Project Star Pickle

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Word of advice: don’t go touching weird alien crystals without first considering the consequences, even if they did fall out of the sky and crush your house.

Hi there, Jack Cobb here, and see this scar on the palm of my hand? Looks like a pair of lips, right? Yeah, that’s no ordinary scar. At one point, it was home to a chatty little logophile I sometimes wish I could strangle.

Together, we had a mission to save the world—well, at least the people in it—and find the pieces to build a machine to save ourselves before the world kicked us to the curb.

This is an end-of-the-world, come-to-Jesus, first-contact sci-fi romp. ThinkHitchhikers Guide to the GalaxymeetsAlienswitha littleE.T.andLeft Behind. Mix in some black budget conspiracy, a little escapism, one good bloody romance scene, and a dash of 80’s pop culture, and … I’ve completely lost you, haven’t I?

Listen, just get to the part where Xeno and I meet for the first time, at least. Okay? It’s pretty much downhill from there anyway.

Thanks for reading.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2024
Author: Bark Twain

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 60
Views: 31,319

Chapters(55 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

TheRenewalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It reminds me of the premise of Parasyte: The Maxim, but considerably less gory (which I'm grateful for), at least in the early parts. Though his hand does eat things.
The mystery of how exactly the world ended and the chapters guiding us through the events leading up to it kept me on the edge of my seat.
The writing style is witty and keeps the pace moving at a smooth speed.
Our protagonist is an amusing and optimistic middle-aged man, and we skip back to his past to see where the world ended. I enjoyed his POV considerably, he reminds me of Joseph Joestar in the Stardust Crusaders arc, and that's saying something, since Joseph is my favorite.
I haven't uncovered the full mystery at this point in the story, but I'm giving this a whole-hearted recommendation to give it a read!
Astral CrystalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: The style is great, it's very descriptive and shows a lot of detail about the environment. The references in the story are well managed and avoid being annoying or feeling forced. The dialog is also well written. The chapters aren't that long but with the amount of chapters it's length is good.
Story: The story is good, it has a lot of interesting concepts and ideas which are very fun to read about. The story starts in the future and goes into a flashback but I think it tackles this well without being a annoying. Some parts of the story can be a bit peculiar since mc isn't very used to his powers so he can mess stuff up at certain times. But plot wise it makes sense why it happens at least.
Grammar: There were a few errors but it seems the author is also quick to correct these when called out on them.
Characters: The characters are great, they are very fun and charming yet are still flawed and have development throughout the story. The mc is great I like him a lot and his attitude to even the worse situations is nice. The Alien is very good as well and I really like its interactions with the mc. There are other human characters throughout the story and they are all complex characters and have their own traits.
Conclusion: In conclusion this story is a very well written story with great characters and I'd definitely recommend it if you find the synopsis interesting.
baelrathRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'll start off with a simple review until im caught up.
Extremely sarcastic MC. Solid Humor, if a bit college at times.
Plot starts off at the end, then most of what i've read is a flashback to explain it. But considering where it starts, i'm sure there will be a solid chunk of plot once you circle back around.
Heavy with past Sci-fi references to past movies. Story takes liberally from most of them in tone, feel, and builds off of them.
At points it feels a bit odd, but nothing a good edit can't tighten up in post. At most you might have to reread a long sentence to figure it out at a couple points. Usually only once a chapter.
I'd say you finally get a feel of it and potential at around chapters 10-15.
SyntheticVoiceRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I knocked out this in a binge listening through Text-To-Speech in less than a day. Overall it is decently written of an old man telling two people about one of the most eventful moments in his life as he discovers his new powers to save people while the world is falling apart around him.
The main character feels fairly realistic in how he responds to certain extreme factors in his travels including to having a full on manic that causes him to make things worse. As usual how things go when that happens for many stories that go in the direction of grimdark. The main sticking point for this is the banter between the two main characters.
One sticking point that might be an issue for people is this does have a heavy leaning toward Christian undertones about the end of the world situation. So if you don't like stuff leaning heavily into religious stuff, I would recommend giving this a pass. Especially one of the arcs does involve a religious group.
It's a decent short run story that runs a little longer than a single volume of a light novel. So if you want something that will keep you busy for a few days or a few hours depending on how quickly you read, it's not a bad grab.
PaulTBRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Light-hearted, comedic, sci-fi. That's what I was promised. Is it light-hearted? Well, not quite. Is it comedic? Not really. There were a few moments but not enough to count for the tag, IMO. Sorry, but just because terrible things are happening that doesn't give you a pass on those two. Bill the Galactic Hero and Who Goes Here did it better to name but two.
On the plus side, it has a decent story with a beginning, a middle and an end. It was not too predictable and had some good characterisation going on. Xeno stole the lead somewhat. We were teased with hints of religious overtones but nothing clear-cut and that was probably for the best.
It's generally well written, but I picked up a handful of typos so there were probably four times as many that I missed.
DeadricRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This might be a bit pre-mature, but I'm very much liking the story so far.
The setting is neat and the descriptions enough to get the imagination going while not needing to hold your hand the entire way. As of chapter 4, anyways.
I'll do a more in-depth review once I've read more, but for now it is certainly a story that I'll be reading ^_^
GeorgeDBeardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I love the setup. I love the characters. I love the style. There's a realism in a world where aliens don't give a flying s*** about petty, little humans. And the way humanity basically accepts and normalizes having massive aliens starships over their heads (farmers are complaining about sunlight lost) is just funny and sort of profound. And who doesn't love the concept of vomit field to keep away small pests (like humans)?
Putting a conspiracy theory podcaster as your protagonist in a broken sci-fi world is also just narrative gold. The man is funny with that sort of American mocking humour. He knows how to lie, how to peddle, how to come up with ridiculous comparisons. And I'm really looking forward to see how he tries to rationalize his experiences moving forward.
The style is sharp and visual. It reads smooth and you can see exactly what's happening. First person narration so you get all the MCs wit and observational gifts bleeding into the style which is definitely a win. Grammar is solid.
Tightening up the story is all this work needs to be amazing. It starts off in media res. In the post apocalypse world with the MC as a 50 year old man paddling around underwater Los Vegas. And then two chapters later it jumps back to the sequence of events explaining the end of the world (as we know it). The problem is the media res doesn't have any real hook. We see the protagonist battling with scavengers and showing off some powers. But these guys are low-tier trash, I expect the MC to crush them. Basically if the story continued on in the same vein as chapter 1 and 2 - I would have thought: "okay, this is a slice-of-life with moments of action in a post-apolocpyse sci-fi world" and I would have kept reading. If the story had started straight from chapter 3 I would have thought: "aliens on the horizon, something's about to happen, our hero's going to gain powers," and I would have kept reading. But the combination confuses me, because I'm not really desperate to get to the
MooblesRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This is a story for those who enjoy devouring books in a day or two.
It is a story for those who enjoy small, heartfelt commentaries upon regrets, prophecy, friendship and faith.
It is a story that breeds empathy, as I reached the dramatic climax, I felt myself reflecting upon the things I might regret in my life, come 20 years time. I took a break for the night and slept upon the feeling.
It's strange, how much a traumatic event can shape our interactions with others and ourselves.
This is a story of a deeply traumatized man full of regrets, seemingly at his end, commenting upon his experience of the end of the world.
Our view is hurtled to the past, following the voice and vision of Jack Cobb.
How by-chance the single most important event of his life, the destruction of his home and his meeting of an extra-terrestrial whorls his conspiratorial life into disarray.
Mr. Cobb has to deal with hurting others. Not by intention, by accident, but hurting others all the same.
He has to deal with the complexities of struggling to express himself and controlling his feelings having real-life, damaging and deadly consequences.
Mr. Cobb has to deal with having been hurt. Dealing with the trauma of being physically and mentally tortured. And having to protect himself, using anything available, whether it be a grating personality or physically.
Mr. Cobb has to deal with healing.
Of forgiving himself for things outside of his own control. Of embracing a role he did not choose, but for which he is uniquely suited.
Mr. Cobb has to help others, because it is in his human blood to do so. An unknowable unseen instinct that deeply ties us together, which causes us to band and protect each-other when things are hard. But as a deeply traumatized individual, Mr.Cobb has to deal with the very real struggle of helping himself, as well as others. He has to survive, to help others another day.
To go away from the feel of the story, the main characters are very well fleshed out, Jack feels lik
Lord VitorRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
An interesting story, with a comical view on how important (or not) we humans really are in the eyes of others, and how amusing our train of thought can be to. More than that I cant say without spoillers.
Main character reacts in quite a realistic way. Perhaps a bit too realistic, which certainly makes one wonder how willing others would be to
saving us after they spend enough time hearing and trying to reason with us. No wonder many hollywood movies make us always fight aliens - it is our self-perception recognizing that we wouldnt want to save others like us either! Or at least I wouldnt try to save the main character, who certainly doesnt know the proverb "silence is gold".
Anyway, I digressed a little bit there. The story has a bit of a slow start,but start geting more interesting around the time main characters meets with his new "roomate". The change of person speaking makes the narrative a little weird, but after a certain point - reader will have to read to understand what I am talking about - it gets better.
No big grammar issues, just a few mistakes here and there, but nothing that would upset the regular reader. So, sit and enjoythe adventures of Jack in Project Star Pickle.
precinctomegaRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
This review was solicited by the author.
I've only read the first 26 chapters at the point of writing this review.
STYLE
The story is written in the first-person and it's implied that the narrator is unreliable. The time point jumps between the present, when the narrator is recounting his story to an audience and the past: the story he is telling. It's an interesting choice as it introduces its own spoilers, but that does serve to effective sustain interest in both timelines.
STORY
It's another RR postapocalyptic narrative, although thankfully not a LitRPG. The narrative is rather linear, with a simple objective-driven plot in which the hero benefits from pretty hefty plot armour. There's really not a lot to say that's not a spoiler. It's fine. Don't expect anything radically innovative, plot-wise.
GRAMMAR
Fine. A few typos here and there, but completely workmanlike spelling and grammar.
CHARACTER
Probably the main reason I may not keep reading. The characterisation is fine, even excellent. But the protagonist is a dick. He's casually racist and misogynistic and needlessly cruel and self-destructively sarcastic. And I'm not sure that author recognises that this is the case.
That's not to say that he isn't also funny. The first few chapters aren't funny. But once Xeno turns up, their interactions are definitely chucklesome. But the protagonist is definitely my main obstacle in continuing to read, because it's quite hard to care about someone so relentlessly self-centred.
OVERALL
There's an interesting adventure narrative here, but it takes too long to get moving and the main character isn't likeable enough to make the time waiting for the plot to get a move on much fun. If you like an antihero, maybe you'll enjoy this more than me.
It's certainly not unreadable and I might well come back to continue. But it's hard work and that's not what I come to RR for.