Pilot X by Tom Merritt
Read by Kevin T. Collins
Audible Studios
Grade: B+
Many yeas ago a reviewer called the latest release by a band I liked “a blatant U2 ripoff.” The members of that band took those words as a compliment. So, in that vein, Tom Merritt’s novel, Pilot X is a blatant Dr. Who ripoff in the best possible way. It’s a timey whimey high stakes adventure full of colorful aliens, a main character whose engaging and charmingly out of his depths, a spaceship with more personality than most human literary characters and enough head spinning, reality altering time travel shenanigans to keep the reader unsure if they are even supposed to be guessing. Merritt balances seriousness and absurdist human at a level at least in the ballpark of Douglas Adams and delivers a clever engaging story to boot.
I always enjoy Kevin T. Collins, and you could just tell he was having a lot of fun with this book. From Cyborgs and Alien Hive Minds to officious bureaucrats Collins delivers without ever going cartoonishly over the top but still managing to capture the humor in the text. His pacing is crisp, building the tension, keeping the listening engaged in the story. If you want so good old fashion science fiction fun, you can’t really do better than Pilot X.
The Guilded Earlobe 
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