Bob's Saucer Repair (Bob and Nikki #1)

Christi M

Rating: really liked it
I’m not sure I’ve seen a book like this before and I’m not sure sure what to make of it. There are no chapters and it is 90-95% straight dialogue. There are no descriptors. No internal conversations that provide you with insight into characters motivations. No background information on any character. For example, Bob mentions to Nikki he knows someone who can help out. A few sentences later he is calling John and a few more after that John is at the house. We are never told what John looks like, history, hobbies. He’s called and then he shows up.

Bob’s Saucer Repair begins when Bob pulls up to his house one day and sees an alien trying to fix her spaceship. The spaceship needs some coolant and few other broken parts fixed and Bob is more than happy to help Nikki (the alien) out. She has to leave sooner than expected and Bob feels her absence because he rather liked her company – a lot. But as it turns out Bob’s help is so invaluable that the aliens come back and offer him a business opportunity to provide saucer repair to other aliens. Almost immediately upon accepting the job the real adventure starts happening.

The main characters are Bob and Nikki, but the group grows and John becomes an integral part to the space repair shop too. Although there are several different characters, I found their personalities were a little too similar to each other. As a result, there weren’t many distinguishing characteristics between them other than a few examples here and there. I also found that the human characters all accepted the idea of aliens and spaceships a bit quicker than one might expect.

While the novel does have a decent amount of flaws, there is also a sense of joy that comes across in the writing. The story offers humor, romance, and a sense of sci-fi fun.

William Howe

Rating: really liked it
I wanted to like this

Decent plot, good dialog, amusing characters.

But.

The pace is all wrong. All talk and no descriptors (she said, he motioned, their eyebrows raised) makes for an uneven narrative. Pages of dialog with no descriptors only works for soliloquies. People don’t simply sit still when talking.

Then there is the magic tech. Too handwavium and used too much. Sleep teaching is a time honored trope, but this novel overuses the concept.

I personally got bounced out when the MC took possession of his new real estate property and discover a mysterious bunker. Basic realty concept is that the seller has to make the buyer aware of all structures on the property *and* any hidden defects they are aware of. Mysterious bunker with no available key should have been disclosed at least during signing. Especially if a bank is involved!!!

The only thing missing was the retired Navy SEAL/Marine Scout Sniper/Sooper Green Beanie.

The beginning of the book had potential, but it did not develop well and ultimately crashed.

Debrac2014

Rating: really liked it
Fun action packed story! It's told in the first person, mostly dialog!

Teresa Carrigan

Rating: really liked it
Humorous, silly, with lots of dialog, action, and pop culture references. I’m enjoying each book in the series.

Stealthily

Rating: really liked it
I wanted to like this, but the writing style was just too vague for me to enjoy the story. It is a cute idea, I just really wish an editor had sat down and steered the author in a better direction stylistically. It was very, very dialogue heavy. Descriptions of any kind were thin on the ground, which meant I had no idea what any of the characters or their surroundings looked like. I also didn’t get a good feel for who the characters really were - generally I understand that all the mains are easy going with quick senses of humor, but that was applicable to them all without much differentiation. Only difference is one is an easy going former doctor, one is an easy going mechanic, and one is an easy going interstellar guide who apparently is female and thus immediately the love interest of Bob. Go figure. Several people were clearly unaffected by this and enjoyed the book thoroughly. I immerse myself in stories far too much to do so.

Persnickety

Rating: really liked it
Just plain fun

Pure entertainment, right up there with premium frozen custard without calories. The culture memes might be as much fun as in Anderle's "Kurtherian Gambit" (even if much more blatant). Give yourself a special treat and read this straight through.

UPDATE: I was doing a re-read of "Bob's Saucer Repair" and figured out why I like it so much. (Other than Snitz world.) Good authors have a love of language and a playful and or elegant relationship with words. They also view things more "deeply" and at more objective, maybe skewed, levels than most. And, the really good ones are master people watchers. There's a joy to the work. Yep, that's why I'm liking this.

Dan Sherrel

Rating: really liked it
Memories

It was like reading a 1950s pulp story, Amazing stories or the like. Brought back memories from the golden age of SF

Jamie

Rating: really liked it
How does this have the rating it does? The writing is probably the worst I have seen outside of a fan fic forum. The romance is dreadful, the plot is stupid, and the actual writing itself is similar to what you would expect from a 12 year old. Everything happens so conveniently and the jokes are painful. It is all just dialog and wish fulfillment. A alien just happens to be using the garage of a man who can fix a space ship, the space ship just so happens to need the same coolant that cars need, the main characters just so happen to instantly love one another, the best friend just so happens to be able to preform emergency surgery, the bank just so happens to give a loan on a piece of land right next to the doctor friend, you name it, this book will solve any crisis within two pages. Also, so the alien from the advanced planet that happens to be a guide and also a pilot gets to loan their expert skills to all of this as a cook because she happened to watch one Youtube video? Come on. Really bad.

Black Pepperz

Rating: really liked it
Grease monkey meets fuckable alien chick. A boring love story develops while they are having fewer cultural / language / biological barriers than he would have with a French Canadian.
This is probably the most unimaginative sci-fi story I have ever read. The language is dull, the story boring, the "alien" thinks, behaves, and talks like the valley girl next door. Basically, the author removed everything from his "science" fiction that actually makes this genre interesting.

Tony Hisgett

Rating: really liked it
The story had the feel of a 1960s pulp SciFi book, it was easy to read, although everything was a bit too easy for the main characters. There was a lot of banter, which was quite amusing to start with, but after a while it becomes a bit excessive, bordering on tedious.
If possible I would have given 2.5 stars.

Louise Pass

Rating: really liked it
First contact.

Light hearted, tongue in cheek, first contact story the story is told from mostly first person reports of two good old boys out of the military.

Keith

Rating: really liked it
Not Exactly What Was Expected

A delightful word salad jumble of Sci-fi, pop culture and irreverent humor. While a bit confusing at times, this was still a light, fun read.

David

Rating: really liked it
I saw this listed with SF comedy books. The dialog between characters (and occasionally narration) includes word play, teasing each other and repartee. I have to say, I was slow to catch some of the word play. The timing between hearing and "getting it" is important for appreciating humor. John said to Bob, "Were you too loose, Lautrec?" At that moment, it sank in just a little too late for me to smile. Maybe it was because I was listening to the book, maybe it was just me. Some dialog suggested there were references to TV or movie content I wasn't familiar with. The story can be entertaining, but in terms of comedy (that I was aware of) these dialog elements were the main comedy elements. Some readers might think the improbable plot points should be included.

Bob is a mechanic (?) One day he comes home and finds a flying saucer in his garage and an alien woman - Nikki - seeing if she can repair it. (The aliens look just like humans, can be treated with human-based medical care, and Earthlings and aliens end up being attracted to each other.) Bob quickly decides to help Nikki fix her saucer. Nikki was the pilot / guide who brought several alien grad students to Earth. When one of the grad students needs medical care, Bob brings in his friend John. John had been an army medic, but isn't licensed to practice medicine. John provides medical care outside official circles. This develops so that Nikki and her father arrange to have Bob and John run a secret-from-Earth-authorities business to provide repair and medical care to visiting aliens when needed.

The book is a short and easy read. For those who like it, there are lots of sequels.

Bob and John live in a small town, like guns, have a weekly paint-ball game, are friends with a cop but seem familiar / comfortable with various illegal activities, etc. Perhaps, it may appeal more to those more in tune with the portrayed culture.

Pat Patterson

Rating: really liked it
I'm finally getting some reviewing done, and this one has been sitting the longest. I've blogged about it, at https://habakkuk21.blogspot.com/2020/...

This one is most delightful; I found nothing to object to. The book has had some changes in the cover art, and the most recent cover reminds me of "The Hitchhikers Guide" series, and that's good. It's funny; there is an adventure story, but don't come looking to have exploding spaceships take you all the way. Instead, relish the dialogue:

“You have a point. Your hair covers it, though.”
Boyd, Jerry. Bob's Saucer Repair (Bob and Nikki Book 1) . Jerry Boyd. Kindle Edition.

The protagonist is: a mechanic. Bob, the mechanic. He arrives home at the end of a work day, anticipating chili and beer, and discovers a broken spaceship (not an exploding spaceship!) in his garage. He does NOT freak out; he invites the pilot, Nikki, to hang out while he mends a coolant pipe. Amusing cultural differences emerge, and the effect is made delightful by the fact that both Bob and Nikki are quick with a quip and an insult.

She is a pilot/guide to interstellar graduate students, who sought to cut costs by procuring a junker spaceship. Bad choice. Fortunately, Bob, then his medic buddy John, pull their chestnuts out of the fire. In doing so, they present an opportunity for continued commerce (and Bob and Nikki interact chemically, or something; anyway, they both want to smooch).

Translator devices; direct-brain-interface learning machines; some other different super-advanced tech, but, this ISN'T a story about gadgets. Do you like...SPACE PIRATES?

It's a thorough romp, the first in the series, and it's my understanding that installment 11 has recently gone live. Amazing....

Peace be on your household.

Andrew

Rating: really liked it
A friend gave me a copy of this as a gift a while back. I was looking for something light to read this weekend, and decided to give this a chance. It's definitely light, and easy to read.
I'd say that this is somewhere between an amateur and semi-pro level of writing, if that makes any sense. The whole thing is just a straight narrative, told mostly via dialogue. The story structure itself is also really simple, without any real arc to speak of. It's not embarrassing fan-fiction level stuff, though. For what it is, it's well-written enough that it's easy to follow and easy to like.
So it's not a challenging read, and it would probably have gotten a bad grade if it was handed in as a writing assignment for a traditional creative writing class. But it was kind of fun, and a nice diversion.