I couldn’t ever finish this one because of the robotic cadence of the narrator. I’ll give it another try in a different format since I’m really intrigued by the premise and love a good sci-fi.

This was an entertaining mystery about an amateur trying to solve a mystery to save her own skin. It definitely involves a lot of stumbling around researching dead ends or false leads. I feel like the drunkenness of inter-species interpretation didn't end up playing a significant part of the story despite the basic setup.

Great audiobook narrator. Considering half the characters communicated telepathically and could not use or understand verbal language, she did a great job of giving everyone nuanced personalities and voices.



This one surprised me. It's part near future sci-fi (as assumed if we follow our current trajectory as a species), part locked room murder mystery. The big pivot point in human history before the story starts is that an alien race has made first contact with us. There are now embassies on earth and suitable humans can go into training to become translators - a demanding and physically taxing job since they need to receive communication telepathically and then translate for other humans and vice versa, which has some serious side effects on mental health and physical well being. Lydia is a bit of an underdog. Originally from Halifax, she now works for the agency as a translator for the alien cultural attaché in New York. She never quite fits and conscious of her subtle outsider status. However she has a good working relationship with her alien boss Fitz. When she discovers him dead in his apartment, it sends her off on a twisting, wickedly clever investigation to uncover the truth and clear her name.



This book had a great combination of qualities: wry humour, nuanced and well considered portrayal of prejudice, the problems of communication and what translating might end up doing to both the language and the translator. Really enjoyed this fast paced and fun sci-fi mystery. Clever enough to keep me guessing, light enough to be a refreshing change of pace. Highly recommend.

This is a story about intoxicating language.

I love sci fi that explores the more mundane elements of things like future possibilities and other worlds… so a book about alien translation felt really appealing. Conceptually this reminded me a bit of a memory called empire, but it diverted rather quickly, in that it focused on the concept of translation with an element of intoxication… which was definitely unique. The biggest drawback for me was that it was difficult to connect with the protagonist, and I felt fairly distant from the events as a result.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Tordotcom for the eArc & Rb Media for the ALC!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded to 4!

This is a strange one, but the last third or so is definitely worth it. I really enjoyed the idea of how humans interact with aliens, but the mystery got a little bogged down in the middle. The reveal and culmination was great though.


Amy Scanlon is an excellent narrator. I'd gladly listen to more audiobooks read by her.

I'm gonna keep this short as I unfortunately don't have too many good things to say about this book. I was very intrigued by the premise, but I didn't love the writing. This is very much a personal (dis)preference! To me it was a little too simplistic and more on the side of telling rather than showing, which is something that often takes me out of a book/story. This made it quite hard for me to get through the book. I, however, see that I am in the minority on not liking the book all that much, and I do think many readers enjoy this style of writing much more than I, so I wouldn't discourage anyone who finds the premise interesting from picking up the book!

Lydia works as the translator for the Loki cultural attaché to Earth. They make a good team, but Lydia, as all Loki translators, gets the symptoms of being drunk when she translates for too long. When the cultural attaché turns up dead, and the police believe she is a suspect, Lydia is determined to figure out who really did kill her boss.

I was intrigued by the premise of the relationship between humans and the Loki and had high hopes of this book. Unfortunately, the author seems not to have thought much about world building. Very few details of the Loki and their world/culture are given, and the only bits that are given seem only to exist as a way to move the plot along. Apart from that, the story wasn’t bad, but overall I was left disappointed.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Dnf. Didn't end up being what I thought it was going to be. I just got a bit lost, and think maybe audio wasn't the way for me to go with this one.

Part of this was as strange as I expected (getting "drunk" from translating) but it was a good story with an entertaining mystery with political intrige.
The future for social media and the truthiness rating was cleverly used..

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the stumbling, bumbling aspects of Lydia-- who reminded me of the Dolly Wilde character from the novel "How to Build a Girl". Robson got just the right tone in terms of an English girl who just wants to do better in the world and needs to figure out what is going on around her. Amy Scanlon does a magnificent job of narration-- even if her American accents kinda sound alike. It is touted as an SF story, but I considered this book more about growing up and maturing and accepting your life and who you are-- and yet it is also a locked room murder mystery as well. I very much enjoyed the relationship Lydia had with the aliens and the presentation of social media of the future. I especially loved the concept of the "truthiness rating" for social media stories and wish we had that now! Readers who like mysteries and the kind of SF Robson has written previously will find a lot to enjoy in Drunk on All Your Strange New Words..

This book is AMAZING and the audiobook is EXTRA AMAZING. I love it so much. This is perfection. I love the world-building of the near future New York City with an alien race present. Lydia is a translator who is pretty messy. The work of translation makes you drunk, so her work often leads her into situations where she's managing inebriation and politics. Her job becomes much more complicated when her boss turns up dead and she starts hearing his voice in her head. What follows is an amazing sci-fi political thriller. I absolutely love it. I recommend it so much.

This is such a unique story and I really enjoyed it. It is unlike any other sci-fi/fantasy books I’ve read so far and it approaches it from a different perspective (post-contact with aliens).

Lydia is frustratingly flawed but also doing the best she can.

The world-building is fantastic and the emphasis on social media and their truthfulness rating is something that intrigued me.

The twists are done well. It’s a great sci-fi murder-mystery.

I did want more set up before the first twist, but that’s just personal preference. It certainly didn’t take anything away from the story. I wanted more about the Logis themselves as well.

I really enjoyed Amy as a narrator.

A fun genre-blending first contact (or several years post first contact) sci-fi novel/murder mystery. I loved the world building though cared less about the murder mystery. Amy Scanlon is an excellent narrator except when trying to do New York accents.

A selection from my ‘Anticipated Releases of 2022‘

Robson imagines a near-future world with self-driving cars, smart-glasses, VR games, and a humanity who has made peaceful relations with a telepathic alien species. Using their education they’re given at a prestigious school for translators, graduates can then being working with the ‘Logi’ as a translator. Though with the job comes a few side effects, such as the more you’re translating, the more intoxicated you become.

Excerpt:
When Lydia was a kid, of course she’d heard that communicating with the Logi made you drunk—everyone heard that—but she honestly wasn’t sure if it was just a stupid urban myth. On her first day at the London School of Thought Language (LSTL) they told her that processing the language in your brain didn’t make you drunk but it did make you feeldrunk, a distinction Lydia found hard to grasp: drunkenness is a feeling, so what’s the difference between feeling drunk and being drunk? They explained that from a biological perspective it was very different because your body wasn’t dealing with toxins, and the process didn’t damage your body in the same way alcohol did. So it was like getting drunk with no downside?
Awesome. At least, that was what she thought at the time.
-end excerpt==


Through the story we learn about the history and effects of the ‘translation’ process and how humans view the ‘Logi’ race as friends or as enemies. There are moments of discrimination and galactic xenophobia against them in public as well as the media though there are circles who hope to work with the prestigious Logi and request their support on their projects.

Lydia was a solid main character. With her own flaws and fluxuating hopelessness, she manages to set out to solve the mysterious tragedy in order to clear her name. Though that’s where things get interesting. What proceeds is a rabbit hole of characters, players and associates of her employer. Though once you follow through to the end of this labyrinthine game of who-dun-it, there are things that have been kept from the reader which leads to a pretty interesting ending that i didn’t see coming.

I enjoyed this glimpse of an integrated telepathic alien race rather than humanity-destroying threats. Robson paints a picture that they’re treated more like royalty with fancy gatherings and gala events while being respected (though not by all) by the higher echelons of society. Also the ‘mystery’ piece felt a bit more down-to-earth as we only had to Lydia’s novice detective skills rather than some hyper-observant savant.

This is a solid light-scifi who-dun-it with some chuckles in a future NYC where humanity and aliens can co-exist, and whoever wields the language has the power.

Lydia works as a translator for Fritz, the Cultural Attaché to Earth from the planet Logia. The human translators processes English into Logi for their employers through thought. The side effect of the work has the same impact on the human body as alcohol, leaving the translators feeling drunk. Lydia woke after a grueling evening of translating remembering nothing. She becomes the primary suspect when her boss is found murdered. Lydia receives some unlikely help as she tries to clear her name.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is the latest novel by British comedic writer Eddie Robson. This sci-fi whodunnit is outlandish and fun. Robson, a scriptwriter for radio and television projects including many “Dr. Who” episodes, is no stranger to the weird. His characters – all perpetually lost, even the humans – add to the surreal scenes that make up this book. Although other authors have written about the subject of alien translators, none has done in with Robson’s absurd flair. Throughout the book, Robson showcases situations and dialogue that are dryly humorous to LOL funny. This offbeat, far-out extraterrestrial crime drama will leave readers thirsty for more.

British actress Amy Scanlon gives voice to the audio book. With Lydia, the main character originating from England and with the Logi’s dialog in her head, Scanlon gives a very appropriate tone to this story. The novel itself is entertaining but with the addition of Scanlon, the audio book is a real pleasure.

#DrunkonallYourStrangeNewWords #NetGalley #EddieRobson

The word that comes to mind for this book is clever. I usually don’t get a synopsis, but since I haven’t seen this one around too much, and the description initially pulled me in here you go: Lydia is a translator in near future earth for an alien species, but her boss is murdered and she ends up being the prime suspect. So she ends up trying to solve the crime herself, of course. I liked Lydia herself a lot, but I especially enjoyed the small details about how her translation job works and differences between the species. Part of the reason I love sci fi is because I feel like it gives writes so much room for creativity, and that really shines here. Thanks to the publisher for the print book, and @netgalley for the audio, which was also very enjoyable!

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. I thought the audiobook narrator did a great job with all of the various characters throughout the book.

I really enjoyed this sci-fi murder mystery. The story was unique and I didn't see the who-dun-it part coming until the reveal. That doesn't happen very often. This book was such a pleasant surprise. I was expecting more of a science fiction novel, which is how it starts out, but it quickly turns into the main character trying to solve the mystery of her patron's murder to clear her name.

This follows Lydia, a translator for the cultural attache for an alien race call the Logi. She is a bit aloof, and while she isn't the best translator her agency has to offer, she gets along well with Fitz (the attache), and he enjoys her company. The act of translating happens telepathically, and the act of translating makes the human feel drunk. If Lydia overdoes it, she often gets to the point of blacking out and is hungover the next day. With Fitz being invited to many social events in New York City, she is often working while attending official events. She feels herself buring out, but she wants to do a good job as she doesn't really know what else she would do with herself other than translate. After a particularly taxing evening of translating, Lydia wakes to finds Fitz murdered and all clues point to her being the culprit. In order to clear her name, she must launch her own investigation into his mysterious death or find herself in jail. As her investigation proceeds, she finds herself in the middle of a very strange and at time ridiculous plot.

I thought the world building was very well done. The book is set in a futuristic earth, after first contact with the Logi has been established. There are factions that accept there presence and those that do not. There is also a huge reliance on gadets and technology. People wear glasses and are plugged into everything much like people today are attached to their smartphones and have instant access to information. Much of their lives are recorded and streamed for entertainment and tracking purposes. I enjoyed the humor that the author weaved into the book.

This was a fun read, and I very much enjoyed it! If you are looking for something a little different I recommend it. This has light sci-fi elements and doesn't get very technical on the science or technology. The mystery was more on the cozy side with a little humor mixed in. This would be a great beach read or something to take to the pool.

No. I did NOT like this one. I just didn't. It found it ridiculous and hard to follow and then I didn't WANT to follow it anymore. It wasn't for me, sorry to say. It just wasn't. I get the concept of a sound frequency making you wobbly, confused...basically drunk. I get it but didn't find it entertaining.

Set near the end of the 21st century where we have had contact with another species and they have ambassadors and trade with us. People who can’t do VR turn out to be great at communicating with the Logi, mind to mind the downside is it makes the human act drunk if they do it for too long of a period of time. Lydia had been working for the cultural attaché for less than a year when she wakes up one morning to find he has been murdered and she was the only other person in the house and all video recordings are missing. While suspicion is on her she returns to the house and then hears the ghost of her boss in her head. With a few sentences she is off and running to find the real killer of her boss. This is a mystery but there is a lot of extrapolations of how society will be moving into the future. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in here and would certainly like to see a story that covers the first contact between humans and Logi.

This is the kind of sci-fi I enjoy. Near future, relatable, realistic technology with enough sci-fi elements to make it interesting and intriguing. I felt that the mystery was well thought out and twisty enough to maintain my interest throughout. I really enjoyed the main character and felt that she was very relatable. The only thing was I wanted to know more about the alien race. I suppose the idea was that we knew as much as the humans in the story knew, but I felt that I was missing information on when they arrived on the planet and how that all played out. But all in all I found it an entertaining read and would definitely be interested in reading other books by this author.

I enjoyed the narration, I really liked the narrators voice and the way she made the main character familiar to the listener. There were a few moments here and there where it seemed like she hesitated over words or put the stress on the wrong parts of sentences, which I found a little distracting, but overall it was still good quality.