Badasstronauts (Dramatized Adaption) by Grady Hendrix, narration by full cast
Sci-Fi
Publisher: Graphic Audio
Published: 8.5.26
Time: 3 hours 23 minutes
Rating: 4 stars
Format: audio
Source: Recorded Books
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
From New York Times bestselling author of My Best Friend's Exorcism, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix takes a break from horror and goes all-in on sci-fi in this novella about backyard rocket jockeys trying to get into low earth orbit.
Melville, South Carolina was out of money, it was out of jobs, it was out of hope, and today it was out of astronauts. There were only two to begin with, and now one is stuck on the abandoned International Space Station after his mission went south. With NASA’s budget cut to the bone, there’s no one to bring him back home, so everyone is only too happy to ignore this embarrassing sign of American Failure and just let him die. But his cousin, Walter Reddie, isn’t going to let that happen.
Tanked on vodka, living on a “farm” whose only crop is cars on cinderblocks, Walter's a wash-out from the Shuttle Program and he’ll be damned if he’s going to let his cousin die in the sky like a dog. And so he begins to build a rocket. If America won’t rescue its astronauts, he’ll do it himself.
Violating numerous laws, good taste, common sense, logic, and reason, Walter becomes a lightning rod for people who aren’t ready to give up. His farm is transformed into the promised land for misfits, drifters, rocket junkies, pyromaniacs, dreamers, science nerds, and astro-hippies who believe that space shouldn’t just be for billionaires. But it won’t be easy. Chances are good they’ll blow themselves up, get arrested, or kill each other before they ever get into orbit.
Adapted from the novella and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!
Narrated by Richard Rohan. Featuring Terence Aselford as Walter, Ozzie Jacobs as Tiara, Dylan Lynch as Gaudy, Wyn Delano as Huggins, Jonathan Lee Taylor as Paul, Matthew Pauli as Richter, Megan Dominy as Lynn, Chris Davenport as Jimmy Royal, Matthew Bassett as Bobby, Laura C. Harris as Dr. Huger, Matthew Aldwin McGee as Volor, Michael John Casey as Norbert, Andy Brownstein as Bennett, Scott McCormick as Uncle AJ, Steve Wannall as Jay and the Rat-Faced FBI agent, and Nora Achrati as Big Patty. With additional performances by Bradley Foster Smith, Rayner Gabriel, Eric Messner, Ken Jackson, Christopher Williams, Donald Guzzi, Yasmin Tuazon, Karen Novack, Jameson Hunt and Colleen Delany.
Sophia Rose's Review:
When a “never-been” washed up old astronaut from a small faded South Carolina town learns that his distant cousin, a current astronaut got left on the space station and NASA has ended the program so he’s stuck up there to die, old Walter decides that he’ll build a rocket and retrieve his stranded cousin.
Grady Hendrix’s books have been on my radar for some time, but I was never sure if the horror level would be too much. Therefore, finding this one was a sci-fi comedy, I felt it was a great place to start. And, then there was the added fun factor that Graphic Audio had produced it with a full cast, music, and sound effects to heighten the experience.
Badasstronauts was a hoot from start to finish. Old and drunk Walter had me giggling from the outset when he gave that highly inappropriate senior class guest speaker speech and then put his money where his mouth was to get busy on his old farm property finding a way to bring his cousin home.
Things get off to a rough start when his assorted extended family members give his ‘rah-rah’ speech the go by and the only person willing to help is a nephew’s ex-girlfriend who got her aeronautic engineering degree, but looks like a typical small town high school dropout slutty girl working at Walmart. Tiara has hidden depts and it is this that sparks Walter into hunting down an actual down-on-his-luck rocket scientist to help Tiara work on a rocket and the math to get it up to the space station.
Slowly, but surely ‘Redneck NASA’ takes shape. And, his quirky crew of misfits figure it out from getting the materials and resources needed to dealing with the group needs of those who have come to help. The town leaders have a lot to say about it as do the professional government types who are appalled at all the violations and protocols Walter and his misfits are violating.
Does the rocket get made and does it get Walt up into space? Hmm…
While this was hilariously laugh-out-loud funny, Badasstronauts had some serious overtones and layers as each character starting with Walter were introduced. The town was dying and jobs were leaving the area so it needed some sort of shot in the arm. Walter wasn’t even just a has-been, but he never got the chance to get to space so he’s finally staring his new chance in the eye with zero probability of surviving and returning. He’s also deeply angry at how things are in the world and a sign of this is his cousin up there abandoned on a space station. From Tiara who has dreams and no chances to a braining rocket scientist who has major capability and no job to several others that are suddenly someone doing something worth while with this zany project they’re all teaming up on.
As usual, the Graphic Audio production was stellar. I loved all the voice matches to the characters and how the story was augmented by the sounds and music. The emotional notes were pitch perfect and the entertainment level was high.
All in all, a short, but satisfying improbable light sci-fi piece that I would recommend to others.
Author Bio:
Grady Hendrix is the author of the novels Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA, and My Best Friend's Exorcism, which is like Beaches meets The Exorcist, only it's set in the Eighties. He's also the author of We Sold Our Souls, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and the upcoming (July 13!) Final Girl Support Group!
He's also the jerk behind the Stoker award-winning Paperbacks from Hell, a history of the 70's and 80's horror paperback boom, which contains more information about Nazi leprechauns, killer babies, and evil cats than you probably need.
And he's the screenwriter behind Mohawk, which is probably the only horror movie about the War of 1812 and Satanic Panic.
You can listen to free, amazing, and did I mention free podcasts of his fiction on Pseudopod. He also does a podcast called Super Scary Haunted Homeschool.
If you're not already sick of him, you can learn all his secrets at his website.
Website: https://www.gradyhendrix.com/
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
OMG! This sounds like so much fun. And the title! *dead* Thanks for putting this on my radar, SR!
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