The book synopsis promises an upbeat, character driven SF with humor and drama and it definitely delivered. The story has a western feel to it with some very original characters. It's a welcome change from the mixed genre Sf I've read lately. 5 easy stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. DNF. Much more cowboys and indians than space opera. Not my style or interest. Very campy.

Even though science fiction is not high on my reading agenda I did appreciate Tom Dell'Aringa's style with a mix that includes aliens, a wolf herder, the drug industry, human suprematists, murder, and two robots that almost steal the show.
A review thanks to NetGalley.

I haven't read this author before. His bio says he likes good characters, and I think he created some here. This is not the kind of story I'd normally pick up, but I liked this. I think those seeking a good sci-fi tale with some humor will like this one.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!!

This was such a wonderful read, a well written sci-fi mystery with an air of Douglas Adams about it. John, Alvis and Ril are superbly crafted protagonists, I quickly found myself fully invested in their stories. A great cast of supporting characters provide extra depth and interest to the tale. Despite his overenthusiasm, Hogan was definitely my favourite amongst these.


The world-building was solid and examined issues prevalent in society today. The story wasn't overly descriptive and left much to the reader's imagination but it did provide everything one needed to be able to follow and understand the plot, the settings, and the motivations of the characters. I loved the snarky banter between Alvis and John, it added a nice touch of levity to the book but also gave a good contrast to some more serious or emotion-filled scenes.


With themes of redemption, chosen family, racism (speciesism?) and community Blanchland Blues just has so much to offer. The prose flows smoothly, the dialogue was both easy to assign and felt natural and the plot moved along at a good pace. This was the first book I've read by Tom Dell'Aringa and it has left me wanting to read more by him.

Blanchland Blues is a fun space pulp read. Take the worst smuggler ever and his robot Alivs who are tasked with finding one missing girl. What could possibly go wrong? Other than the fact if they fail John goes to prison for a very long time.