The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad

The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad #1

by Felix R. Savage, Nick Podehl (Narrator)

Fletcher Connolly hasn’t got a lot to lose. Since he, and half the galaxy, signed on to the rat race of the technological relics trade, Fletch has long since come to terms with the idea that he will join the ranks of the unlucky explorers that perish lightyears from home without a dime to his name.

As the first mate of an old, decrepit exploration ship--the Skint Idjit--things can't get much worse. As if that isn’t enough, he has a hard time convincing himself his luck is bound to change when he finds himself stranded on the planet Suckass, on a remote branch of the Interstellar Railroad. With his new assignment an unlikely candidate to hide alien treasures, true to his personality, Fletch settles down to work on his tan.

But when disaster strikes and a member of his crew is killed, Fletch finds himself torn between loyalty to the surviving crew and the siren song of an unsuspected trove of A-tech.

Can Fletch save the Skint Idjit and her crew from a horrible death? Or will he ignore their dying screams and laugh all the way to the bank?

Volume 2 of the Interstellar Railroad series, Intergalactic Bogtrotter, is now available!

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Space Opera, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor, Fiction

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published July 3, 2016

About the author

Felix R. Savage writes hard science fiction, space opera, and comedic science fiction. He has also occasionally been known to commit fantasy.

Felix has a long history associated with rebellion. He was born in the 1970s, a decade of American youth rebelling against the safe culture of their parents. He is married to a wonderful woman and they have two beautiful daughters. Together the four of them live in Tokyo serving their cat overlord and benevolent protector. Felix pounds the keyboard while not translating, delighting in his family, or catering to the whims of the family’s cat. He woke up one day to learn that he was a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, but he continues to keep a low profile, and never stops watching out for any sign the lizard people have found him.

Reviews

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow!!! My daughter walked into the room where I was reading this wonderful, insanely funny book. First she thought I might be having a heart attack, but when she asked, I could only shake my head in negation. Then she asked if I was in terrible pain because she thought I was crying. When in reality, I was laughing so hard tears were flowing and I was bent over, trying to prevent myself from some sort of rupture. If you like to laugh, buy this book but you should not read it at night if people in your house are sleeping. Maybe not if your neighbors are sleeping. It's impossible to be quiet.

Dear Mr. Savage, thank you for the best laughs I have had in years.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 3.5 stars. If Star Trek met Hitchhiker's Guild and Jim Kirk never went into Starfleet. I imagine this would be close to his story. I didn't realize this was multiple stores in one book so I was a bit confused when time kept jumping forward. A fun, adventurous book!

[PJ Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Rubbish With Names, the prequel, before this (through the miracle of the interwebs) and just had to read this too.
It is incredibly funny and Fletch etc. are great characters. I was swept away by the story, not overly full of sciencey stuff it manages to get the balance just right between sci-fi and humour.
I have already bought the next two books which is a rare thing for me.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I ran across a book with the right balance of humor and sci-fi. The author paints a picture of an interesting future with all kinds of crazy characters and entities that keeps things interesting. It seems very plausible on why the characters would be traveling around the universe, to find left over tech from long gone civilizations and those who have a vested interest in getting it. The book zoomed by quickly and entertained me thoroughly. I do wish it was a little longer, but if you just want something that doesn't take a lot of time or commitment, then this is a decent choice.

For fans of Douglas Adams and witty humor, but not wanting a huge commitment, I'd give it a go.

[kelly west · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun

Fletcher needs a ton of help. Enjoyed it immensely. I was not bogged down with irrelevant facts. I liked the pace of the story. It was clean and moved right along without unnecessary sidetrack elements. A fun and easy read.

[k. bonnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A jolly romp

I like my stories to be fast paced and upbeat. This was what I got. Imaginative with plenty of possibilities for the future. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fletcher Connolly's Adventures are exactly what SyFy's Original Movies would be in written form. If that's your cup of tea, this book would definitely appeal to you. It's not mine.

I picked this book to read after spending two months reading nothing but A Song of Ice and Fire. I was looking for something light that didn't need too many brain cells to process. In that, this definitely delivered. But in everything else, it lacked.

Development was weak all around. None of the characters are particularly memorable and I felt like I learned little about the main character. Very little insight was offered to explain why the world was the way it was.

If you're looking for a quick, light read this is worth the Kindle Unlimited price of free. If you're looking for a space opera with substance, look elsewhere.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

better than I anticipated. I wouldn't call it outrageously funny, but it has a certain wry, wisecracking charm. The schtick of the 'venal Irishman in space' is periodically amusing, especially since Savage's worldbuilding, in which humanity has jumped into interstellar travel in the 2030s (through the maguffin of the 'railroad'), allows him to drop plenty of references to recent pop culture with which readers will be familiar. I guess what impressed me most were the hard sci-fi elements that creep in amongst all the wry banter - indeed, the planet of the butterfly-zillas is quite clever and provides both a mystery and some tension. So, well done. On to the next one. [reading the first 3 novellas in this series for book club]

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited but one as freebie and rest thru ku, without coercion, if one doesn't count Star Wars references and other such oddly interesting things. He needs to come sit by me and tell me stories, but until he does I suppose binge reading all to most of his books will have to do me.He ain't 'right' but that may be redundant when saying it to reference a writer; he is interesting to read, which can not be said about all writers.

The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 0: Rubbish With Names
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 1: Skint Idjit
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 2: Intergalactic Bogtrotter
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 3: Banjaxed Ceili
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 4: Supermassive Blackguard

[Cmoore · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
After couple of hours spent listening the Skint Idjit, I realized that I wasn't connecting with the story or any of the characters.
In this "funny" scifi adventure, and yes I caught the jokes that were plastered in, even laughed at a few of 'em. But, this kind of storytelling is just not for me! I don't like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy either! LOL!
Not even Nick Podehl great performance could save the book for me!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy and light sci-fi read. It has a few humorous parts and I enjoy Fletcher as a character but the rest of the characters are pretty flat and I hope they get fleshed out if they are going to be regular characters in the series. The plotline was interesting enough but nothing too special. This book was also really short, I read it in a couple of hours, so I can't see myself buying the other books if they are as short as this one. Overall 3 out of 5 stars.

[Jeanne Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Fun Read

Come along for a ride on the interstellar railroad! Join Fletcher Connolly and his crew as they search for alien artifacts that can be found all over the galaxy. This is a fun, short book that will give you some laughs and giggles. I recommend it for tweens, teens and up.

[Eric Korte · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this has a Hitchhiker's Guide vibe. Sci-fi with humor and quirky characters but not enough of any of them for me. I found it amusing at times and a easy read. But I think I was hoping for the sci-fi and world building weirdness', different and crazy. But it didn't get there. This just wasn't for me.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light hearted science fiction adventure. I'd say there is nothing really reluctant about Fletcher's adventures. He plows head first into exploring the great unknown. Along the way, he loses billion-dollar claims at least three times, faces certain death about a dozen times, and is hopelessly lost most of the time. It all works out in the end.

[Jefé Martens-Koop · Rating 5 out of 5]

every now and then I stumble across a book that turns out to be truly great. This one certainly was. From start to finish it was just a total Joy. the main character is a lovable Rascal and I hope the author puts out more just like this

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited but one as freebie and rest thru ku, without coercion, if one doesn't count Star Wars references and other such oddly interesting things. He needs to come sit by me and tell me stories, but until he does I suppose binge reading all to most of his books will have to do me.He ain't 'right' but that may be redundant when saying it to reference a writer; he is interesting to read, which can not be said about all writers.

The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 0: Rubbish With Names
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 1: Skint Idjit
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 2: Intergalactic Bogtrotter
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 3: Banjaxed Ceili
The Reluctant Adventures of Fletcher Connolly on the Interstellar Railroad Vol. 4: Supermassive Blackguard

[Dan Beliveau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun novella about an authentically Irish character in space. It has the right balance of humor, fun, and adventure. I'm looking forward reading the other entries in this series.

[Norman Hirschman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing read.Fletcher is the XO on a spaceship trying to return a copse back home. Some action as well as humor but a little too short for my taste but still worth reading.

[gkbowood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy, fun audio book that was made even better by the great talent of the Narrator! Wish the was a sequel...

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty funny stuff. Good characters and the narrator was excellent!

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story is mediocre, but it would be a fine time waster if it wasn't for some very problematic issues in the series. These books are an easy skip.

[Kathleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, this book is cruel to trans people. Some jokes just aren't funny...

[Bryan Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was laughing out loud within 5 minutes.

“Vampire...Butterflies. What a nice planet!”

[Kerry Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great fun read...looking forward to reading more of the series.

[Sean Klingler · Rating 1 out of 5]

This absolutely awful to me. nuff said.

[Ethan Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a relaxing story with interesting characters and an enjoyable sequence of plots. Nothing spectacular but worth a listen nonetheless.

[Kevin Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fletcher barely making it out alive. Little more of the puzzle of the railroad revealed.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Found it too annoying and stupid to finish it.

[Wendy]

DNF at 6%. Just no.

[Joseph Inzirillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. Definitely going to check out the rest of the series. Good mix of insanity and science fiction. More to follow.