Channel Blue

To start this review, I will rewrite what I wrote on the author's page. "Reading Channel Blue, love it, one of the funniest things I have read in a while, and deftly satirical as well. Great stuff. I "Literally" love it."Jay Martel has created an intricately woven tale of science fiction, comedy, and a sort of "Hollywood Insider" type of story. The novel involves a down on his luck screenwriter Perry Bunt who has sunk to the lowest level conceivable. That of being a teacher of the craft he once made his living in; screenwriting. He still holds fast to many of his ideals and when he decides to stop fighting against the ocean of crappy writing he is drowning in, he comes across the main thrust of this book. That we, all the inhabitants of earth, are all merely players on a once hugely successful network within the Galaxy Entertainment lineup. Perry then finds out that we are being cancelled.The author of this novel has worked in the entertainment industry for many years and is a successful comedy writer. He brings his expertise to this deftly woven tale of blended genres, realism, comedy, science fiction, and satire. The novel read like that of an episodic show at times, with each chapter feeling like its own mini episode. The novel came together to create what amounts to a complete series of television. The writing was exceptional, and you could tell once you started reading this book, that you were in for a great ride, and one would hope that this is the first of many novels by this talented writer.

This hilarious story is about aliens who are producing entertainment programs on Earth to be viewed by higher-intelligence beings who are at peace and have no real excitement in their lives except through channels from other planets. Perry Bunt is a writing instructor who meets an alien producer in his class and winds up having to save the world because Channel Blue's ratings have slipped and the aliens are ready destroy Earth. Just about everything is broadcast and much destruction is a result of the producers. And we are introduced to another story about the creation of the Earth.This book reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan" where aliens are creating events on Earth to convey messages to other alien civilizations.There are so many crazy characters and events as Perry goes about his Earth-saving; but the story is not a black comedy like those written by Vonnegut. It also takes a lot of jabs at the way Earthlings live.

I really liked this book. I bought the book because I thought the premise was very original and I was not disappointed. All too often I have read book descriptions in which the author has created an excellent premise for a story and then fails to deliver. This is not the case with Channel Blue. I found the book to be well written and at at times very insightful concerning the nature of the world and in particular, American culture. The book is at times humorous, hopeful, sad and a bit twisted. The characters, like most of us, are flawed but keep pushing ahead. I also found it to be a refreshing departure from the standard "Dystopian Future" plots that seem to dominate modern sci-fi. If you enjoy sci-fi, this is a solid book.

If you like the sarcastic brilliant satire of Vonnegut, James Morrow, or Douglas Adams, then you will like this book. Martel has a gift for showing us the absurdity of Humankind in general and some specific absurdities of Hollywood Culture. In fact few Earth Institutions are spared from the scalpel sharp wit of Jay Martel. You would have to be a real dullard not to appreciate the biting humor that peppers virtually every paragraph.It's not only refreshing, but very healthy to face all of our stupidities, and have the opportunity to laugh at them out loud. The book is so good it is hard to put down. I heartily recommend it, and if you liked it be sure to check out the other authors that I mention at the top of this review.If you are not sure whether this book, just read the Kindle sample to get a better idea.

Very funny but biting view of modern politics, war, social change, sex, religion, education, and media just to name a few. You name it, he pokes at it. Simultaneously, this is not a polemic. It's funny, well written, and has good character development. Plot is a little weird at times, but I guess that is to be expected. Laughed so loud while reading I got dirty looks from my wife. Definitely recommend.

A fun, funny, creative, irreverent, satirical, wild ride page-turner with many twists, turns, and philosophical undertones. I often have several books going simultaneously, but Channel Blue immediately took front and center with its crazy antics and preposterous scenes: elevators to the moon, G.O.D. (Gerald O. Davidoff) vs Leslie Satan, a mind-changing ear slug, Elvis on the moon, and much more. It sort-of reminded me of a conglomeration of Peter Sellers "Being There", "Forrest Gump", Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Monty Python's "Life of Brian". Looking forward to more like this from Mr. Martel. Keep 'em coming!

An very entertaining plot where Earth is portrayed as a reality TV show for the galaxies. The violence and sexual content is not prurient and is carefully handled. There are amazing historic and Biblical themes that run throughout - and it certainly helps in the enjoyment of this book if one is well read otherwise. Though I am a devoted Christian, I felt the "unbelief" in the story was handled in context and that "belief" was not vilified. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Channel Blue is hysterical. I really enjoyed it on my Kindle. Autho Martel keeps the plot twists coming--how does he think of all that?I thought the premise would be good for a very short short story, but he develops it into a full novel that's a fun read and unpredictable in good ways.One reviewer correctly said, "Don't bother reading the reviews -- just read the book!" and I agree wholeheartedly. A fun read.

I managed the first 100 pages and, up to that point, it seemed like a poor man's "Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxy", in as much as the destruction of the earth was a central plot device. Where it lost me was when an apparition of Christ was conceived as being something that would move the story along. Used in the context in which it was used I found it not to my Christian tastes and decided to abandon the book.

As a long time fan of Douglas Adams this book did a great job of satisfying my impossible hope for more Hitch Hiker books!

It's like a reality show version of Hitchhikers Guide... It has an American feel to it that is different than the British feel to Hitchhikers. It was plausible enough to hold together and funny enough to fit into that small niche of SF that has humour. I enjoyed it's twists and turns and observations on the human condition.

A bit of a wacky sci-fi spoof. In the tradition of Hitch-hiker's Guide. Pokes fun at the idiocy that is humanity.

I bounced off at about half way through. Not funny to me.