Book Review:

The Cosmic Turkey by Laura Loomis

Genre: Science Fiction Comedy

Publisher: Thinklings Books, LLC

Release Date: Aug. 3rd, 2020

Pages: 161

Available on Amazon

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SYNOPSIS from Amazon.ca

Technology Hates Janet
After she accidentally smashes a floatcar through City Hall, the bureautopia sentences Janet to captaining the starship S.S. Turkey, and its misfit crew. Her mission: to boldly rescue a prisoner from the one corner of the universe colder than her ex-boyfriend’s heart—Pluto. Which, aside from not even being a real planet, is the one place in the universe where chocolate is illegal.

In between studying The Space-Faring Moron’s Guide to Common Science Fiction Plot Devices, falling for a rival captain’s boyfriend, and avoiding unnecessary time travel, Janet has a chance to save two worlds . . . or doom them to permanent chocolatelessness.

What do technological mishaps, curling, Pluto, space travel, chocolate, and coffee have in common?

The Cosmic Turkey.

When her floatcar crashes into City Hall, Janet is given the choice of one year in jail, one year in the military, or one year in The Galactic Universal Peacemongering Paradigm Emergent Action Spacefleet (aka. GUPPEAS). Janet chooses the year in GUPPEAS and is inexplicably given the position of Captain on a dilapidated spaceship she calls Turkey (due to its uncanny similarity to the bird). Her crew of misfits includes Lola, a Venusian woman, Zeeko, an enigmatic but happy Mercurian, Frink, the kleptomaniac pilot, and Nlubglub, a shapeshifting Jupiteran. Together they embark on their mission to rescue a prisoner on Pluto.

The Cosmic Turkey is a hilarious romp through the cosmos as we follow Janet on her mission to rescue Dr. Pilar Villarreal who has been imprisoned on Pluto for consuming a banned substance: chocolate.

Janet is a loveably awkward character who is fully aware that she has no idea what she is doing since she joined GUPPEAS. With the unique character flaw of having technology malfunction whenever she is near, she gets into all sorts of situations that kept me glued to the page.

“At least it makes the moldy walls look less disgusting.” Ugh, I was terrible at flirting.

-Janet

This is space comedy WELL DONE. From the captivating characters, to the witty banter, to the intelligent prose, I loved everything about this book. A lighthearted sci-fi, this book is exactly what I didn’t know I needed. More than once, I found myself laughing as I read and I’ll certainly be reading this again.

The only critique I have is about the description of the intergalactic curling game. As a Canadian with a husband who is an avid curler, sweeping doesn’t actually change the direction of the rock. Sweeping can make the rock go further or increase the curl, but hey, maybe intergalactic curling works differently! I was pleasantly surprised and laughed out loud at the inclusion of this sport in a science fiction book.

The Cosmic Turkey will appeal to fans of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and other science fiction comedy. I highly recommend this read.

If you do give it a read and enjoy it like I did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon! Reviews are incredibly helpful for authors on Amazon and assist with overall visibility. This is one of those books that absolutely deserves more recognition.

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