Space Academy Dropouts

Space Academy, Book 1

By: C.T. Phipps, Michael Suttkus

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

"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

Great start

Another great series from a fantastic author. Highly recommend you give this a chance. Have a fun listen

Great fun

I've yet to come across a book by CT Phipps that I do not thoroughly enjoy. I expected more pop culture humor, and it did not disappoint. This story paints a very interesting picture of future space travel, and not with the humans being the highest standard to measure up to. Frankly, humans are fairly low on the totem pole. And that seems about right to me. I absolutely cannot wait for the next in the series! It's great to have some scifi spade stories that don't take themselves too seriously.

the dangerous border territory between over-the-top and cringy

I think the book needed to either dial the absurdity up a few notches or dial it way way way back. it's self-aware in a kind of angsty way that hitchhikers guide isn't, and it doesn't always hit it's mark.

the story has some pretty good elements, and I think this would probably land pretty well with genre savvy teens. YA with a capital Y.

the voice acting was also ok, but not great. I never thought I'd complain about diction being TOO good, but he painful and haltingly used perfect annunciation even when it resulted in what I found to be an unnatural speaking cadence. It also made the characters harder to distinguish because they all spoke with the same diction. But on the other hand, it made him very clear and easy to understand. I get the impression that he was told that he wasn't speaking clearly and he overcompensated.

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.