"Warning," a notice reads on the cover of this volume, "this book contains a marked lack of respect for authority, mature concepts, immature concepts, deliberate humour, frequent unnecessary violence and people making fun of stuff you like."

Sounds like it could be fun, then.

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover – Spindle, however, proves itself as something of an exception to this rule. The front page illustration – a great OTT piece of comic-book art – is a pretty-much certified encapsulation of the narrative within.

As a work of science-fiction, this clearly isn’t going to be some ponderous chin-stroking Arthur C. Clarke epic. What it is going to be is a light-hearted, humorous romp – a clear labour of love by an author who is obviously a huge fan of the genre and comedy in general.

Easy comparisons can be drawn – Red Dwarf and the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy among them. Spindle isn’t going to convert the uninitiated into hardcore sci-fi acolytes, but chances are if you have an affection for Lister, Rimmer et al you’ll find plenty to enjoy here.

Spindle tells the story of nervous young militaristic recruit Peter Turner and his off-the-wall adventures with sociopathic ‘colleague’ Oblun – a greatly entertaining creation, a hard-drinking misanthrope who alleviates hangovers by destroying cleaning droids.

Taylor clearly has a good grasp of the comedy of conflict – putting his anti-heroes into decidedly dangerous situations and letting them squabble their way out of them. While occasionally veering slightly towards self-conscious wackiness, Spindle remains an enjoyable and funny trek through the more surreal nooks and cranny of this weird old universe of ours.

Taylor is working hard to create a mythology and a self-contained universe – Joss-Whedon-style, he understands the importance of creating sympathetic yet flawed characters and letting them riff off each other. More stories from the Spindleverse (new word, there) are apparently due to emerge very soon. All credit to Taylor – a cult fanbase could well be assured before too long.

In short, then – if Douglas Adams floats your boat, Spindle is certainly worth a gander. Publicity heralds it as ‘the funniest book ever written‘ – a title which has unfortunately already been granted to Victoria Beckham’s autobiography (albeit unintentionally so). Nevertheless, it’s a chucklesome 200-odd pages, bright and breezy and bubbling with imagination and enthusiasm.

Besides. Any book that features a spacecraft called the Hunter Of Kidneys automatically enters hecklerspray’s ‘worth reading’ pile.

Read More:

Spindle Official Website

[story by C J Davies]