The School of Hard Knocks

By: Mr. Oliver Strong

Narrated by: Simon Williams

Rick and his crew live on the edge of Earth Corps space, where the law is what you make it and the taxman doth fear to tread. While a war rages, he salvages its wreckage, profiteering from the misery of others.

Despite his plan to sit it out from the sidelines and fill his pockets, Rick is drawn into a galactic conflict. When an alien armada is set to crash down upon Sol, he has to choose between cold hard cash or his conscience.

©2018 Oliver Strong (P)2022 Oliver Strong

Irreverent Good Fun During Intergalactic War

Good fun, the narration was great plus it is full of sound effects and music. Really adds to the experience!
Best if you are appreciative of VERY non-politically correct British humor, story is cynical about everyone in positions of authority, very male oriented although strong female characters play essential roles. Rick goes through a big transformation over the course of the story and ends up surprising everyone, including himself.
Would describe as hard story and character-driven science fiction, not military sci-fi but with military elements/engagements throughout.

Was a lot of fun to listen to, would definitely enjoy more by Mr. Strong and with Simon Williams narrating.

love the laughs

Everything you'd want and more in a great sci-fi book. Space, aliens, military, action, some "romance", and a huge dose of comedic relief. This book had me smiling often, rolling my eyes (fondly) and even flat out laughing at times. The characters are so realistic and relatable (in many ways), authentic and really just bled together flawlessly. Everything was explained thoroughly and descriptive enough to "comprehend" without overdoing it and that helped to keep this Kuman engaged! I really appreciated Annyah's and Sam's characters the most. Humor is a bit on the crude side (think young school boy humor for the most part), a bit of language for authenticity, and really good sarcastic banter! There is some mention of things that are a bit more mature in nature, mostly implied or hinted at, but nothing explicit. I think the best part of this book for me was rocking out with Rick - so grateful for those scenes to be included, and although I listened, reading it would have not changed a thing! Definitely 5 stars from me! This was a first for me from Oliver Strong, but it won't be this Kumans last ;) The narrator was amazing! Great voices and read smoothly!

information on SoHK

The School of Hard Knocks (SoHK) is a recent science-fiction novel. Its author is Mr. Oliver Strong from the UK. SoHK has humor that I laughed at a number of times from descriptions of colorful humor originating from Captain Rick and his crew's unique behaviors. Its story line can become interesting for me with Rick and his crew of strippers (salvage experts or gentlemen of fortune) flying to distant places and discovering the unknown. I can at times lose my understanding of where the story is headed due to characters' bantering, debating, and/or complaining. Upon later reflection, I see the connections from earlier story sentiments and later outcomes or dilemmas. The book is decent.
https://www.strongbooks.co.uk/

Definitely one for the boys

I received a free audible copy of this book courtesy of the author•

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis:
Rick is a stripper— in the sense of Han Solo and not in the sense of poles— his journey throughout the story slowly grows and develops and he discovers what matters most to him. Through a lot of flatulence, curry, and swearing, Rick realizes his close mindedness is the problem & not the world.

This is definitely not a usual book I’d read/pick up. The animation of continuous flatulence in the audible reading left me slightly grossed out, along with the swearing… This is definitely more so a “boys club”-esc type of book than what I imagined a space adventure tale would read like. With that being said Oliver Strong (the author) has a lot of potential for comedic writing & political satire… just maybe less swearing in the future please :)

Great sci-fi comedy

The school of hard knocks is a science fiction comedy. This is the first I've ever read and honestly loved it. Huge thank you too Oliver Strong for exchanging the audiobook for a review!! I loved listening to the book while at work and driving around. The book is captivating and absolutely hilarious!!

The main character Rick embarks on a journey and takes his fellow men with him. It's a futuristic timeline so the world and universe is completely different. Being able to colonize humans on all the different planets and having alien humans on them as well.

If you have seen Rick and Morty this is basically that in a book and it's absolutely worth the read! The way the audiobook is set up, it's almost like listening to a TV show. There's so much about it that puts you in their atmosphere that you'll feel like you're in their world!

Great book to read and if you enjoy sci-fi you'll love this book!