Sam’s going to another planet to teach English, where he hopes to earn enough creds to pay off his student loan and maybe buy a jetpack. He’s not entirely comfortable with spreading the English virus but it beats working for the power brokers on Earth, and Octavia is a dreamy underwater planet populated by eight-armed beings.
He ends up learning more than teaching. From Mr. Zik, a singer of melancholy songs. From a boxy robot named 9/3. And from Jinya, whose undulating tentacles make Sam forget all about human legs.
Against the colourful backdrop of kitsch science fiction, this novel entwines UFOs with STDs, androids with androgyny, and youth culture with culture shock. Leave your millenial angst behind — blast off to 2959!
Acclaim for Angry Young Spaceman
“It’s a wonderful book. Unquestionably SF, it isn’t written in the usual science fiction voice, and that’s part of its charm. His prose is conversational, his characters and settings of the future Earth and Octavia are fascinating, and the story remains engaging from start to finish.” — Charles de Lint, Fantasy & Science Fiction
“This is marvelous stuff, hopeful, fresh, alive, and funny. Munroe is writing the chronicle of his generation.” — Georgia Straight
“The book reads like a cross between Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants and Douglas Coupland’s Generation X, livened with Munroe’s own DIY zinester sensibility.” — Cory Doctorow, Wired
“The language is unflowery and unpretentious… the plot is tight, the tone throughout is amusing, the main character is likeable and the science fiction setting is both campy and pointed.” — Vancouver Sun
“But beyond the comical elements that are dispersed throughout this clever little book, it becomes evident to the reader that the author is a seasoned social critic…” — Upath.com
“His writing is lively and uncluttered… when Munroe takes aim at the management and co-opting of subcultures, the satire is dead on…”— Quill & Quire
On May 3, 2000, I had the Toronto launch for my second novel and the first No Media Kings book, Angry Young Spaceman. I then set out on my first book tour ever, taking the train across Canada with alien exhibit creator Sandy Plotnikoff to spread the word of teaching English on other planets.