Where the Hell is Tesla? by Rob Dircks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Now this book was an awful lot of fun.
As with the stories of the authors Rob Dircks is obviously influenced by (Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Kurt Vonnegut), the story is rather less important than the dialogue and outrageous ideas. Also as with those writers, the story is actually pretty good.
An underachieving young man (is there any other kind in science fiction?) named Chip stumbles upon what appears to be a journal belonging to Nikola Tesla, describing a device of his own design for interdimensional travel. (Sorry, an “INTERDIMENSIONAL TRANSFER APPARATUS” – Tesla is rather particular about the proper terms for things.)
Accompanied somewhat reluctantly by his slightly more responsible friend Pete, Chip manages to expose them both to a series of increasingly improbable and dangerous situations as they move throughout dimensions the only way Chip knows how to do things – in over his head.
Where the Hell is Tesla? isn’t exactly a character study, but the characters are well thought out and expressed. Chip & Pete are familiar archetypes – the lovable idiot and his suffering friend – and these are well-worn types for a reason. These two idiots are just a hell of a lot of fun.
Where the Hell is Tesla? is just so enjoyable. After reading the story, I received a recommendation for Teleport This by Christopher M. Daniels. I’m not reviewing that one yet, as it’s a trilogy and I only took in the first book so far, but it has a very similar feel; and that’s a great thing. I can’t get enough of somewhat silly SF. As long as the characters have enough meat on the bone to stick with and the writing is solid, I’m up for a good time. Where the Hell is Tesla? delivers that and more. Highly recommended.
[schema type=”book” url=”http://robdircks.com/where-the-hell-is-tesla-novel/” name=”Where the Hell is Tesla?” description=”SCI-FI ODYSSEY. COMEDY. LOVE STORY. AND OF COURSE… NIKOLA TESLA. I’ll let Chip, the main character tell you more: “I found the journal at work. Well, I don’t know if you’d call it work, but that’s where I found it. It’s the lost journal of Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest inventors and visionaries ever. Before he died in 1943, he kept a notebook filled with spectacular claims and outrageous plans. One of these plans was for an “Interdimensional Transfer Apparatus” – that allowed someone (in this case me and my friend Pete) to travel to other versions of the infinite possibilities around us. Crazy, right? But that’s just where the crazy starts.” CHIP’S OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction: the events depicted in the collection of emails did not happen. I have never been in contact with a covert government group attempting to suppress knowledge of the lost journal of Nikola Tesla. I have not been threatened with death if I divulge the secrets contained inside. They did not buy me this handsome jacket (oh crap, you’re reading this – trust me, it looks great on me). They did not come to my place, and liquor me up, and offer to publish this book as a sci-fi comedy novel to throw the public off the trail of the real truth. Or did they? I’m kidding. Of course they didn’t. Or did they? God, I can’t keep my big mouth shut. Where the Hell is Tesla? has been compared to Terry Pratchett (the Discworld Series), Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and even Kurt Vonnegut (I know, that last one is probably a stretch.)” author=”Rob Dircks” publisher=”Goldfinch Publishing” pubdate=”2015-01-16″ isbn=”0692370668″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” ]