Hard Luck Hank: Basketful of Crap

Read Time: 2 Minutes

Hard Luck Hank: Basketful of Crap, written by Steven Campbell, is the second book in the Hard Luck Hank series and continues the misadventures of poor old Hank. The space station Belvaille has changed a lot since the first book, thanks to the deal Hank worked out.

Gone are the gangs, mostly. Those that are left are fighting for the scraps now the galactic corporations have taken over and using the dubious free-market nature of Belvaille to their full advantage.

Behind all the tanks, ATVs, and mysterious corporation soldiers, something much darker is brewing. Hank, as always, blunders his way through most of it as he tries to do as little as possible while saving the day. We get to find out more about Garm’s history and the assassins known as the Quadrad.

Like the first book, there are a lot of subplots to follow, all intertwined in what is Campbell’s staple approach to the Hank universe. What I particularly enjoy about the Hank books is how much the station gets reinvented from book to book. Time passes between the books, and the space station evolves and morphs into something new. Hank is always at the heart of it, being too old and stubborn to go anywhere else.

Many more aliens in this one now that the station isn’t technically part of the Colmarian Confederation. The mineral-based Grandrine play a big part in this one, and we get to learn a tiny bit more about them. The giant, indestructible Therezians, too… and they’re quite the unique race.

Narration by Liam Owen again was a bit of a challenge for me. His voice in this one was even more “Hank Hill”, and again the final polish seemed lacking. Mispronounced names (IIRC Wallow was pronounced as “Willow” multiple times at the beginning of the book) and other general inconsistencies in quality.

Plenty of chuckles to be had again in this one. I bought the entire series (to date) of 7 audiobooks while Audible had them on sale, so I’ve got a lot more Hank in my future.