Quentin Rowanoak and the Golden Mice (Golden Mice & Planet of the Slimes are Stubbing on May 1st)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

◆ If you like quirky sci-fi with cute sentient mice... ◆

WILDLIFE REMEDIATION— The humane removal of nuisance animals, any health hazards they create, and the repair of damages caused by them.

Quentin Rowanoak had gotten out of the wildlife remediation business. When a missive arrives telling him his business has been bought out and he's been reassigned to theDragons, an elite mercenary company, he thought it all a grand joke—until the shuttle arrived.

Now Quentin finds himself on an interstellar expedition, assigned to one of the most elite mercenary groups of the modern era, all because the Captain wants someone to care for a colony of sentient mice living aboard his flagship.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2026
Author: Purpleharp

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 212
Views: 36,662

Chapters(66 total)

What readers say about Quentin Rowanoak and the Golden Mice (Golden Mice & Planet of the Slimes are Stubbing on May 1st)

“It's early yet but I'm getting more found family than fish out of water vibes. It helps when your MC is good at his job! It's nice when people can be appreciated for doing their best. I'm interested in seeing Quentin's relationship with the mice and crew de…”
tildeRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I have trouble reading chapters all the way through without losing attention. This hasn't happened with this work. I have found my reading niche of stories written about science disciplines by people with experience in that field. I love Quentin and I relat…”
Lovely-Cosmic-IcicleRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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

Community Reviews(10)

tildeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's early yet but I'm getting more found family than fish out of water vibes. It helps when your MC is good at his job! It's nice when people can be appreciated for doing their best.
I'm interested in seeing Quentin's relationship with the mice and crew develop. I'm also interested to see what challenges he faces once he's settled in a bit.
Lovely-Cosmic-IcicleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I have trouble reading chapters all the way through without losing attention. This hasn't happened with this work. I have found my reading niche of stories written about science disciplines by people with experience in that field. I love Quentin and I relate deeply to his love for creatures considered vermin. Excited to continue reading.
MelandisRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The whole premise of this story, that of a guy getting drafted in to look after the intelligent pet mice on a mercenary spaceship, is a refreshing change and very well handled. There is good development, both of the MC and others, and I appreciate the author's style of humor.
Ayela ArcanaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Quentin Rowanoak And The Golden Mice is a feel-good story you can sink right into and get lost in wit, surprises, and excellent story telling!
Story: Bad sh*t keeps happening to Quentin. Injury. Loss of income. People annoyed at him. Getting assigned to a spaceship infested with mice. But he discovers Universe 135, and that’s gotta be great—right? Magical golden mice with a huge dose of mythos await Quentin, and he’s not ready for that!
Character: I loved Quentin in the first paragraph for his patience, but by the second, I was hooked. Because I’m an animal lover, and I hate reading stories where bad stuff happens to animals. And in this one, it’s the opposite. So, I was overjoyed at how Quentin talks to the charges he’s responsible for. But then, poor Quentin is down on his luck, and gets assigned to a starship. And honestly, I just kept loving him when his life got more and more weird!
Style: Third person narration. Consistent and clean. Most importantly, the prose flows. It’s so easy to read. I never tripped over phrasing. Incredibly well written!
Grammar: I made no edit suggestions. This book is impeccably edited.
Overall: I highly recommend this story and hope the author keeps writing. We need more feel-good books like this!
Mori FriedmanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Please. Read. Food.
Quent is in over his head. Way over his head. In the way no good deed goes unpunished over his head. This delightful read will keep you smiling all the way through. It pulls you in from the first chapter and just keeps rolling.
The Story, it's great. Foreshadowing early on. Amazing premise ( read for yourself, I'm not going to improve on the author's presentation) No killer info dump to wade through. Just what you want to know when you want to know it.
Quent is flushed out early. The very first phone call nails him and then starts polishing the edges. The pranking mice are hilarious, and the way Quent responds just helps us get to know him a bit better. Look forward to the meeting the Luch (Mice) and getting to know one them pretty well.
Between the raiders and a very nasty slime (seriously this thing is bad news) the action keeps going and mousekeep has to stay on his toes.
Grammar is clean and easy to read. Sentence and paragraph structure are varied for enticing you to pay attention. No loss immersion whatsoever.
This is fun read that I have read to the end of the first Arc. This is great way to stay up till 2 AM.
Off-the-Wall WordsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review is at the end of Golden Mice ~
This has been a super cute and captivating story! I was originally looking for a shorter story to read, but this came my way, and I couldn't stop reading. I was laughing through out it and on the edge of my seat multiple times.
This story so far shows great teamwork among the crew but also leaves an air of mystery and suspense. There are a few inconsistencies here and there, but it's nothing detrimental to the plot. It's just a sign that the story is still being built and in early stages. This is why I knocked off half a star for style. But for this still being written and it being this good is amazing!
Half a star is knocked off for character from me being a nitpick. I'm a huge character person, but this is a more plot-driven story. I like having really flushed out characters. The MC is portrayed well and another character as well. However, I feel a few characters are a bit bland. However, I don't feel like it takes away much from the story. You're still able to get invested into these two characters, and they don't feel like pure plot devices.
Overall, this has been a really fun read with a unique story! I'm looking forward to starting the next installment!
SageOfStaplersRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Review at chapter 5.
Great story and narrative voice. I hugely enjoyed the MC's original segue into a new world. The conversation with the customer in the prologue was peak 'lived' customer service experience.
Arguing with mice in Chapter 5 was awesome quirky dialogue and Quentin is an extremely likable character,.
Will definitely continue reading.
digiGekkoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
[Reviewed at Chapter 12]
I'm a sucker for a story that takes away the awe and grandiosity of space travel or some typical galactic empire and instead turns the focus onto ordinary and relatable people just getting by in small places, as there's so much potential in just swapping our contemporary world's setting for a sprawling sci-fi one when exploring those who exist in the backgrounds among the famous and the heroes.
Enter Quentin Rowanoak, who finds himself in a peculiar position aboard a starship after having lived a simple life moving animals out of the homes and businesses where people consider them nothing more than pests. Instead of being a pilot, or a mechanic, or serving on the bridge, his lowly job is to maintain the onboard latest iteration of the long-running mouse utopia project. And he's just fine with that, since it's where he feels right at home.
Our hero is a modest, rather unassuming guy who gets along better with small furry creatures than other humans, although he's not all that socially inept or awkward; he's no Willard-type character. The introduction of the mice in their habitat is done creatively and in a task-centric way that makes you care about them and provides many of the creatures with unique meetings that establish their little personalities—a few of the buggers have escaped and are running about the ship at the start.
As Quentin tracks them down, he quickly realizes that these are no ordinary mice, as they seem to be highly intelligent. They're able to communicate with prerecorded messages and can bond with him on a deeper level than typical animals. Following an encounter with a deep space raiding party, we realize that they may have evolved or been genetically engineered to do a few more things than just thank our main character for kindness and treats. Not since Monty Python's rabbit has a four-pawed small furry mammal been so ferocious.
Well-written with plenty of witty humor and appropriate reactions to both the dangers and drud
mrcbooksRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The Golden Mice opens with a perfect tone mismatch that immediately grabs you: a burned-out, nearly-40 wildlife remediator gets his failing company bought out and reassigned to the elite D.R.A.G.O.N.S. mercenary flagship Pangur Bán… as the new caretaker of a sacred mouse habitat called Universe 135. The prologue’s rapid-fire life implosions (broken leg, foreclosure, sudden space gig) land with dry, self-aware humor, setting up a story that’s equal cozy absurdity and quiet wonder.
Style shines through Quentin’s grounded, slightly exasperated first-person voice; think a tired handyman suddenly dropped into Star Trek with a holy rodent infestation. The prose is clean and conversational, packed with small, vivid details (mice pressing buttons to say “Food. Please.”, the ship’s scuffed hallways vs. pristine mouse utopia, Laura’s deadpan delivery of “they’re basically precocious six-year-olds”). It’s funny without being slapstick, heartfelt without being sentimental.
Story setup is delightful and clever. What starts as “man gets weird space janitor job” quickly reveals layers: the mice aren’t just smart; they’re long-lived, low-breeding, mysteriously stable at exactly 135 individuals, and tied to the Luch family’s centuries of luck. The Captain genuinely believes their deaths caused recent squadron losses. Quentin’s mission (recapture the 25 escapees humanely) feels both ridiculous and oddly high-stakes. Early chapters balance light-hearted mouse interactions with creeping unease (why do the mice call the old keeper “Big Dig Box”? Why are they bullying him? What happens if the population destabilizes?).
Grammar is strong overall, with only occasional minor awkwardness (a few run-on sentences during high-energy moments, some repetition in early internal monologue). Characters shine: Quentin is instantly likable (dry, competent, quietly kind), Laura is sharp and warm, the Captain carries quiet gravitas, and the mice themselves steal every scene; their button-press “dialogue
Morbid writerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
What’s going well.
The hook and your voice are strong.
Opening with Quentin’s “I’m a wildlife remediator” phone spiel instantly gives character. Competent, tired, and principled tone. It’s dry and funny. Profession-specific texture (feels real, not generic) That’s a great way to earn reader trust fast.
The core premise is gold.
Elite mercenary ship, superstitious captain, “divinely gifted” sentient mice, and a guy whose entire skillset is humane animal handling. That’s a clean high-concept. It keeps paying off: the button-board “language” and the “Dig Box” bullying. The idea that the mice are tied to luck/success and later escalates into “they’re not just smart, they’re dangerous.”
Humor doesn’t kill the stakes.
A lot of comedy stories collapse when action arrives. Yours mostly holds together, especially once the “raider boarding” stuff hits and the mice become a real variable instead of a quirky gimmick.
Quentin is likable for the right reasons.
He’s not “cool guy badass.” He’s useful, conscientious, and stubbornly decent. That makes him easy to root for in a harsh merc setting.
What’s holding it back.
You’ve got too many “scene jumps” that feel like teleports
Example: injury → banker → sudden contract call → instantly on ship.
It works logically, but emotionally it’s abrupt. Give the reader one or two “bridge beats” so Quentin’s life changes land.
Try adding short grounding beats between major turns. A 4–8 paragraph “planetside spiral” after foreclosure or a “packing/last look at old life” moment before he boards. Maybe even a stronger “arrival” beat before the chaos of the hangar.
Exposition sticks in places where tension should be rising
Some backstory is delivered in solid chunks (DRAGONS acronym, founder history, Universe 25 reference, etc.). It’s interesting, but it slows momentum.
Drip-feed it through conflict. Let Quentin learn DRAGONS history because it matters to a current problem. Keep the Universe 25 comparison, but tuck it into a moment where he’s worr

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