinal, careen into his life, throwing his plans off and sending him on a series of adventures that force him to grow up.
It’s a rollicking good time with lots of action as well as lots of wordplay and jokes. People, especially sports fans, looking for a relaxing fun summer book will enjoy this romp.
The main character, Slab, is a jerk. He’s a couldabeen sports star who screwed up his own career and is desperate for a second chance. A couple of robots, one a urinal, careen into his life, throwing his plans off and sending him on a series of adventures that force him to grow up.
It’s a rollicking good time with lots of action as well as lots of wordplay and jokes. People, especially sports fans, looking for a relaxing fun summer book will enjoy this romp.
March 26, 2020
I read this book on kindle unlimited and it was pretty funny. It was a mix of science fiction and the author's invented sport "craterball". There was a kidnapping, spaceship chases and some good sports scenes. I enjoyed the author's humorous lead character Slab Steele. The character names were all hilarious too like Whizzer, Pud McDick, and Meat Vaughn 😆 The lead reminded me a little of a science fiction version of Rob Burgandy and Ricky Bobby combo! He had a perm, was a little full of himself but was ultimately a good guy. The end does not end in a cliffhanger but it does hint at a possible storyline for book two.
November 29, 2020
You guys, one of the robots is a urinal. The other somehow has cheese in his DNA (I think? Plus his grandma's swiss). So yes, in case you were wondering, this IS an unusual story. :)
I don't do space operas much (truthfully: at all), probably because I've just been more immersed in other genres (like dark fantasy), but SLAB STEELE AND THE VENUSIAN EXCHANGE seemed as good of an intro as any. And like most wholesome tales, it begins with a boy from a backwater planet (Pluto, actually), a kid who doesn't know how special he is compared to the other kids of the worlds, a wanna be craterballer champion, a quite flawed character who has his merits and moments.
Unfortunately I didn't warm to Slab much as a character, which resulted in the fact that I wasn't as invested in his wellbeing and destiny as I should have been (or would have liked to be), and I felt the crass humor and overkill of swearing (it wasn't hard to translate, and once I "saw" it I couldn't unsee it) was a bit much for me. These are matters of personal preference, of course, and everyone's cup of coffee/tea differs, so someone else might be high-fiving Slab and ROFLing throughout the book.
I did really like the robot sidekicks, orange-skinned Chet and info-brimming Whizz. The story itself feels refreshingly original, with well-developed worlds, interesting new idioms, humorous dialogues, and many references that support the story's world-building. Often I was reminded me of that place where Thor fell in the Ragnarok movie (Sakaar?) with its diverse cast of brilliant characters and strange world rituals and games (but maybe it's just because I don't have many references of my own to liken it to). It's better, though, because there's a Newest York beach somewhere.
3.5 stars, rounded to 4.
I don't do space operas much (truthfully: at all), probably because I've just been more immersed in other genres (like dark fantasy), but SLAB STEELE AND THE VENUSIAN EXCHANGE seemed as good of an intro as any. And like most wholesome tales, it begins with a boy from a backwater planet (Pluto, actually), a kid who doesn't know how special he is compared to the other kids of the worlds, a wanna be craterballer champion, a quite flawed character who has his merits and moments.
Unfortunately I didn't warm to Slab much as a character, which resulted in the fact that I wasn't as invested in his wellbeing and destiny as I should have been (or would have liked to be), and I felt the crass humor and overkill of swearing (it wasn't hard to translate, and once I "saw" it I couldn't unsee it) was a bit much for me. These are matters of personal preference, of course, and everyone's cup of coffee/tea differs, so someone else might be high-fiving Slab and ROFLing throughout the book.
I did really like the robot sidekicks, orange-skinned Chet and info-brimming Whizz. The story itself feels refreshingly original, with well-developed worlds, interesting new idioms, humorous dialogues, and many references that support the story's world-building. Often I was reminded me of that place where Thor fell in the Ragnarok movie (Sakaar?) with its diverse cast of brilliant characters and strange world rituals and games (but maybe it's just because I don't have many references of my own to liken it to). It's better, though, because there's a Newest York beach somewhere.
3.5 stars, rounded to 4.
July 12, 2020
( Format : Audiobook )
"Like a flock of cartoon ducks..."
Slab Steele might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer; he might be self centered and self serving, offensively dismissive, insensitive, and rather foolish when it comes to one particu!at girl. But he has a dream: to score the winning goal for his team at the Solar Craterball finals, and he doesn't deserve to be kidnapped by the strange Venue Flytrap fans he finally sees when the blindfold is removed, one a strange protohuman and the other a one time urinal cyborg, named Wizz. The story follows Slab through the glories and shambles that his life has become.
This is a genuinely funny story, dependant on punning as much as situational and lavatory humour, and more a comic hero style book than straight novel - even though the main character is not exactly warm and endearing, there is a certain pathos which makes him accessible. This is a long book, some fifteen and one half hours, filled with the fantastic adventures of his post kidnap associations with the strange couple, the journey to Venus to compete in the Big Game, weird weapons and Craterball matches, including a DeathGame, his relationship with Bertie, his hopes, fears and memories of growing up, and if it drags occasionally a little in the early stages, it makes up for it later. And the reader gets to know a lot about the intergalactic sport of Crater Ball.
Narration, by Matthew Broadhead, is superb. He is a man of many silly voices, well suited to each of the characters, with a nicely presented reading of the text which links them all. At times, the voice of Slab can be somewhat irritating, but that's the nature of the man. The last chapter, no:70, is shere pleasurable delight as he revisits out takes, laughing all the while. For this reader, this lifted the book to a five star review. There are a couple of repeated lines, not edited out, in particular a who!e paragraph in chapter 52, but mostly the production is good.
Overall, this is a silly, most enjoyable story, unexpectedly humorous and well written, made even better by the narration. I was very fortunate in being freely gifted with a complimentary copy of Slab Steele, at my request, by the rights holder via Audiobook Boom. Thank you for that. I even enjoyed all of the sporting descriptions, a rare occurrence in any literature, and especially loved Wizz, the flushing cyborg.
Try it for yourself - recommended.
"Like a flock of cartoon ducks..."
Slab Steele might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer; he might be self centered and self serving, offensively dismissive, insensitive, and rather foolish when it comes to one particu!at girl. But he has a dream: to score the winning goal for his team at the Solar Craterball finals, and he doesn't deserve to be kidnapped by the strange Venue Flytrap fans he finally sees when the blindfold is removed, one a strange protohuman and the other a one time urinal cyborg, named Wizz. The story follows Slab through the glories and shambles that his life has become.
This is a genuinely funny story, dependant on punning as much as situational and lavatory humour, and more a comic hero style book than straight novel - even though the main character is not exactly warm and endearing, there is a certain pathos which makes him accessible. This is a long book, some fifteen and one half hours, filled with the fantastic adventures of his post kidnap associations with the strange couple, the journey to Venus to compete in the Big Game, weird weapons and Craterball matches, including a DeathGame, his relationship with Bertie, his hopes, fears and memories of growing up, and if it drags occasionally a little in the early stages, it makes up for it later. And the reader gets to know a lot about the intergalactic sport of Crater Ball.
Narration, by Matthew Broadhead, is superb. He is a man of many silly voices, well suited to each of the characters, with a nicely presented reading of the text which links them all. At times, the voice of Slab can be somewhat irritating, but that's the nature of the man. The last chapter, no:70, is shere pleasurable delight as he revisits out takes, laughing all the while. For this reader, this lifted the book to a five star review. There are a couple of repeated lines, not edited out, in particular a who!e paragraph in chapter 52, but mostly the production is good.
Overall, this is a silly, most enjoyable story, unexpectedly humorous and well written, made even better by the narration. I was very fortunate in being freely gifted with a complimentary copy of Slab Steele, at my request, by the rights holder via Audiobook Boom. Thank you for that. I even enjoyed all of the sporting descriptions, a rare occurrence in any literature, and especially loved Wizz, the flushing cyborg.
Try it for yourself - recommended.
June 23, 2020
This tongue-in-cheek tale has some serious themes hidden within. It is cleverly written, with many creative puns. At times, it’s wonderfully hilarious, and it is, as far as I can tell, totally original. Slab, the main character, won me over a little bit at a time, despite some big deficits. The story was enhanced by the great sports scenes for the fictional game craterball. The final scenes of the book were powerfully written and had me on the edge of my seat.
Overall, the plot was very well done, but it sagged precariously in the middle, a victim of long yah-da yah-da dialogs and too much wordplay. The author invents some new swear words, which are clever and easy to identify. Unfortunately, the characters use them so often that it becomes boring to read. Also, there are far too many urine jokes for me.
Overall, the plot was very well done, but it sagged precariously in the middle, a victim of long yah-da yah-da dialogs and too much wordplay. The author invents some new swear words, which are clever and easy to identify. Unfortunately, the characters use them so often that it becomes boring to read. Also, there are far too many urine jokes for me.
December 8, 2020
Comedy, difficult to write and also difficult to read. Like anything, it either hits your funny bone or it doesn’t. In the case of Slab Steel it’s pretty base comedy, think schoolboy ‘fart in a spacesuit’ (or in this case vac suit) kind of thing. This isn’t bad or wrong in any way, but if it’s not really your cup of tea then it will make reading this book a bit of a chore, which is a shame because in its pages there are some brilliant SF concepts covering human expansion into the solar system, manufactured protohumans, service robots, and sports played in low-g environments. I also liked the naming of the propulsion system, a call-back to those old IT backup days that some of us remember.
Slab is our main character, a craterball player with problems. He’s on the bench, and pretty much a forgotten man as his team take part in the championship play-off. About the only thing his head is useful for is being somewhere for his prized hairstyle to sit. If there’s a mistake to be made or a bad decision to be taken then Slab’s your man, be it drink or women. Or in Slab’s case one flaring woman in particular. His on-off girlfriend Bertie. A woman who attracts trouble like a pile of def attracts flies. Slab’s in real trouble this time, kidnapped by a protohuman and a urinal service robot, dragged around the solar system from habitats to space stations to colonies. He’s got to use what little brain power he has, his skills as a craterball player, and his growing realization that, as much as he doesn’t like it, he needs to be a team player to get out of this one.
The book is a romp, it’s got to be with characters names like Pud McDick and Whizz the robot urinal whose ID ends 4U2PN2. Where it drags is the dialogue, and there is a lot of dialogue, particularly at the start where the running gag that Whizz is a fount of all knowledge (as well as other more liquid stuff) and will explain everything and anything given a chance results in some info-dumps as the author gives us background to the expansive universe he has created.
The story pulled me in after a while. Slab’s not the easiest main character to read about, but why should all MCs be likeable? The support cast of Chet, Whizz, and Bertie add to the mix of comedy and SF with enough toilet humour to last a lifetime. I ended up thinking 3 stars for the comedy and 5 stars for the SF – then split the difference to leave 4
Slab is our main character, a craterball player with problems. He’s on the bench, and pretty much a forgotten man as his team take part in the championship play-off. About the only thing his head is useful for is being somewhere for his prized hairstyle to sit. If there’s a mistake to be made or a bad decision to be taken then Slab’s your man, be it drink or women. Or in Slab’s case one flaring woman in particular. His on-off girlfriend Bertie. A woman who attracts trouble like a pile of def attracts flies. Slab’s in real trouble this time, kidnapped by a protohuman and a urinal service robot, dragged around the solar system from habitats to space stations to colonies. He’s got to use what little brain power he has, his skills as a craterball player, and his growing realization that, as much as he doesn’t like it, he needs to be a team player to get out of this one.
The book is a romp, it’s got to be with characters names like Pud McDick and Whizz the robot urinal whose ID ends 4U2PN2. Where it drags is the dialogue, and there is a lot of dialogue, particularly at the start where the running gag that Whizz is a fount of all knowledge (as well as other more liquid stuff) and will explain everything and anything given a chance results in some info-dumps as the author gives us background to the expansive universe he has created.
The story pulled me in after a while. Slab’s not the easiest main character to read about, but why should all MCs be likeable? The support cast of Chet, Whizz, and Bertie add to the mix of comedy and SF with enough toilet humour to last a lifetime. I ended up thinking 3 stars for the comedy and 5 stars for the SF – then split the difference to leave 4
December 10, 2020
What I most admired about this book was the energy of the writing. The author clearly had lots of fun constructing this space opera comedy set in the world of professional sports. He has a great ear for dialogue and a knack for the inventive turn of phrase. It’s quite scatological in some of the language, and in some clever and unusual ways. I enjoyed that aspect but some may not.
Slab (the main character) is well-developed and whilst not necessarily likeable he is entirely believable and fully realised.
I felt the book was over-long. It weighs in at 567 pages which is about 30% longer than it might have been with some judicious pruning.
Whether you like the humour or not will be a matter of personal taste. I highly recommend downloading the sample, or using the “look inside” feature. If you find yourself laughing out loud over the first couple of dozen pages, you’ll probably enjoy the book, as the tone is set right there and is pretty consistent through the rest.
There’s a lot to like and I would have liked to give it more stars but just felt it was held back a bit by its own weight. A slimmer version would easily have been four stars.
Slab (the main character) is well-developed and whilst not necessarily likeable he is entirely believable and fully realised.
I felt the book was over-long. It weighs in at 567 pages which is about 30% longer than it might have been with some judicious pruning.
Whether you like the humour or not will be a matter of personal taste. I highly recommend downloading the sample, or using the “look inside” feature. If you find yourself laughing out loud over the first couple of dozen pages, you’ll probably enjoy the book, as the tone is set right there and is pretty consistent through the rest.
There’s a lot to like and I would have liked to give it more stars but just felt it was held back a bit by its own weight. A slimmer version would easily have been four stars.
November 7, 2020
The story doesn’t really expect readers to take it seriously, being rather tongue-in-cheek. I personally did not like the protagonist, but others might like him just fine. I found him grating and annoying, though others might find him brash and spunky. I found the constant use of bathroom humor over done. For me, it got old pretty quickly. The story itself was rather cleverly done, the writing and world building were very good. The story takes place in space, and involves a new game called crater ball that is played at very low gravity, which required the author to put in a lot of work building the culture around the game including new words for all sorts of things. People who enjoy science fiction with crass, goofy characters and don’t mind lots of potty humor would like this book!
November 4, 2022
Using "Look Inside" on Amazon reveals these notable quotes:
"His childhood dream had been to win the Crater Bowl. No, that was a lie."
"He always liked it when she got angry at him, though. It was fun to watch her chest heave up and down as she fumed in frustration."
"He knew it was definitely somewhere where they rode whores for fun. Or hordes? Or was it horses?"
"His childhood dream had been to win the Crater Bowl. No, that was a lie."
"He always liked it when she got angry at him, though. It was fun to watch her chest heave up and down as she fumed in frustration."
"He knew it was definitely somewhere where they rode whores for fun. Or hordes? Or was it horses?"
March 26, 2020
Space opera's are my favorite and this was a great addition to the genre. I can't wait to read a second book with Slab Steele in it. There was a lot of puns and jokes throughout the book that kept it a happy lighthearted read.
August 4, 2020
I was so looking forward to this book, needed a humorous book. This book just did not do it for me. The main character is not the sharpest track in the box and I did not really care for this type of humor.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews