The best science fiction books guaranteed to bring a good belly laugh

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I became enthralled with both science and history. Also, who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh? The chance to combine all three? A dream come true!


I wrote...

A Rescue In Time

By Richard Powell,

Book cover of A Rescue In Time

What is my book about?

While retrieving their treasure cache, a voodoo spell moves the Laffite brothers’ ship and its crew to the Twenty-first Century. They discover the time shift when they seize a tug headed upstream. As they hide out in Twenty-first-century Memphis, the situation becomes desperate. Jean discovers his wife, left behind in the Nineteenth Century, requires a modern medical procedure to save her and her unborn child.

Scientists, voodoo practitioners, and a talking crow aid their quest. While New Orleans Street hustlers and slave catchers throw obstacles in their path. But once they unlock the secret, they must evade U.S. Navy pirate hunters intent on bringing the crew to justice. Can they achieve A Rescue In Time?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Richard Powell Why did I love this book?

Come on. The main character, worried about his home being destroyed to make way for development, discovers the same thing is about to happen to Earth. He escapes on a journey that kept me glued to my seat. The author’s ability to project common anxiety and fears into a global arena fascinates me. All done while making you smile and chuckle. What is not to love?

By Douglas Adams,

Why should I read it?

31 authors picked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This box set contains all five parts of the' trilogy of five' so you can listen to the complete tales of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Bebblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android! Travel through space, time and parallel universes with the only guide you'll ever need, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Read by Stephen Fry, actor, director, author and popular audiobook reader, and Martin Freeman, who played Arthur Dent in film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is well known as Tim in The Office.

The set also includes a bonus DVD Life, the Universe and…


Book cover of Slaughterhouse-Five

Richard Powell Why did I love this book?

As a former psychologist, I dealt with many trauma survivors. His ability to capture Pilgrim’s experience in a fashion sensitive and insightful to the victims. The Dresden bombings reflected in the main character's eyes are both frightening and saddening. Plus he never fails to supply a chuckle to lighten the heart’s load.

By Kurt Vonnegut,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked Slaughterhouse-Five as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A special fiftieth anniversary edition of Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece, “a desperate, painfully honest attempt to confront the monstrous crimes of the twentieth century” (Time), featuring a new introduction by Kevin Powers, author of the National Book Award finalist The Yellow Birds
 
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time
 
Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had…


Book cover of The Knight, the Fool and the Dead

Richard Powell Why did I love this book?

The penultimate time traveler? What is not to love here. A time lord racing through time, saving the world past and present maintaining the status quo in a phone. Adventure, romance all done with a chuckle that will warm the coldest heart. Of course, a steady diet of this might lead one to become a cosplay addict existing from one Comic-con to the next.

By Steve Cole,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Knight, the Fool and the Dead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We live forever, barring accidents. Just like everyone else in the universe.

The Doctor travels back to the Ancient Days, an era where life flourishes and death is barely known...

Then come the Kotturuh - creatures who spread through the cosmos dispensing mortality. They judge each and every species and decree its allotted time to live. For the first time, living things know the fear of ending. And they will go to any lengths to escape this grim new spectre, death.

The Doctor is an old hand at cheating death. Now, at last, he can stop it at source. He…


Book cover of Animal Farm

Richard Powell Why did I love this book?

Forced to read this in high school, I grudgingly took up this tome on a Friday night while grounded. The fact that it had been made into a cartoon did not add to its appeal to a teenager, past all this baby-style stuff. 

The tale completely negated both the onerous requirement, while I glanced over my shoulder constantly as I read; fearing my parents might discover my pleasurable escape from their punishment. 

After dozing off as I reached the end, I woke the next morning desperate to seek more books that portrayed important issues in ways that entertained while reaching the mind. A quest continuing into the present.

By George Orwell,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked Animal Farm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The perfect edition for any Orwell enthusiasts' collection, discover Orwell's classic dystopian masterpiece beautifully reimagined by renowned street artist Shepard Fairey

'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.'

Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the…


Book cover of The Maiden Voyage

Richard Powell Why did I love this book?

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.  

By Marcus Alexander Hart,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Maiden Voyage as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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 executive gives Leo an ultimatum—complete the vessel’s maiden voyage or mankind’s last colony will be turned into a sewage dump. To make matters worse, a militant cyborg is undermining his authority, a giant spider is terrifying the passengers, and a sentient plant keeps stealing all the beer.

If Leo ever…


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Ferry to Cooperation Island

By Carol Newman Cronin,

Book cover of Ferry to Cooperation Island

Carol Newman Cronin Author Of Ferry to Cooperation Island

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Sailor Olympian Editor New Englander Rum drinker

Carol's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

James Malloy is a ferry captain--or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a "girl" named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Island’s daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.

When he discovers a plan for a private golf course on wilderness sacred to his dying best friend, James is determined to stop such "improvements." But despite Brenton's nickname as "Cooperation Island," he's used to working solo. To keep historic trees and ocean shoreline open to all, he'll have to learn to cooperate with other islanders--including Captain Courtney, who might just morph from irritant to irresistible once James learns a secret that's been kept from him for years.

Ferry to Cooperation Island

By Carol Newman Cronin,

What is this book about?

Loner James Malloy is a ferry captain-or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a girl named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Island's daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.

When he discovers a private golf course staked out across wilderness sacred to his dying best friend, a Narragansett Indian, James is determined to stop such "improvements." But despite Brenton's nickname as "Cooperation Island," he's used to working solo. To keep rocky bluffs, historic trees, and ocean shoreline open to all, he'll have…


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