Dubi reviewed Will Save the Galaxy for Food by Yahtzee Croshaw
Review of 'Will Save the Galaxy for Food' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Let's just clarify one thing - this isn't a satire. A satire is, and I quote, "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." Now, all the characters in this book are certainly stupid, but there isn't much in the way of commentary in the narrative. This is more like a parody, albeit one that parodies a generic storyline rather than a particular body of works. So maybe it's just a comedy, and a slapstick-y one at that. But as a comedy, it's not very good. See, a satirical work can get away with not being particularly funny if it's clever. But this book isn't terribly clever, and it's not at very funny either. It got some faint "huh, that's funny" responses from me, but that's generally it.
The plot itself …
Let's just clarify one thing - this isn't a satire. A satire is, and I quote, "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." Now, all the characters in this book are certainly stupid, but there isn't much in the way of commentary in the narrative. This is more like a parody, albeit one that parodies a generic storyline rather than a particular body of works. So maybe it's just a comedy, and a slapstick-y one at that. But as a comedy, it's not very good. See, a satirical work can get away with not being particularly funny if it's clever. But this book isn't terribly clever, and it's not at very funny either. It got some faint "huh, that's funny" responses from me, but that's generally it.
The plot itself is something, ironically, that I would love to hear Yahtzee rip to shreds, as he damn well could given the generic flat characters and the plot-twists that fluctuate between obvious from a mile away to nonsensical.
I liked Mogworld, I thought that was a very strong book, so Crowshaw clearly is able to be funny in written long-form. But both Jam and WStGfF just felt half-assed. Like he started with a premise and a couple of vaguely defined characters with exactly two characteristics, and let the rest of the story be procedurally generated. Which would be kinda cool as a computer science experiment, but just doesn't make for a very fun read over 300 pages.