Book cover of The Maiden Voyage

Book description

Humanity needed a hero. It got a karaoke DJ.

Leo MacGavin is not the brightest specimen of humanity. But when he inadvertently rescues a flirty alien heiress, he’s promoted from second-rate lounge entertainer to captain of the galaxy’s most sophisticated cruise ship.

Before he can flee in terror, a human-hating…


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Why read it?

3 authors picked The Maiden Voyage as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Hart’s Galaxy Cruise feels like Douglas Adams wrote an episode of The Love Boat. But even though the comedy is wacky, the action is non-stop, and the technology is more of a suggestion than actual science, the characters are all lovable, annoying, entertaining, three-dimensional people I’d like to hang out with. Even Leo MacGavin (yes, that’s his name!) a blundering, downtrodden, sad-sack, has redeeming qualities. I laughed out loud many times while reading this book and couldn’t wait for the sequel. 

Although the science is more hand-wavium than usual in science fiction, the consistency drew me in and kept…

Galaxy Cruise is the first in a hilarious space opera series. Hart offers memorable characters and great world-building, with a charming plot and a lot of humor.

The hero, Captain Leo MacGavin, is the lone human surrounded by a variety of aliens on the space-based cruise ship, the WTF Americano Grande. As with his other books, Hart’s humor made me literally laugh out loud at times, while his story kept me guessing as to what could possibly go wrong next.

The entire cast is equally quirky and endearing; I especially loved the spider-like security chief, Marshmallow Hug Dilly Dilly…

A karaoke ace saving the world. A premise guaranteed to delight the most jaded soul. This adventure gave me hope. A promise that my time traveling pirates might find a place in this literary universe. A spark that one need be some stuff shirt physicist in order to gather a following of science fiction connoisseurs.  

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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