Sci-fi adventure pays homage to 'Hitchhikers Guide'

Move over Douglas Adams, Darrell Pitt has created a new space and time adventure, writes Laura Hewson.

A TOASTER ON MARS
Darrell Pitt
Text Publishing

By LAURA HEWSON

Darrell Pitt (author of the Jack Mason series) takes a break from Victorian steampunk and junior fiction with his "space and time adventure'', A Toaster on Mars. It is billed as a young adult novel but in my opinion it is more suitable for adults.

It's the year 2509 and jaded Planetary Bureau of Investigation agent Blake Carter has been going through a rough patch. He's divorced, alienated from his daughter, and still grieving after his partner was vaporised while trying to apprehend their nemesis Bartholomew Badde.

Now Badde is back and Carter reluctantly has a new partner, Nicky, a golden cyborg with a dash of human and a lot of attitude. And, if that wasn't bad enough, Carter's daughter is now missing.

A Toaster on Mars (appropriately billed as one for fans of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) sees Carter and Nicky reel from one bizarre situation to the next: think homicidal mutant sandwiches, a world full of Elvises and torture by Brady Bunch, to name a few.

There's commentary by "editor'' Zeeb Blatsnart to inject historical context for those of us who've missed the past 500 or so years, as well as plenty of more familiar pop culture references, too.

It's a non-stop adventure, full of clever ideas, pithy observations and silly names.

Laura Hewson is an ODT subeditor.

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