Joe Zieja’s Mechanical Failure is a take off on the ever popular, usually pompous military space opera story of plain-Joe guy who somehow single-handedly saves the world. Ex-sergeant R. Wilson Rogers adamantly does NOT want to be a hero, in fact he isn’t crazy about being back in the military at all. When his option was 3 years in the salt mines for galactic littering (or maybe smuggling, they aren’t really sure) or 3 years in the military, he takes military.
After all, the last time he served the ship flashed a BEER sign at noon, work was a breeze, and hallways were great for greasing down and belly sliding. Who ever thought things would change?
But they did. And now it is time to restart your warship…
Unfortunately the BEER signs are gone; everyone gets inspected and demerit-ed; the Admiral put up nauseating inspirational posters (you know the type); there is a horde of AI robots in positions of authority and Rogers is assigned to lead a group of AI robot fighters. Yuck. He doesn’t even like robots and he sure isn’t fond of inspections or inspiring quotes.
Switch from Humor Focus to People/Plot Focus
About half way through Mechanical Failure shifts from being mostly funny to being mostly about our not-wanna-be hero having to find a way to save his ship and crew – and yes, probably humanity too – from killer AI robots. Rogers surprises himself by getting serious and buckling down to solve the problem and stop the menace.
The mood remains lighthearted but with a bit of desperation and frustration thrown in, about what you would expect when a guy like Rogers gets tossed in the deep end. About this point the story gets more interesting and I found myself more engrossed than I had ever expected. It was no longer just a funny take off but a real story with real plots, real people.
Writing Style
It’s hard to write humor and even harder to mingle it in with a semi-serious story and have a novel that works on both levels. Author Zieja manages to do both. His style is readable, well done, with very little over the top ridiculous hammy humor. He focuses on Rogers as his main story line and it works.
I got this to take camping and got through it one rainy afternoon. It was a fun way to spend a few hours with interesting people. Zaija’s webpage mentions Mechanical Failure is the first in a planned trilogy with the second book at the publishers now. I’m not sure I’ll look for the sequels, but if they come across my notice I’ll read them.
Overall: 4 Stars
I will try it!