Read Time: 2 Minutes
I spotted Stringers, written by Chris Panatier, in a Reddit post, and it sounded like something I’d enjoy, and it was! It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever purchased, but it’s a good, solid storyline with a unique take on some of that woo-woo hippy stuff like past lives, reincarnation and the like. I didn’t find the humour as in-your-face laughs, rather than humorous asides and notes about all manner of bug-related reproduction methods you never knew you needed to know.
The hero of the story, Ben, is plagued by knowledge of bug reproduction and wristwatch facts. None of which he has ever bothered to learn; it’s just been in his brain since he was born. Driving him nuts, he searches for answers anywhere he can find them, leading to a trip into the middle of nowhere to meet a stranger from the internet.
Abducted by an alien bounty hunter, Ben, along with his best friend Patton and a jar of pickles, he’ll find out just how dangerous the universe really is. Much of the humour is mildly low-brow, mainly focussed around the footnote-like asides where his brain fills us in on a relevant fact about bugs or watches.
There is a startling amount of soul in this story, though, not just facts about bug sex. Some interesting character growth from Ben, who turns from a (generally) self-hating kind of personality to accepting his fate as the saviour of the universe.
The narration by Greg Locket was good. Nothing outstanding, but a solid performance without any issues of note with either speaking or the production of the book itself. The voices were distinct, and the pacing was pretty good in that I didn’t need to move it to a faster playback speed than I usually would.
I’ll likely give this another listen in the future, though I’m not busting to look up anything else by the author or narrator at this moment. It was an enjoyable science fiction tale, though, without being over-the-top of sciencey stuff.