Will Save the Galaxy for Food

By: Yahtzee Croshaw

Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

A not-quite epic science fiction adventure about a down-on-his luck galactic pilot caught in a cross-galaxy struggle for survival! 

Space travel just isn't what it used to be. With the invention of quantum teleportation, space heroes aren't needed anymore. When one particularly unlucky ex-adventurer masquerades as famous pilot and hate figure Jacques McKeown, he's sucked into an ever-deepening corporate and political intrigue. Between space pirates, adorable deadly creatures, and a missing fortune in royalties, saving the universe was never this difficult! 

From the creator of Mogworld and Jam! Benjamin Richard "Yahtzee" Croshaw is a British Australian comedic writer, video game journalist, author, and video game developer. He is perhaps best known for his acerbic video game review series, Zero Punctuation, for The Escapist. 

©2017 Yahtzee Croshaw (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Great

A solid science fiction novel from Yahtzee Croshaw. WSTGFF is a tongue-in-cheek comedy with enough seriousness to give it compelling tension as well.

The novel is written from the perspective of a down-on-his-luck star pilot who gets unwillingly drawn into big events. Although the protagonist initially comes across as a clumsy oaf who only cares about himself, it turns out he is mostly very competent and genuinely cares about helping others. This is a refreshing change of pace compared to the bumbling idiot archetype that is used far too often in modern comedy. This is more the story about a former hero, nearly dried up after the end of the good old days, who gets unexpectedly thrown into a new adventure.

While much of Croshaw's humor is low-brow, it is usually clever and well-executed, and many parts of the book had me laughing out loud. He mixes situational humor, irony, amusing character flaws, humorous non-sequiters, and other forms of humor to keep the laughs fresh and varied.

My only complaint would be the rather weak ending, which throws in a last few unanswered questions before going out on a whimper. There are solid narrative reasons for this, and it serves to make a point, but it still disappointed me; I suspect Croshaw would call me an idiotic sheep who only knows how to appreciate a story when he is spoon-fed a conventional ending, but I just wish he'd ended the story on some trope-defying comedic note.

An achievement to say the very least!

Will Save the Galaxy for Food has filled a void I felt could only be filled by great science fiction works such as those of Douglas Adams. The humor is on point and is tied in with the writing seamlessly. The characters and plot have immense depth and immersion. And Yahtzee's voice is just perfect. I can certainly recommend this book to an audience which has the gift of hearing and 1 or more fingers or finger-like appendages.

Fantastic!

Would you listen to Will Save the Galaxy for Food again? Why?

I almost never re-listen to fiction, but I can see myself doing it in a year or two.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Will Save the Galaxy for Food?

Despite its claim of only being a "satirical sci-fi adventure", there were actually quite a few plot twists; I don't want to spoil anything, but there were a few "woah wait what?" moments.

Which character – as performed by Yahtzee Croshaw – was your favorite?

Ms. Warden

Any additional comments?

I wasn't sure what to expect with this, but decided to give it a shot. It was _thoroughly_ enjoyable. Really sad that I'm done with it! I'll have to check out some other Yahtzee works.

Yahtzee has done it again, still unsure what "it" was but I liked it.

Yahtzee has done a few books and I have liked his previous work. I felt no fear in burning a credit to get this latest work.

There are many tropes and plot device ruts along the roads of sci-fi and fantasy. Yahtzee has blown the shocks out of the listeners ride but you learn to enjoy the spine compressions and bitten tongues as you jounce and shudder along the narrative.

I sense the author/narrator does not consider this a serious genre defining book allowing him to reveal how others in the field may take themselves too seriously.

I will continue to keep my eyes open for Yahtzee to pull up alongside me on a narrative backroad promising a wild ride sure to require a seatbelt and I will definitely ride shotgun again.

fun and funny

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book and recommend it. It is funny, and although I was highly skeptical of any book performed by its author – he did well. The book is in a lot of ways a comedy of errors, and is not difficult for the reader to see a wide number of these problems coming, but they are of course invisible to the protagonist until they slam him hard.
He takes it on the chin, and keep going despite it all… And of course triumphs in the end.
But then you knew that.
I think this is a nice introduction to this author's work and I'll certainly look for more from him.

Master of Satire

I love how this novel simultaneously honors and destroys every sci-fi trope in existence. I've loved listening to Crowshaw ever since he started reviewing video games and his witty brand of satire translate well into novel form. Yahtzee's drunk voice makes the book worth a credit all by itself in my opinion.

Didn't like the characters

Any additional comments?

I am a third of the way through the book and realized that I don't like any of the main characters and don't really care what happens. There were some laugh out loud moments, but overall, I decided not to waste my time on the rest of the book.

Light hearted adventure with a comedian twist

THE BAD
There's nothing really bad about this one, in reality. The worst thing I can think of is that maybe at some points the story dragged a bit and it wasn't nails stuck to armchair gripping. it was just ok every now and then

THE GOOD
Well there ar eplenty to list here. Characters, for one. With few exceptions, the characters are not particularly stellar but are very well defined in what they are and bring their own touch of entertainment and jokes to the story. The voice acting for them, although I'm the kind of listener who enjoys narrators distinctly separating men and women and this one didn't, was very good. You could tell who was speaking the majority of the time, and even despite the forced stereotypical characters voices be also forced, I believe that was the intention to make it funnier (which it did most of the time). The story is ok with nothing special or really extra captivating about it... seems like a simple backdrop serving as secondary character for the only purpose of providing the characters to delve into funny(er) situations. That being said, I think the ending was very realistic (or as much as one could be in this book) and at the same time particularly satisfying

THE VERDICT
After coming from a series of books that took themselves too seriously (some that had enough to sustain it and others not so much), this was excruciatingly refreshing. It provided a very much welcome escape while serving as sci-fi read along the way. Beware though that if you're not used to this kind of genre mix (it was my first such book), it might take you a while to get into it. My advice would be just to let go of any story expectations (which doesn't mean the story is bad, not at all) and try to savor all the small sharp wit conversations, which are plenty, because that is where the real gold lies within this story

Despicable

Yahtzee obviously stole this story from some poor Starpilot and is passing it off as his own.

really well done... couldn't put it down

wish it was longer other thab that loved it. one of my favorite books, right up there with hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

Stumbled across this 'plying' beauty

Having never heard of 'Yahtzee' Croshaw prior to finding this book on Audible, I was, as I always am to unknowns, a little dubious about using my credit on it. I am very glad I did.

The satire and comedy in this book actually made me laugh out loud on occasion and I thought the plot was well thought out. Bringing together futuristic Sci-Fi elements as well as current technology, is no mean feat.
One thing that was especially pleasing to me was the use of mathematical terms for swearwords. I thought this very clever as you are provided with a reference for them at the start (without actually saying the words) and it kept my mind ticking to recall which actual swear word the character was using. I found I was wanting to use the 'plying' words myself!

It is most certainly an adventure book with many action and fast paced scenes paired with dry wit to balance it out. One of those stories, in fact, that I could imagine being turned into a film.The writing is such that you have no problem imagining the events of the book. It is not overly complicated and flows well.

The characters were also well developed and have a clear purpose. I particularly liked our main hero who, at first came across as a bit of a flake, turns out to actually save the day a few times. A sort of anti-hero turns back into hero vibe.

Admittedly, it took me a little while to get into Croshaw's narration. I found it a little slow to begin with but speeding it up via the Audible app quickly negated that and I began to enjoy his intonations and characterisations and really got into the book.

My reasoning for 4 stars overall was because I found the end of the book to be over a little too quickly. There appears to be a build up in the book of a certain 'bad guy'. I was expecting a good old showdown but it didn't quite materialise and ultimately felt a little rushed.
I found myself wanting more at the end however, a sequel perhaps.

I shall definitely peruse other Yahtzee Croshaw titles.

Like Red Dwarf crossed with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

A wonderful blend of humour and adventure that twists and turns in an extremely satisfactory way.
The story develops well and every character's personality is well written and expressed with ease.
If you're a fan of The Guide or Red Dwarf, this will stand out to you especially, if you're not, you'll probably still love this book.

Gripped a non sci-fi fan!

What did you like most about Will Save the Galaxy for Food?

I've long been a fan of Yahtzee's work, but I'd not explored his novels, yet, so I decided to start with his most recent story, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I'm not often a fan of sci-fi; usually it's too tech-heavy and loaded with lingo and confusing descriptive writing, then I lose clarity about every plying event that takes place, but this novel doesn't do that. If it ever needs to explain something, it will, with easily-digestible anecdotes and factoids that are humorous and really get the point across, and Croshaw's narration is graceful and emphatic, and is more importantly very easy to follow. You can easily identify the characters involved, and all the dialogue is easily distinguishable from the rest of the narrative. This was much easier to listen to than a lot of audiobooks and tapes I possess.

The first person perspective really works well with the variety that the story provides, and makes for an emotional rollercoaster as you grow attached to the protagonist and those around him, cringing as plans go awry, or more appropriately, as the same protagonist connives new plans to encourage things going awry. It's a story that keeps moving and pressing on to new environments, never languishing whilst keeping everything it ever brought to the table in previous chapters relevant, and there's a large emphasis on the human element, with characters frequently expressing their doubts, frustration and wit, and it may all bring a big old grin to your face.

I recommend this thoroughly, even if sci-fi isn't quite your cup of tea. I mean, it isn't normally mine, but every now and again something charming has to breeze into you and cause you to take notice.

Galaxy saved - I think food was eaten?

Hardly literary genius, but a huge amount of fun.

I often select something a bit random to clear my head after listening to an epic fantasy - and this was one of those selections. Wasn't expecting to enjoy it quite so much.
Jaunty dialogue, badly behaved but ultimate decent bloke as the lead character - throw in some dodgy kidnapping and random inter-galactic creatures, and you potentially have the makings of a farce, but still good fun. Despite myself, I found myself grinning a few times while I listened.

5 stars for the simple enjoyment factor. 5 stars for a good performance, but 3 stars for the story because it really isn't ground-breaking.

"Will Save Galaxy for Food" - that pretty much sets the tone..... If you're looking for something uncomplicated and fun, this might be it.

not bad , very yahtzee

not a bad book with some genuinely funny moments , it follows a path like all his others the anti hero forced into a heroic situation, however for the first time it actually focusses on someone who was fearless and brave once, a nice change of pace, it is a little shame that as yet there are no likeable women in his books, either playing the idiot or the soulless robot, but nevertheless I would listen to this again. The story draws you in and is paced well , I love some of his descriptions, some of which made me chuckle. If you ever read this short review, (unlikely). Thank you Mr Croshaw, I look forward to your next novel.

TLDR if you like Yahtzee's dead pan and a nice sci-fi anti hero romp, this is a really good choice.

An excellent satire

Full of the author's usual hilarious style and highly original use of similes. Worth trying.

Enough twists and turns to make you dizzy!

This is not a laugh out loud book, nor do you find yourself chuckling at a good joke or peiece of wit but you do find yourself enjoying it immensely. The main characters manage to find more scrapes and situations to work their way out of than you'd find in a plot for a whodunit. And they are all well laid out with logic and reasoning as to how they got there but you still can't say why they're there or how they'll get out. I got one escape wrong when our main man was surrounded by Zoobs, one of the villainous races. I was happy to be wrong, the book had a better way out...a much more evil one!

The narration grates a little, you think he's shouting it at you to make it all seem important and hurried, then you get used to his voice and it becomes acceptable. I think others could have narrated better but it's his book so......

I would highly recommend this book to sci-fi fans, to others, I would say it is very enjoyable and entertaining and well worth a read/l listen.

Yahtzee strikes again!

Where does Will Save the Galaxy for Food rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Will Save the Galaxy for Food is definitely among the best. A cleverly written story with believable characters and, as typical for Yahtzee, a flawed hero that keeps you interested.

Who was your favorite character and why?

With such an entertaining cast, it's a tricky decision. My own personal favourites would have to be the lead hero - a man caught up in something much bigger than he'd ever wanted, and his tack-sharp foil Miss Warden, whose sarcastic wit provides a barbed quip every time she opens her mouth.

What about Yahtzee Croshaw’s performance did you like?

Yahtzee, as the author of his stories, knows his characters better than anyone. With other successive audiobooks under his belt (Mogworld and Jam, which are also brilliant reads) he's had an opportunity to develop his voice acting skills and find his talents. Every character has their own voice and pattern of speech, and they're all crafted to suit their personalities.

Miss Warden speaks with an edge unlike any other, and young Jemimah has the air of someone utterly dragged along for the ride. Yahtzee brings a passion only a craftsman can.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. The plot has enough twists to keep you entertained and the interaction between the cast make it an engaging listen. Whilst you'll likely have to split it into its respective Parts, it'll keep you interested in each step.

Any additional comments?

Yahtzee brings a fresh perspective to storytelling, and each of his books is a testament to the personality he brings. Will Save the Galaxy for Food is just the newest edition in a library from this author, and each book is worth your time.

very good probably his best work

I really enjoyed this the dynamic between the two leads is fantastically wrttien craving more

Wow - that was bad, really bad.

Any additional comments?

That was one terrible book. I hated it, every minute annoyed me. The only reason I kept with it was that I bought extra credits to get this and I have nothing in my 'queue'.

I got the book because of other people's reviews. Lots of stars and great comments.

People said it was funny - laugh out loud funny. It's not.

Someone said it was like a cross between Hitchhiker's Guide and Red Dwarf. It's not. Not even close in terms of entertainment. The sudo-science is, but HH and RD can get away with that because they are highly entertaining.