Space-janitors, aliens, humor, and a plague of apocalyptic proportions? Yes, please. All of the above immediately captured my attention and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book.

When the apocalypse hits Earth and decimates much of the population leaving the remaining humans in something of a shambling, zombie-like state, an alien race swoops in to save the day. The Krakau have rebuilt the human race and the language, and now humans are pretty much human once again, only they’re now in space. Many of them, like Mops, are janitors tasked with cleaning up anything from waste to shipwrecks. When the ship that Mops is on encounters a wee bit of trouble, it’s up to Mops and her crew to save the day and show the aliens that they’re capable of much more than just janitorial services.

Hines is a master when it comes to creating humor-infused science fiction and fantasy novels, and Terminal Alliance is a perfect example. Both his world-building and his characterization were incredibly rich and detailed, and he manages to strike such an amazing balance between the serious and the silly like no other. Add to that, his plot and pacing were equally as fantastic, making this one of my favorite reads of 2017.

Highly recommended. Mops and her crew have quickly become some of my new favorites, and I’ll be be waiting (im)patiently for the next book in this series.

*eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Terminal Alliance (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse), by Jim C. Hines, takes a futuristic zombie-esque apocalypse and wonders - what happens if someone comes along and fixes it?  Humanity was turned into mindless, shambling monsters, but the Krakau (a squidlike alien race) decides to help fix us.  Eh, more or less.

The story follows a human nicknamed "Mops" and her motley band of space janitors as they get caught up in all manner of mischief.  And might just uncover the galaxy's biggest conspiracy.  It's all played for fun, and it's nice having humans NOT as the leaders of whatever galactic alliance for a change.  We're the big dumb muscle.

Terminal Alliance knows the score when it comes to sci-fi tropes and does enough to play with them to make it different.  Think Scalzi's Redshirts, but not quite that obvious.  That makes it a fun palate-cleanser between bloody thousand page epics.  Recommended.

A plague on Earth killed most of humanity, leaving the survivors feral. Feral humans are incredibly dangerous. An Alien species, the Krakau, had planned to invite humanity to join an alliance with other sentient alien species. But after the plague decimated Earth, the Krakau decided to save the human race from their new feral existence instead. The Krakau can give humans "rebirth", returning them to normal, but it is rumored that injury or severe stress can sometimes make humans revert to feral behavior. Reborn humans serve in the Earth Mercinary Corps (EMC). Reborn humans make great mercenaries because they are strong, resistant to most diseases, and recover quickly from injury. Reborn humans are the crew for the EMCS Pufferfish. Humans do the grunt work for the Krakau Command Crew, who controls the vessel. Following a battle with enemy vessels, a bioweapon kills the Kraukau commanders and reverts the human crew members to shambling, dangerous ferals. The only humans not effected are members of a janitorial crew who are wearing protective suits to clean up a sewage spill. They go from cleaning up the poo to being chin deep in it. And their leader, Marion "Mops" Adamopoulos, suddenly finds herself captain of the ship. Not only do they need to figure out how to fly the ship.....but they also discover some sinister secrets about the apocalypse that basically ended human civilization on Earth.

Terminal Alliance is a funny and enjoyable read. The concept is incredibly creative, and executed masterfully. I laughed out loud multiple times as the zany crew worked their way through problems and situations after being forced to take over the ship. While hilarious in many spots, the plot is actually quite complex. No spoilers from me....but there's a lot going on! Mix a bit of Red Dwarf, Star Trek and The Orville....and you get the antics on the EMCS Pufferfish. I love it when I read a book that shows such creativity and wit. It definitely put a smile on my face. Terminal Alliance is the first book I have read by Jim Hines -- I can't wait to read more!

For more information on the author and his books, check out his website: http://www.jimchines.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Berkley via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I've enjoyed Hines' previous series, and this series starter was a real winner. In a future where humanity, turned feral by our own hubris, has been lifted up by an alien species, we provide our services as soldiers and...janitors. Hines deploys action and humor in equal doses, while leading the reader through strange and exciting alien worlds. A fantastic sci-fi read!

Laugh out loud Military SF! Hines’ new series starter introduces an imaginative take on military sf featuring the last crew not shambling on a military freighter—the ship’s janitorial staff. This is set post-pandemic which left the human race feral and an alien race known as the Krakau have come up with a cure that allows them to suppress the problem and use humans as a mercenary fighting force. Now something has been introduced to the EMCS Pufferfish that’s left the majority of the crew either feral or dead. Luckily, Lt. Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos and her Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team are in biohazard suits as the agent spreads. In the process of trying to save the remaining feral crew they uncover a conspiracy that could undermine the Krakau Alliance. I loved this and can’t wait for the next book!

Janitors in space, what a neat idea! Something new. After reading the description I got the notion this might be a really funny book.
Mops, on the spaceship Pufferfish, head of Hygiene and Sanitation and her cleaning crew save the world. Or possibly worlds. So the names were amusing and Earth history edited by aliens worked to explain it, but with the restrictions placed on humans I'm not sure how Mops got to be so well educated.
For me, I think the book worked better as a straight forward adventure with humorous asides. Lots of action, plenty of Oh No! What will we do now? but always janitors find a solution befitting their station. I would like a Puffy of my own! I did find the ending rather bizarre, sorry to give story ending away. Could not conceive of why they would rush off to save more aliens before fellow humans.
I liked this book and enjoyed the absurdity of it .
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, to read and review. Thank you also to the author and publisher.

This is my favorite Jim Hines book to date.

His trademark sense of humor puts a janitorial crew aboard a cruiser in the middle of a mystery that turns into a plot that reveals far wider significance than anyone in this fascinating universe could conceive.

Basically, Earth's population was zombified, nearly obliterating itself before it was rescued by the Krakau, who managed to keep ten thousand humans alive. As humans are hardy and eat pretty much anything, they are useful for as a combination dockside police and marines--given all the dirty military jobs nobody else in the Alliance wants.

But the Krakau, in saving humanity, has also completely rewritten human history and language--cured and reprogrammed humans now speak "Human" and they injest their food through tubes of gray gunk.

Mops, the lieutenant in charge, has the typical misfit crew: a tough ex-infantryman named Marilyn Monroe, a gun-ho sanitation tech named Wolf who is super bloodthirsty but also pretty much incompetent, Kumar, the nerdy rule follower, and Grom, who isn't human at all, but Glicidae, a kind of gigantic centipede, who is also a nerd addicted to video games.

This crew is out in space, wearing their containment suits as they clean up yet another disgusting mess, when the cruiser abruptly goes silent, and when they get back inside, they discover their human shipmates gone feral-zombie, and the Krakau officers dead.

That's when things really take off. Mops and her crew have to survive, figure out how to run the cruiser, and figure out who attacked and what to do about it. Hines has fun turning old space opera tropes inside out--the crew has no idea how to run a cruiser, and screws up constantly. Meanwhile, things are getting dire as dangers and threats build: someone clearly meant everyone on board to die, and is trying to rectify their error.

Mops and her gang deploy their sanitation knowledge in entertainingly imaginative ways to get out of increasingly dangerous situations as they run down clues about the attack, and begin to put together a picture of a much bigger problem. Along the way we get to meet a gang of colorful species.

The characterization is top notch, with tons of wit as well as janitorial humor; the pacing builds nicely to a cinematic climax, and though we get a satisfactory resolution, there is an even more tempting setup for future novels. Considering the pacing and the humor, there is a surprising amount of social commentary, including on who writes history, why, and the fallout when a culture discovers that it has been lied to by the authorities.

I am really looking forward to the next adventures of Mops and her gang.

Wow, I was completely blown away by this comedic sci fi. It was so well written. I defy anyone to denigrate it as science fiction because it has a humorous bend. It was reminiscent of so many things, yet completely unique in having such unlikely heroes. Spoiler alert: the excellent leadership and skills of the so-called crew of janitors was well explained in the final portion of the book. So much so that it elevated the story even more for me. It no longer felt like a lark and instead actually plausible. Damn fine read. I'll be recommending it to as many sci fi geeks as I can.

This is such a fun start to a new series. I loved the characters and their names, Marilyn Monroe is a male. Mops is janitor on the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish. Something happened to the humans on Earth to turn them into feral beasts. I quickly caught on to what had happened but it takes a while for Mops and crew to find out. The Krakau arrived and started changing some back using some as soldiers and some like Mops and crew as cleaning personnel. What happens when only Mops and crew are left to run the ship keeps the story going I almost skipped requesting this book and I am very glad that I changed my mind and requested it. This is fun, fun science fiction. I will be on the lookout for the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

A virus has decimated earth, leaving the humans mindless beast. Magnanimously, an alien race takes curing humans on, bringing them back to their previously cogitate being. Putting them in janitorial positions among their race on a starship. When the starship is attacked, it leaves the humans in charge, where they soon discover that the history they were told was not all they were lead to believe.

Lots of antic, humor and action make this a fast-paced entertaining romp through the galaxies.

Terminal Alliance host a cast of highly original cast of extraterrestrials and re-created humans I've ever encountered. Plots within plots and mad machinations vividly and lively paint amazing worlds that have burst from Hines imagination.

I received this ARC copy of Terminal Alliance from Berkley Publishing Group - DAW. This is my honest and voluntary review. Terminal Alliance is set for publication November 7, 2017.

My Rating: 4 stars
Written by: Jim C. Hines
Series: Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse (Book 1)
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: DAW
Publication Date: November 7, 2017
ISBN-10: 0756412749
ISBN-13: 978-0756412746
Genre: Science Fiction

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/term...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Terminal-Allia...
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/term...

Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com

6 likes

Janitors in space, why not, I have seen it before (you have to watch Space Janitors, omg, looove that show).

Humans as always effed up and are now mindless beasts. The planet is kaputt. In comes aliens, saves a few and put them to work. As mercs and as janitors. One of those janitors is Mops, smart, resilient and really good at cleaning. And suddenly she is in charge of a space ship and what the, how does one even steer this thing? Ha, perfect.

I did have issues reading it, but that was ebook issues, I can not read ebooks anymore. The baby says NO. It takes too long reading them and that makes me lament. Funny should be read fast. You hear that, read it fast to enjoy it :)

Right where was I. Alien conspiracies. Bad aliens wanting to shoot them out of the sky. Scary humans. And so many things to clean!

Conclusion:
There is humour, there is action, but mostly there is humour, witty, sarcastic and fun.

A really fun, funny, sci-fi romp. I enjoyed it a lot! It's got a good balance of action and interpersonal character development. It hit the right balance between fluff and heavy plot, and brings the reader along for a fun ride.

What a crazy trip. This was a funny read with lots of sci-fi elements and aliens. I was a little bogged down in the middle with space jargon, but it didn't take away from the story too much. I would love to read the next one.

This book is not for me. I prefer to DNF as I can't connect but I know it will please to others.

This is the first book in a new science fiction series, but don't let that stop you from reading it! There is a satisfying conclusion to the story with a set up for future ones. Perfect for readers who are looking to try science fiction or to give to readers who think they don't like this genre. Plenty of humor and action keep the plot moving with enough science to whet your appetite without bogging you down with too many details. Throw in some strong characters and good dialog makes this a series I definitely will be coming back to when the next book is published!

JIm Hines' turns his humorous approach to military science fiction as his space janitors take on zombies while traveling the universe.