She provided so much variety and spectacle, with bits of humor thrown in for good measure (like the computer program choosing Microsoft’s Clippy for its avatar). Valente outdid herself in descriptions of aliens and their outfits. The variety in the aliens was impressive. My favorite was probably when the Eska sounded like a no-nonsense Midwest waitress. I think the narrator helped with my enjoyment of the story. I was laughing out loud on a regular basis. Decibel Jones turns on all of his charm just to survive.įinal thoughts: I found the book hilarious.

It’s perfectly legal to compromise the competition and the humans are easy pickings. Things become even more mind-bending when they reach the site of the competition. They have 11 days to come up with a new hit, made more difficult by their distracting spaceship surroundings and the fact that the band broke up years ago. Only Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes are still alive. The Eska, breaking the news to humanity, have prepared a list of candidates most likely to succeed in the competition. If you can not come in last, your species avoids being wiped out. All newly space-faring being are compulsorily invited. Long version: Human have been invited to prove their sentience by participating in the Metagalactic Grand Prix, a galaxy-wide singing competition. Summary: Short version: Humans join the rest of the galaxy in competing in the Metagalactic Grand Prix Wandering Scientist described as a cross between Douglas Adams and Eurovision so I was in, especially when I found it to listen to on Hoopla.

Space opera cat valente