SPSFC Semifinalist Review: Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days by Drew Melbourne

As we read through the semifinalist round of the 2023 SPSFC, here is my second full review. If you haven’t been following along, I’m a member of team At Boundary’s Edge and have been posting my individual reviews and scores. These opinions are mine alone and don’t reflect those of the team nor anyone else in the competition. Anyway, let’s look at the book and then you can see my 3rd review out of six to come before the end of April!

Bookish Quick Facts:

• Title: Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days
• Series: N/A
• Author: Drew Melbourne
• Publisher & Release: Self, 2018
• Length: 356 pages
• Rate & Recommend: 8/10 for fans of  comedy and adventures

Here’s the synopsis from Am*zon:

The year is 20018. The famed magician Illuminari is dead, and his greatest illusion has died with him. Dark forces now seek the Engine of Armageddon, the ancient, sentient doomsday weapon that Illuminari hid amongst the stars.

Enter Percival Gynt, accountant and part-time hero, whose quest to find the Engine before it falls into the wrong hands may be our universe’s last best hope for survival. It is a quest that will take him from the highest reaches of power to the lowest pits of despair and through every manner of horror and absurdity between.

But beware. This accountant has a secret. A secret that may damn us all.

Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days is a sci-fi/fantasy adventure novel full of swashbuckling, math, dark secrets, space-faeries, obtrusive product placement, Nazis, beating up those Nazis, unlimited baked beans, zombie cyborg assassins, fate with a capital “F,” love, betrayal, wizards, jokes, paradoxes, a sentient doomsday weapon, eleven-dimensional space, clones, monsters, space-nuns, and at least one rat-chef.

(Only one rat-chef.)

My thoughts:

This book reads like a mashup of Austin Powers and Douglas Adams.  AKA it’s hilarious, over the top, entertaining, and sometimes I’m not quite sure what’s going on but it’s still funny. And dark. The book has a few surprisingly dark undertones that contrasted well with the general lighthearted tone.

Percival Gynt was a fast read for me. The pacing is constantly quick, the plot moves forward, and the characters are about as well developed as the average Austin Powers movie (that’s my analogy and I’m sticking to it) but I like them.

Percival is funny and has the best gadgets. Um is a long for the ride but takes a lot of death (poor guy🤣) and stays positive.  Esme cracks me up. Some people aren’t even who you expect them to be 😳  It was a good crew!

Another thing I really liked was the realistic looking “top news articles” at the beginning of each section.  I might have tried to click one 🤣

I did dock one point out of ten for some slightly confusing time jumping within two of the sections.  The other point I docked was for the plot getting a little confusing/convoluted about the time Percival tries to be a hero and the purity thing rejects him?  I don’t think I fully grasped what happened towards the end there but it didn’t change how I felt about the overall reading experience. (Good, I felt good)

Otherwise, I 100% recommend this book for those looking for a fun, funny, witty, snarky, brand infested space adventure of epic proportions.

Thanks for checking out my semifinalist review of Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days by Drew Melbourne! An e-copy was provided for judging purposes although I read it through Kindle Unlimited. As always, all opinions are my own 🚀