February 15, 1998
98046
Quiz Time:
- Heinlein novel about a brain-transplant.
- Terry Gilliam movie pitting a young English boy and his companions against....Evil.
- Nicholas Meyer movie about H.G. Wells' pursuit of Jack the Ripper.
- Animated film (executive produced by George Lucas) about a villain's plot to blanket the world in nightmares.
- Sergio Leone Western with Henry Fonda cast as the villain.
Review Time:
Grease Monkey #1
by Tim Eldred
Image, b&w, $2.95
Rating: Gosh-a-rooty!
Let's hope that the third (or is it the fourth?) time is the charm for this splendid science-fiction story for all ages. The intro goes like this: "Early in the 21st Century (2:55 AM, in fact), the history of the Planet Earth took a left turn into oncoming traffic. ALIEN traffic. A million, zillion hostile spaceships decended on humanity and blasted civilization into chili powder. Then they left."
After most of the human race is wiped out, the remainder are approached by other civilized races in the galaxy, who explain the nature of their attackers (who are at war with the entire rest of the galaxy), and help the humans back on their collective feet. Unfortunately, there aren't enough humans left to sustain a technological civilization, much less one that will be of help to the galactic war effort, so the galactics look for volunteers on the road to sentience among the Earth's more intelligent animal population. (If this sounds a bit like David Brin's "Uplift" books, that's because it is.) The dolphins turn them down flat, but the Gorillas agree.
Grease Monkey is the tale of Cadet Robin J. Plotnik, assigned to the flag-ship of the human fleet, the G.A.A.A.H.
Grease Monkey is part adventure, part coming-of-age, and all fun. Highly recommended.
* Galactic Alliance Against the Alien Horde, what else?
Posted by joshua at February 15, 1998 12:00 AM