Pay Me, Bug!

Pay Me, Bug! is my first venture into the realm of "Space O

Pay Me, Bug! is my first venture into the realm of "Space Opera." Don't get me wrong, I love science fiction, but the word "opera" alone conjures visions of stuffy old men and women in powdered wigs, begging for attention. Not exactly an exciting vision, even with the word "space" in front of it. This book, however, is anything but boring--it kept me interested, from the first page to the very last. It's not just entertaining; it's witty and smart, with sophisticated ideas that are easy to read.

The crew of the Fool's Errand, captained by Grif Vindh, are smugglers on a good day, but they're also a collection of friends, ex-lovers, adventurers, and bad asses--both human and alien. Some of my favorite parts of this book involve those where the narration follows Ktk--Chief Engineer and "bug" of the story. Due to a complicated reproductive cycle, Ktk prefers the gender-neutral "it" over being classified male or female. It's at the heart of the story, and no matter how often it loses, Ktk always seems to bet against the Captain--hence the name, Pay Me, Bug! While the title is an optimistic one, this story is unpredictable and will keep you guessing until the very end.

For a book about smugglers who bet, drink, and fight their way out of sticky situations, the language is pretty clean. It has the right amount of description without being overly wordy or too sparse to get a good visual. The dialogue is a perfect companion to the narration--it's punchy and seamless, and balanced with action scenes.

What I Loved: While Pay Me, Bug! is classified as a Space Opera, a sub genre of Science Fiction, it doesn't saturate the reader with complex technology--it focuses on its characters and telling the story. Don't get me wrong, the technology is there, it just doesn't take center stage.

What I Didn't Love: In the beginning, I was a bit overwhelmed by the cast aboard the Fool's Errand, but this corrected itself as the story progressed. Characters that weren't pertinent to the story seemed to fade into the background, allowing the stronger characters to move the story forward.

Overall: I really enjoyed this book-it's unique story and original characters made this an incredibly fun read. If I had to bet, I'd say that you'd love Pay Me, Bug! just as much as I did.

I originally reviewed this at Easily Mused

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