Gate Crashers

Humanity’s most ambitious excursion into space so far takes an unexpected detour when they stumble upon an alien artifact. Accidentally causing a huge kerfuffle with a confederation of aliens they never knew existed, they plunge humanity into the deep end of galactic politics as they battle with war-hungry threats, multilingual red tape, and our own spectacular gift for disastrous first-contact scenarios.

Gate Crashers is equal parts Star Trek and Futurama, casting brilliant scientists alongside maverick heroes and hurling them into the abyss to bumble around in entertaining fashion. Tomlinson does an impressive job of introducing an entire galaxy’s worth of alien cultures, detail, and bureaucracy into a fun futuristic fracas of a story, taking a misunderstanding to truly cosmic levels of ridiculousness.

The crew of the Magellan are immensely likable and believable explorers, humans faced with weird, impossible choices who are simply making the best of things, and by avoiding making his heroes buffoons (instead having clever people in a ludicrous situation, occasionally peppered with buffoons), Tomlinson has ensured that the gimmick has legs.

The final twist is a little convenient, but otherwise, this is a quality lighthearted romp.