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Channel Zilch Doug Sharp 9781940581903 Books

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Channel Zilch Doug Sharp 9781940581903 Books

"Zany" is probably the best word to describe Hel's Bet. Ex NASA astronaut Mick Oolfson teams up with genius femme fatale hacker and oddball crew to steal a space shuttle, transport it to Russia, steal an Energia booster, reach orbit and start a reality show. Along the way we meet Mick's nemesis the NASA security chief, a Greek shipping magnate and the Russian mob. Yes, it stretches credulity, nothing they are doing is possible, but that's kind of the point. We want it to be. The characters are engaging, the action is fast and furious, and the plot just keeps getting ... well, zanier.

Book 1 ends with launch. You'll need to get book 2 to find out what happens once they reach orbit.


Tags : Channel Zilch [Doug Sharp] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Description: Hel claims that her hacker friends are a bunch of freaking geniuses. A Sidewinder up the tailpipe would be a brutal way to learn that Hel overestimates her geek pals' expertise. Fired by NASA for stunt-flying a space shuttle during re-entry,Doug Sharp,Channel Zilch,Panverse Publishing,1940581907,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction Science Fiction Hard Science Fiction,Science Fiction - Hard Science Fiction,Science fiction

Channel Zilch Doug Sharp 9781940581903 Books Reviews

Last month I got an advance review copy of Channel Zilch by Doug Sharp. It was an absolute delight to read.

It's a geek's dream combination mix Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a Space Shuttle caper, and a beautiful-brilliant computer wiz femme fatale who just happens to be cooking up some smart AI. I laughed out loud during many sections, and was glued to the book throughout.

The characters and their motivations are just awesome. Hel and her father want to set up a media company to shoot a reality TV show in space. Except that it's set in present day, and of course, it's not that easy to get into space. They recruit an ex-NASA shuttle astronaut, and decide to steal a space shuttle. What can go wrong? )

I found it to be really funny. It's book one of a series, and it wraps up the first part of the story quite nicely, so I'm eager to see what direction Doug Sharp will take us in book two. Either way I'm looking forward to it.
Novels like this often are more about the plot than the characters, but this book has assembled a team that's fun just to hang out with.

Mick Oolfson's a former NASA pilot with a yearning to return to space, and comic voice. Heloise Chin is brilliant, odd, and beautiful; she's the instigator of the whole mission, which is funded by her father Manuel Chin. Darthy Vader, the space hippie videographer carries the dreams of a generation that saw Neil Armstrong land on the moon, and assumed commercial space travel would become available in their life-times. (She's enough of a geek to have changed her name from Dorothy...) Richard Head who's to be the star of their show, lives up to his name. Mick's former colleague Gritch is the tech person and as likeable as Scottie from Star Trek. And all the secondary characters are equally entertaining, whether it's a Russian Mafiya heir who fancies himself an astronaut, or a Turkish shipping magnate with a thing for Star Trek.

Not that we get to do much hanging out; the plot develops at a breakneck pace. Mick Oolfson is roped into Heloise Chin's scheme to steal the shuttle Enterprise and blast into space where she'll launch a new reality show. All they have to do is get the Enterprise to Baikonur in a ship that stinks of herring oil, retrofit it to be space-worthy, and then launch it on an Energia rocket. Trying to stop them is the whole US government - and Mick's former nemesis, Toby Ishwald, for whom it's personal.

All the situations they get into are crazy and get crazier by the chapter - yet they sound entirely plausible when Mick describes them. There's a sense that the book has been really well researched so though it's humorous, it's still convincing. I also liked that the comedy is good-humored and not mean-spirited.

Well worth the read.

The book ends on a sort of cliff-hanger, and I felt a bit cheated - after all we'd gone through! - that it didn't go a little further along in the adventure. Hence the four stars. But I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Mick Oolfson is an outcast pilot from a mothballed space program. When he gets the invitation to come out of retirement for a private space venture, he can't quite believe it. But, the billionaires need pilots for their expensive little ventures, right? Against his better judgement, his heart leaps with hope.

This is not Elon Musk, calling, however it is an obscure importer/exporter with an unusual, improbable, and rather illegal idea for getting into space. Oolfson waffles, but eventually, tentatively, joins up for the ride of his life.

From the outset, questions abound is this really just a reality tv show? Or is the dangerous looking science geek grrl up to something considerably more ambitious? Oolfson isn't quite so worried about those questions as he is about whether they can really steal a space shuttle, make it flightworthy, and launch it. Much less, launch it safely.

To science fiction readers and science fans, this latter question drives a considerable part of the momentum in the first book of a planned trilogy. Although there are some moments when the suspension of disbelief is in a certain amount of danger (see below), Sharp does a very satisfying job of keeping his premise plausible.

A novel like this seeks a certain kind of reader.

First, you must be ready to have fun. If you don't want to enjoy the ride, and bring along your sense of adventure, then this is probably not the book for you.

Secondly, you love the idea of space adventures. The author loves space adventures, and he invites his readers to join this passion. An important character in this novel is NASA's space shuttle Enterprise, the working prototype that never launched. If you can't find it in your heart to care about this character the way Sharp does, you're going to miss out on an important part of what makes Channel Zilch so delightful.

Third, your suspension of disbelief should be in good working order. Sharp asks you to stretch this muscle on a regular basis. If you aren't with him on the first two points, odds are good he's going to snap the suspenders entirely on you. But if you're flexible, and ready to rock-and-roll, you're in for a really good time!

Why not five stars, then? For an even righter reader than myself, this is surely a five star novel. There is a fourth qualification for full enjoyment of this book, and it's one I don't have. You need to really appreciate the goodness of both author and heroes. Their combined commitment to non-violence, non-lethality, and general ethicality -- while refreshing in the age of disposable bad guys -- left me yearning for a little more complexity, both among heroes and villains. If that's not the kind of thing that bothers you, I invite you to calibrate this review right on up to five stars.
"Zany" is probably the best word to describe Hel's Bet. Ex NASA astronaut Mick Oolfson teams up with genius femme fatale hacker and oddball crew to steal a space shuttle, transport it to Russia, steal an Energia booster, reach orbit and start a reality show. Along the way we meet Mick's nemesis the NASA security chief, a Greek shipping magnate and the Russian mob. Yes, it stretches credulity, nothing they are doing is possible, but that's kind of the point. We want it to be. The characters are engaging, the action is fast and furious, and the plot just keeps getting ... well, zanier.

Book 1 ends with launch. You'll need to get book 2 to find out what happens once they reach orbit.