silverwolfcc (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silverwolfcc) wrote2025-06-25 10:16 pm
silverwolfcc) wrote2025-06-25 10:16 pm
JRH review
My least favorite aspect of sci-fi is that it tends toward dystopic, humanity is evil, or that the alien species are parasites hellbent on destruction, consumption, and can't be reasoned with. (Independence Day, Halo, Starship Troopers etc.) Rarely, if ever, is it hopeful, inspiring, or aware of the awesome beauty of space exploration and befriending new species, and even Star Trek risks falling into a trap of being too militant for my tastes. Far too many writers also don't know anything about zoology, and when it comes to their new species; it shows. Even Animorphs which has so many earth animals, still falls into the category of having the aliens generally be parasitic and wholly evil without much dimension or room for ambiguity.
K.D. Koppos has done the impossible in blending sci-fi and cozy in a breakout new genre-defining story that loses none of humanity's best, but still serves to remind that Earth's lessy hairy apes aren't the biggest badasses out there, but it's our compensation by adpatation that made us Earth's "top species," and able to reach the stars.
Why no one has done cozy scifi before is beyond me, but I expect when word spreads, it'll catch on like wildfire, because it's a perfect match.
Recently retired from space military (which is basically a mercenary position among the more advanced other alien species where Earth is still learning to adapt) Jim Roy Howard sets up the titular interstellar truck stop. In an absolute love letter to American truck stops, road trips, and diners, JRH goes on to set up a menu based almost entirely on whatever alien foods he can get from those passing by bringing their space travel from one planet to another, and always adapting based on the simple knowledge of an army cook.
There is a little bit of mystery when teenage runaway Marigold crashlands (literally) into said truck stop and quickly starts befriending and investigating the surroundings. Koppos brilliantly sets up the found family trope in an absolutely heart-warming and subverting typical sci-fi tropes way, by once again, reminding readers what is truly the best part of humanity: our connections to each other. Her reactions to the other alien species is completely charming and despite her rocky start (haha rock puns -- the constable is fond of those) she soon gets to live her best life.
Earl and Bud are the "regulars" -- sort of like Cliff and Norm from Cheers, and my personally favorite part of the book, I would love to do an entire tv show about them. If there are any book/tv series about truckers, someone let me know. Anyway.
Much like Cheers, (a cozy gathering place with lots of locals refueling for their weary travels) meets Halo (the war might be over, but it's never wholly forgotten from the characters' lives and experiences) and Futurama (space travel but it's a "regular" shipping company, only in this case -- a diner, but also, nothing about it is boring!) and dashes of Doctor Who inversed (the travelers come to you! And instead of "No soldiers on board the TARDIS" it's almost all soldiers but for the one Martian -- Marigold.) I was pretty blown away by the characterization and world building Koppos put into the story. The author never forgets that every single person has their own story to tell, and yet the common uniting factor on Earth, or space, is we all need to eat.
If K.D. Koppos can do this with scifi, I can't wait to see what they do next. It might be too soon to say they're my favorite author, but they definitely re-ignited passion for reading I didn't even realize I'd lost. Just as I wish all scifi had more hope, cozy, found family, and people doing "normal jobs" but in space and exploring which instantly makes it exciting; K.D. Koppos lit a spark in me I hope never dies out.
The one "problem," of course, is you'll instantly be hungry for more, even as you find yourself somehow nostalgic for the future! The book I first said, "Where have you been all my life?!" (I have two Trekkie, Stargate, scifi nerd parents.)
---
For fans of:
- Star Trek (space soldiers meeting aliens, now more peaceful soldiers) -- especially Lower Decks (because there's no exploration except in what the characters bring to the diner, and it's otherwise the underappreciated more cozy part of space; what comes after the first meeting!)
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (zany species)
- Catch 22 (humor)
- Starship Troopers (but subverting the enemy trope, and more building off it in a way I wish the rest of the scifi genre had...)
- Dungeon Meshi (literally improvising foods off alien planets)
- Space Dandy (you could absolutely picture the crew stopping at JRH sometime!)
- Found Family trope (such as in Doctor Who)
- Cozy Mysteries
- Diners (I'm going to reiterate Doctor Who)
- Futurama ("normal" job ie: delivery or diner - But in space! And never losing the wonder from that.)
- Cheers (where everyone knows your name)
K.D. Koppos has done the impossible in blending sci-fi and cozy in a breakout new genre-defining story that loses none of humanity's best, but still serves to remind that Earth's lessy hairy apes aren't the biggest badasses out there, but it's our compensation by adpatation that made us Earth's "top species," and able to reach the stars.
Why no one has done cozy scifi before is beyond me, but I expect when word spreads, it'll catch on like wildfire, because it's a perfect match.
Recently retired from space military (which is basically a mercenary position among the more advanced other alien species where Earth is still learning to adapt) Jim Roy Howard sets up the titular interstellar truck stop. In an absolute love letter to American truck stops, road trips, and diners, JRH goes on to set up a menu based almost entirely on whatever alien foods he can get from those passing by bringing their space travel from one planet to another, and always adapting based on the simple knowledge of an army cook.
There is a little bit of mystery when teenage runaway Marigold crashlands (literally) into said truck stop and quickly starts befriending and investigating the surroundings. Koppos brilliantly sets up the found family trope in an absolutely heart-warming and subverting typical sci-fi tropes way, by once again, reminding readers what is truly the best part of humanity: our connections to each other. Her reactions to the other alien species is completely charming and despite her rocky start (haha rock puns -- the constable is fond of those) she soon gets to live her best life.
Earl and Bud are the "regulars" -- sort of like Cliff and Norm from Cheers, and my personally favorite part of the book, I would love to do an entire tv show about them. If there are any book/tv series about truckers, someone let me know. Anyway.
Much like Cheers, (a cozy gathering place with lots of locals refueling for their weary travels) meets Halo (the war might be over, but it's never wholly forgotten from the characters' lives and experiences) and Futurama (space travel but it's a "regular" shipping company, only in this case -- a diner, but also, nothing about it is boring!) and dashes of Doctor Who inversed (the travelers come to you! And instead of "No soldiers on board the TARDIS" it's almost all soldiers but for the one Martian -- Marigold.) I was pretty blown away by the characterization and world building Koppos put into the story. The author never forgets that every single person has their own story to tell, and yet the common uniting factor on Earth, or space, is we all need to eat.
If K.D. Koppos can do this with scifi, I can't wait to see what they do next. It might be too soon to say they're my favorite author, but they definitely re-ignited passion for reading I didn't even realize I'd lost. Just as I wish all scifi had more hope, cozy, found family, and people doing "normal jobs" but in space and exploring which instantly makes it exciting; K.D. Koppos lit a spark in me I hope never dies out.
The one "problem," of course, is you'll instantly be hungry for more, even as you find yourself somehow nostalgic for the future! The book I first said, "Where have you been all my life?!" (I have two Trekkie, Stargate, scifi nerd parents.)
---
For fans of:
- Star Trek (space soldiers meeting aliens, now more peaceful soldiers) -- especially Lower Decks (because there's no exploration except in what the characters bring to the diner, and it's otherwise the underappreciated more cozy part of space; what comes after the first meeting!)
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (zany species)
- Catch 22 (humor)
- Starship Troopers (but subverting the enemy trope, and more building off it in a way I wish the rest of the scifi genre had...)
- Dungeon Meshi (literally improvising foods off alien planets)
- Space Dandy (you could absolutely picture the crew stopping at JRH sometime!)
- Found Family trope (such as in Doctor Who)
- Cozy Mysteries
- Diners (I'm going to reiterate Doctor Who)
- Futurama ("normal" job ie: delivery or diner - But in space! And never losing the wonder from that.)
- Cheers (where everyone knows your name)