Space Academy Dropouts

Space Academy, Book 1

By: C.T. Phipps, Michael Suttkus

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

"Boldly going because they're completely lost."

The newly renamed Vance Turbo has sabotaged his own career at Space Fleet Academy due to a desire to atone for a training accident. Unfortunately, his actions result in him getting press-ganged into an expendable crew of misfits recruited by a legendary starship captain. Their mission? To recover a collection of lost sun-destroying missiles that could restart a galactic war. Unfortunately, Vance is smart enough to know something is wrong with this picture. After all, no sane person would recruit this crew to save the universe.

Space Academy is an all-new series from the hilarious duo of C.T. Phipps (Supervillainy Saga, Agent G) and Michael Suttkus (I Was a Teenage Weredeer, Lucifer's Star) that lampoons the space opera as well as military science fiction genres.

©2022 C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus (P)2022 Podium Audio

Hilarious sci-fi that delivers

What do you get when you take a group of unqualified underdogs fresh out of the Space Fleet Academy? You get a fun book that is snarky and inspiring. This book reminded me of the police academy movies but in space. Even the main character's name, Vance Turbo, made me laugh. The snarky AI, Trish, was one of my favorite characters. I particularly enjoyed the Star Trek, Starship Troopers, and James (or Jennifer) Bond movie references. Of course, there are many other pop culture references along the way. Overall, this is a light comedy space adventure that is a fun and quick read. If you are looking for a science fiction story that doesn't take itself seriously and has a lot of good laughs along the way. The narrator does a great job with the voices too. I highly recommended it!

I've found a kindred spirit(s)

After I started listening to this, I quickly realized this was my kind of scifi! I laughed out loud several times - loved the "Easter Eggs" referencing cherished scifi programs of our past.

If you love scifi - I definitely recommend Space Academy Dropouts!

Pop space opera

If you’re a fan of fun banter and pop culture reference of other space operas, this will be up your alley

I like the space aspect

I liked this book because it was set in space also it has been my life long dream to travel in space

Surprisingly listenable

I thought it would suck like most "comedy" sci-fi I have picked up to read (funny only to the author) but this one was fun.

disappointing

Okay so when we are introduced to the MC he is shown as a charming rogue type of character but as soon as he is forced to the mission and is tasked into doing something he turns into a lawful good character reeeeaaaall quick and the is just downhill from then on. i couldn't take it and i just dropped the book on chapter 20 . also a cheating girlfriend is never a funny thing especially when she thinks she isn't doing something wrong.

A Hilarious & Out of this World Adventure~Great🎧📚🎧

Ok, so I must admit, not only am a newbie to the authors but to the genre itself, my only familiarity was that of the narrator, that said, I can now ask myself how did it take me so long to check out this genre, this book was simply a blast, a fun and entertaining blast and I enjoyed every minute of this SciFi Space Operal The authors, C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus are gifted authors with wonderfully creative and imaginative minds, I enjoyed their writing style, their witty dialogue is brilliant, as is their world building and character growth and development. They created interesting and original characters and storylines, the story grabbed my attention right for the start and captivated it the entire book. A guilt ridden Vance Turbo was booted out of the Space Fleet Academy after pulling one too many stunts that got him into trouble. He does not even get to step out the academy doors before he is swept up and recruited for a super secret mission to recover missiles that landed in the wrong hands, a dangerous mission, one that no sane person would volunteer for, not that they gave him a choice. Making matters worse he is thrown in a lead position and none of the crew are happy about it, a crew made up of a bunch of colorful characters, different worldly species and A.I. Vance soon learns that not everyone is on the up and up or are as they should be. This cleverly plotted story is action packed with some out of out of this world drama, snarky humor, twists and turns, a thrilling and adventurous ride. C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus, thank you for this great story.

🎧📚🎧 And for the amazing narration, the authors cast the perfect narrator to bring their characters and story to life. Jeffrey Kafer is a talented narrator and a versatile voice artist, he covers the voices for all the characters, giving each their own distinct voice, making it easy to follow along and tell who was who. He had a complete understanding of the characters he portrayed, gave each a voice that fit that character’s persona to a tee, sounding believable and just as I picture them to sound. He set the perfect tone for the story, handled the witty dialogue with ease, landing the humor effortlessly and never missing a beat. Jeffrey Kafer is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another fabulous listen.

great start to a new series

really amazing work am looking forward to this series as it goes on definitely recommend

cool

loved the voice actor. loved the story and can't wait for book 2. I hope the same guy reads it

Phipps does military scifi

Space Academy Dropouts establishes a new scifi series from Phipps and Suttkus. The Phipps both with and without writing partner Suttkus hops genres with flair, usually with loving references to the conventions of whatever genre he’s in. Space-based scifi is not new as the two have previously written the Lucifer’s Star series.

Specific to this book, it starts with our main character Vance Turbo, who has changed his name and tried to walk away from the space academy after the death of one of his classmates, which he feels he caused. Instead of being able to walk away quietly, he gets forced into an off the books mission to retrieve weapons of mass destruction. Situations seem improbable with political machinations that have outcomes that can affect the entire galaxy.

This is a typical Phipps/Suttkus work, and your enjoyment of that will depend on if you like their style or not. For example, meta references fly fast, and the story is told in first person.

The big thing about Vance here is that he isn’t seeking responsibility or glory. He keeps “failing upwards.” The crew gives him lots of ribbing, but it makes it easy for the reader to support him.

I did listen to this on audio, which helps me get through books faster, and I’ve listened to a lot of Phipps books narrated by Jeffrey Kafer. Because the literal voice between books is the same, it was easy to be lulled into a sense that the narrative voice of the main character was the same, too. In fact, one of the female character voice choices reminded me too strongly of Cindy from the Supervillainy Saga. This time around, I didn’t find that a positive, but it honestly might not be a factor for anyone else.

If you like military scifi, light on the military, with lots of meta, this would be the new series you’re looking for.