I’m currently reading Dune (having loved the Denis Villeneuve movie adaptation) and, though finding Frank Herbert’s rich world very engaging and enjoy cursing those bloody Harkonnens, I sometimes find this a bit of a weighty read. The prose is dense, the universe deep and there are a lot of characters to keep track of early on (getting confused between Thufir Hawat and Gurney Hallack was surprisingly easy).
Most of all, however, I just fancy heading back to the universe of the last book I read, A Swift Kick to the Thorax by Mara Lynne Johnstone. But why on Earth (or not, as the case may be) is this the case? What could possibly make me want to take a pleasant holiday from the world of the Fremen, sandworms and Bene Gesserits?
Suppose it’s time to find out…
Swift Kick is a refreshingly straightforward science fiction adventure, following the experience of human, alien and (in one fun case) gorilla characters as they go up against a rather powerful group of interstellar smugglers in order to prove their innocence after blundering into one of their schemes.
Our main protagonist is Robin, an animal expert working for one of Earth’s embassies on a distant planet to strengthen relations between humans and the planet’s native species, the rockbacks (known as turtledillos). Robin’s job is simple enough, the turtleldillo people being an accommodating lot, until a callout to a local park sees her crew tracking and capturing an infestation of rabbits. This is a lovely, gentle opener to the story, and effective in easing one into the universe Johnstone has created.
As gentle as the opener is, things soon start to ramp up, and our animal handler finds herself working with a headstrong turtledillo desk jockey and the local organised crime racket to bring a shady bunch of mantis-like alien smugglers to justice. Add a liberated gorilla to the mix and you have an exciting and unique set of ingredients for a science-fiction story. There is also a secondary plot thread that nicely entwines with the main one, following a space station engineer and her friends (including my favourite character, a sassy mantis taxi driver) as they are also caught up in the smugglers’ criminal schemes.
The story itself moves quickly, one of those “never a dull moment” yarns that sees our heroes kidnapped, surviving spaceship crashes and using their wits and ingenuity to survive their ordeal and clear humanity’s charges of animal smuggling. I found the tone and comedy of Swift Kick to be reminiscent of Douglas Adams’ legendary Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with everyman characters caught up in wild situations set against the wild backdrop of space.
If you enjoy sci-fi with a wry sense of humour and a healthy sprinkle of representation then I can highly recommend this one!
Craig Rathbone - Writer 
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