A chaotic, laugh-out-loud sci-fi where deadpan aliens, AI wars, and dad jokes somehow all work
A Rare 5-Star Read
So I don’t casually chuck out a 5 star review. I save it for a book that stuck with me, that changed my behaviour and inspired me.
So when I say Gravitido is 5 stars, I mean it. It’s genius. It’s stupid. I read pages aloud to my husband because they were hilarious. When was the last time you read pages of a book to someone just to make them laugh? That’s special.
What Even Is Gravitido? (And Why It Works)
When I first started Gravitido, I had no clue what the vibe was. It was a high concept sci-fi, space opera, AI vs human universe scaling war story with deep ethical considerations. It felt very serious.
Then a gravity defying baby is adopted by some deadpan aliens and immediately, the book reveals its comedic nature. Dad jokes. Things taken too literally. Shower thoughts. It’s just a riot.
The Humour: Why It Actually Lands
Imagine Dune and Star Wars meet up, get drunk and decide to write a space opera in the style of Airplane. That’s Gravitido.
Here’s some proof:
“Gidering is bad, but when it comes to cruelty, she is just an amateur compared to the humans. They have been inflicting unspeakable horrors on each other since they first learned how to walk upright.”
“Surely they could have mellowed since then?”
“Shirley was the worst one!”
I love Dune, if you want to see how serious I am about it click here!
Plot, Characters, and Chaos
The basic plot follows Gravitio himself, the humanoid weapon who sets out to liberate humanity from the tyrannical AI Gidering. Does he have a plan? No. Does he have an army? No. But he has powers and a bullet point of an idea. He aims for the mining planet of Longorn, where androids keep the humans as slave labour. Viva la revolution! Down with technology!
Classic space stuff.
For me, the stand out characters are Francis and Herbert, the android door guards. They guard doors. They talk about guarding doors. They reach levels of personal crisis guarding doors. They’re a bit like watching the 2 old men Muppets having monty python-esque conversations. They are brilliant.
Despite having a heavy sci-fi premise, a reader wouldn’t require any sci-fi knowledge or background to enjoy. As someone who was just bemoaning the lack of standalone fantasy, this sort of dive in and have a good time book is so refreshing.
Style Choices: Present Tense and Dialogue-Heavy
Something that took me by surprise was the third person, present tense. I’m so used to reading first person and third person past tense that present tense feels strange. It adds to the ridiculousness and humour of the story- these odd events and conversations are happening right now and on top of each other. I grew to enjoy it.
The other major feature of the text is that it is dialogue heavy. Initially I wasn’t sure how to react. Sci-fi books are heavy on world building but Gravitido skipped that in favour of characters having extended back and forths. This in itself is refreshing. Rather than bogging us down in details and nuances, we are insiders to the comedy. It’s like being at a tiny audience show at the Edinburgh Fringe, intimate and silly while utterly enjoyable.
Final Thoughts: Funny, Strange, and Worth It
Gravitido is hilarious, 393 pages of tongue in cheek space nonsense. Read this, watch Airplane and consider yourself funnier for it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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