Willful Child: The Search for Spark by Steven Erikson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I tore through this one and had a great deal of fun. These are the continuing adventures of... Oh My God, who put that flea collar on that cat!? This is genocide!

Ahem... the continuing adventures of the sexually frustrated captain of the Starship Willful Child as he and his loyal crew of a beachball doctor, a claustrophobic engineer, a mad AI holographic chicken, Scalzi, two replacement janitors, and ABSOLUTELY NO RED SHIRTS anywhere to be found discover the meaning of life in the undiscovered country. But before that, they will merrily jaunt across the galaxy, blowing up aliens with extreme prejudice and redefine the entire genetic destiny of oddly malleable consumers.

"We will be called the Purse."

Oh, yes. Hunting down spare change in all the couches across an enemy's fleet, letting nothing stop them. *shudder*

In-jokes abound. Everywhere. Every page. Erikson is pulling off one hell of a ride here, but I should warn you: it's dark humor. Very dark, with a splash of light that is usually followed with a cocktail of drugs and a quick displacement into a tank filled with teeth within teeth within teeth.

Is the original spirit of Star Trek preserved?

Sure, if you think of it as an Orville on steroids and force it into the R-Rated category. :)

But where it really shines is in the deep and abiding love and knowledge of all the originals. Erikson subverts them all. :) And he doesn't limit himself just to Star Trek.

I think I would recommend these books to all hardcore fans of SF. They're not just parodies. They poke holes in universes and the logic at the originals, sure, but this is a good story all by itself, too. :) So much happens... and I'm only referring to the Space Marines in their D&D marathon!

I just want more. And more. I can't get enough. :)

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