MobileRead Discussion: Hal Spacejock 01 (spoilers) - Page 3

bucsie · 04-26-2011, 01:27 PM

The one time I actually LOL-ed was when Clunk was assessing a situation and told Hal the odds are 50-50. And then Hal asks - for, or against? He was all serious and honestly asking that.
Otherwise, it seemed over the top for me too. Do people as stupid as Hal really exist? (I mean, obviously he is fictional, but are they realistic?) With such disregard for the consequences of his actions and such surety (or carelessness) of a good outcome, I just couldn't sympathize with him.

Clunk was funny, I liked him a lot. I also liked the scenes where he gets out of the water, scares the picnic-goers, the cows.
I did not like him being cheated of his winnings in the casino. Surely there should have been cameras and he should have gotten his due.

I do not regret buying this one, but I won't get the next in the series.

siraks · 04-26-2011, 01:34 PM

the series is hal spacejock but seems from reading the comments that clunk is the star of the show.
i too felt bad for clunk when he didn't get the winnings, that part almost seemed rushed and they were kicked out and off chasing farrell almost immediately.

Nyssa · 04-26-2011, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucsie

The one time I actually LOL-ed was when Clunk was assessing a situation and told Hal the odds are 50-50. And then Hal asks - for, or against? He was all serious and honestly asking that.
Otherwise, it seemed over the top for me too. Do people as stupid as Hal really exist? (I mean, obviously he is fictional, but are they realistic?) With such disregard for the consequences of his actions and such surety (or carelessness) of a good outcome, I just couldn't sympathize with him.

Clunk was funny, I liked him a lot. I also liked the scenes where he gets out of the water, scares the picnic-goers, the cows.
I did not like him being cheated of his winnings in the casino. Surely there should have been cameras and he should have gotten his due.

I do not regret buying this one, but I won't get the next in the series.

I understand your misgivings. I had a hard time dealing with Hal, as well, but Clunk & Navcom really made it worth the read. I will say that I enjoyed the 2nd book more than the first one, despite the fact that Hal is almost more of an idiot.

pilotbob · 04-26-2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucsie

The one time I actually LOL-ed was when Clunk was assessing a situation and told Hal the odds are 50-50. And then Hal asks - for, or against?

Agreed... that was funny. I forgot about that one.

BOb

WT Sharpe · 04-26-2011, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lila55

I really enjoyed reading the book and found it very entertaining. The humor used in it reminded me a bit of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Quote:

Originally Posted by caleb72

I really enjoyed this book. To me it was like Abbott & Costello in space. Ridiculous, over-the-top slapstick that had me chortling at various points in the story....

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm not yet finished. But so far, it seems to be like a combination of HHGTTG and Futurama.

I can see all those influences, and I really enjoyed this book. The pacing, especially, reminds me of Adam's Hitchhiker series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caleb72

I think one of the things I liked most about this book was not so much the humans, but the robots.

Oddly, the robots seemed to be the most human characters in the book. I do hope we'll be seeing more of Albion and Clyde. I enjoy this kind of off-beat humor, and will be sure to read the rest of this series.

dreams · 04-26-2011, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucsie

The one time I actually LOL-ed was when Clunk was assessing a situation and told Hal the odds are 50-50. And then Hal asks - for, or against? He was all serious and honestly asking that.
Otherwise, it seemed over the top for me too. Do people as stupid as Hal really exist? (I mean, obviously he is fictional, but are they realistic?) With such disregard for the consequences of his actions and such surety (or carelessness) of a good outcome, I just couldn't sympathize with him.
<snip>

I use to not think so, but people as dumb as Hal really do exist. I just never believed it until seeing the popularity of some reality shows, listening to people who work in retail customer service, and reading about some facebook or other online postings on news shows. Once, I finally realized that, I found I could enjoy books that had characters like him.

(still irritating, kind of like some horror movies when you just can't believe the characters are going to do something dumb, even though they should know better)

I read the book a while ago and still smile when I hear about parts or just the title of the book. I thought it was a fun read and could see it as a movie. I plan to reread it before starting the others.

Nyssa · 04-26-2011, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreams

(still irritating, kind of like some horror movies when you just can't believe the characters are going to do something dumb, even though they should know better)

Nooo! Don't go upstairs, you twit! Don't go searching the house, in the dark, after finding the phone line cut! Get Out...

If you call your friend's name the 2 times, and he/she doesn't answer - run away!

Oh and never ever say "I'll be right back".

caleb72 · 04-26-2011, 08:04 PM

There were so many one-liners that got a chuckle from me. I now wish I highlighted them as I read so that I could put some of them here.

Regards
Caleb

pilotbob · 04-27-2011, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caleb72

There were so many one-liners that got a chuckle from me. I now wish I highlighted them as I read so that I could put some of them here.

Regards
Caleb

I always forget to do that... it would be so easy with my Kindle and I don't do it. Perhaps I need to get a Sony so I can just do it with a touch.

BOb

dreams · 04-27-2011, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Nooo! Don't go upstairs, you twit! Don't go searching the house, in the dark, after finding the phone line cut! Get Out...

If you call your friend's name the 2 times, and he/she doesn't answer - run away!

Oh and never ever say "I'll be right back".

Do you yell out to the screen too?

I use to "talk" to the people in the movie and say all those same things. It drove my son crazy. He had a rule whenever he put a movie on that I couldn't talk and I was to just enjoy the movie (or at least let him do so). He kept telling me, "It's just a movie, mom. If they did do the right thing, it would be boring."

Quote:

Originally Posted by caleb72

There were so many one-liners that got a chuckle from me. I now wish I highlighted them as I read so that I could put some of them here.

Regards
Caleb

I wished I did that too. Then again, I always get so caught up in the story that I really don't want to stop and break the flow.

DixieGal · 04-27-2011, 04:16 PM

I highlighted 2passages, before realizing that iBooks bookmarks don't work. So highlighting did me no good.

DixieGal · 04-27-2011, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Agreed... that was funny. I forgot about that one.

BOb

Bob, I've been telling you to read this book for years. Now do you believe me?

JSWolf · 04-27-2011, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Bob, I've been telling you to read this book for years. Now do you believe me?

I've had it sitting on my computer in LRF since I first got it in HTML. But I finally got off my ass and converted the LRF to ePub and read it and enjoyed it.

Solicitous · 04-28-2011, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Oddly, the robots seemed to be the most human characters in the book.

Funnily enough I found myself more attached to Clunk than I did to Hal, especially after Clunk was saying goodbye after realising he was going to be turned to scrap...felt sad for the guy.

Hal kind of reminds me a little of Han Solo, maybe something about having a junket of a ship and owing money.

I enjoyed the book, was a fun read (though I didn't laugh out loud, I did chuckle on the inside)

Nyssa · 04-28-2011, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Funnily enough I found myself more attached to Clunk than I did to Hal, especially after Clunk was saying goodbye after realising he was going to be turned to scrap...felt sad for the guy.

Hal kind of reminds me a little of Han Solo, maybe something about having a junket of a ship and owing money.

I enjoyed the book, was a fun read (though I didn't laugh out loud, I did chuckle on the inside)

Heh, I hadn't thought of that. Hal really is like *a poor man's Hans Solo a cheap Hans Solo - Solo being smarter, more handsome and actually able to fight.

*is there a better phrase for this, I actually don't like using this one.

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04-26-2011, 01:27 PM	#31
bucsie Connoisseur Posts: 71 Karma: 674766 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle	The one time I actually LOL-ed was when Clunk was assessing a situation and told Hal the odds are 50-50. And then Hal asks - for, or against? He was all serious and honestly asking that. Otherwise, it seemed over the top for me too. Do people as stupid as Hal really exist? (I mean, obviously he is fictional, but are they realistic?) With such disregard for the consequences of his actions and such surety (or carelessness) of a good outcome, I just couldn't sympathize with him. Clunk was funny, I liked him a lot. I also liked the scenes where he gets out of the water, scares the picnic-goers, the cows. I did not like him being cheated of his winnings in the casino. Surely there should have been cameras and he should have gotten his due. I do not regret buying this one, but I won't get the next in the series.

04-26-2011, 01:34 PM	#32
siraks use the force Posts: 575 Karma: 564666 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Ontario Device: Kobo Touch, Lenovo K1	the series is hal spacejock but seems from reading the comments that clunk is the star of the show. i too felt bad for clunk when he didn't get the winnings, that part almost seemed rushed and they were kicked out and off chasing farrell almost immediately.

04-26-2011, 08:04 PM	#38
caleb72 Indie Advocate Posts: 2,863 Karma: 18794463 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kindle	There were so many one-liners that got a chuckle from me. I now wish I highlighted them as I read so that I could put some of them here. Regards Caleb

04-27-2011, 04:16 PM	#41
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	I highlighted 2passages, before realizing that iBooks bookmarks don't work. So highlighting did me no good.

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