DAVE! parts 1-3

The author sent me a copy of his novel to review:

Initially, I didn’t think Marc Richard’s novel was very funny...until I warmed up to his unique style. He has a way of making the reader laugh at the simplest things. I think that the best word for his humor is silly. I must say that once I snuggled up to his modus operandi, I starting enjoying his zany novel. The novel had a touch of Jack Finney’s 1955 novel, Invasion of the Body Snatchers but with a comical political twist. The author has President Donald Trump building the border wall between the USA and Mexico in 2017, but has President Mel Gibson (that’s right, he of Mad Max) finishing the wall in 2030. But President Gibson, who wants to be know as Uncle Mel, continues the wall until it rings the entire United States of America including the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and Canada. Since Alaska and Hawaii are outside the wall, he sells those states. He has evicted all the Muslims and Mexicans. The wall was so expensive that 75% of it had to be made of wood. CNN News reported that 94% of the population are in poverty, 5% are rich and 1% are middle class. Mom and pop stores are gone. “Wal-Mart had completely taken over the country...now that it’s government run, it is the one-stop shop for all your clothing, cereal, beer, porn, marriage license, hot-air balloon rides, and party planning needs, and so much more. Some of them even have churches in the back, so that you could spend your entire Sunday there if you so chose.”

The protagonists are for the most part; Starlet Richter, a transgender woman; Eric Tisdale, a pool hustler and one time lover of Starlet’s (when she still had a penis); Carlton, a transgender man, who is involved with the overthrowing of the government, and of course, Dave. Starlet has now had the full transsexual surgery to be a woman, however Carlton still has a vagina (I told you this story was silly). Eric was home watching TV when a Uncle Mel ad came on, and Mel said, “Hey America, it’s me again, Uncle Mel. I’ll tell ya, I’ll never tire of looking at that wall. What a fine job our craftsmen and craftswomen did constructing that beauty.” The President is overjoyed that we got those who didn’t belong here back to their homeland. He says, “They were not true citizens.” Haha. Eric’s friend, Ray, calls and wants to know if he noticed that the President’s face slipped. Eric said that he didn’t notice. Meanwhile, Eric goes off to 'the protest wall' where he hears the same story from a few of the other protesters. His other friend, Nick, shows him the video replay on his phone, “You see that shit, yo? His chin just about hit his chest. That face be slippin’. It ain’t real, homie. That’s some straight alien shit. Uncle Mel ain’t from this world, dude.” Has President Mel Gibson been replaced by a alien...was Donald Trump an alien? If so, how many people in America have been replaced?

Eric, Ray and Nick are conscripted by Carlton into the Invaders. The Invaders are led by Dave (who is Dave?) with the mission to destroy the forces in Washington, DC and take back the country. In the meantime, Starlet is protesting at the wall between Maine and Canada. She meets a couple with a motor home that befriends her. Their assignment is to knock down the wall between the USA and Canada. As Starlet and the Topplers (that’s the name Dave gave the protesters who were trying to knock the wall down) start hacking at the wall, a Canadian on the other side of the wall says, “We fine over here.” Starlet says, “Don’t you want to come back to America?” The voice on the other side says, “Nope. We like it ‘ere. Dis is ‘ome.” Another Canadian says, “Ya.” Starlet says, “Okay, well f**k you guys.” This novel for the most part is a riot. As the boys (well Carlton is not fully a boy yet) rush to Annapolis, Maryland for a big meeting with Dave, Starlet discovers that some of the people at the wall are aliens. She also discovers that the aliens are knocked out by touching a 3.7 volt battery (from a mobile phone) and killed when they touch a 12 volt battery (from a car). Wow, how can she pass that information along to the Invaders. I have to stop my review here. I’ve only touched on some of the doings in this amusing novel. You will have to get your own copy of Marc Richard’s novel to find out what happens in depth. The novel is smartly divided into three parts (all in the same volume). By the way the last few pages are ridiculous. I highly recommend this funny sci-fi novel.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: I was wondering what were the funniest sci-fi books ever written and I saw that Best-sci-fi-book.com had a 19 novel list. I’m only going to show you the top three:

1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979 )- “It begins with the destruction of Earth, and things go downhill from there.”
2. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1997) - “Willis’ delectable romp through time from 2057 back to Victorian England.”
3. This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It. by David Wong (2012) - “Two reluctant and generally irresponsible heroes are aware of huge invisible spiders that live in people’s heads due to their earlier ingestion of a drug called soy sauce."