Overboard, by S.C. Megale, is a steampunk humor fantasy, though that description hardly does justice to this incredibly inventive novel. I’m struggling to think of an apt comparison. Is it like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy set on a cruise ship? Or perhaps it’s more like if Jimmy Buffett had written a novel, only his drug of choice had been shrooms rather than margaritas? Maybe it’s Moby-Dick meets Captain Feathersword (and his fantastic jacket) from the Wiggles?
Whichever comparison fits best, the book follows Markham, who wakes up as he’s splashing down into a giant lobster aquarium, only to be pulled out before he drowns by a mild-mannered, bipedal crocodile in a chef’s outfit. He has no memory of his past or he how came to be in that odd situation. The crocodile, named Gavial, heads a commercial kitchen that opens onto a palatial dining hall. His sous-chef, Nina, has pity on the lost, pitiful Markham and takes it upon herself to show him the ropes of this whimsical world.
That world turns out to be a giant cruise ship that’s the size of a city (think Icon of the Seas but even bigger than that) and has never made a port call–it’s simply always underway on the sea. There are many humans among the thousands of passengers, but at least as many bizarre hybrids of human and fish or amphibian, all eating in the dining halls, lounging in the huge sauna, or riding the large glass elevator to another of the ship’s sixty floors. Nina is lovely and seems to like Markham, but she’s a bit impatient with his sense of wonder and lack of knowledge of his surroundings. Still, she gets him set up with dry clothes (flip-flops and Hawaiian shirt, of course) and a state room.
Unfortunately, Markham soon learns the ship is in some distress. The captain and first mate haven’t been seen in months, and without their authority, several gangs have filled the power vacuum, occupying entire floors and terrorizing the passengers while the gangs fight with one another. Nina herself had a finger on her left hand cut off not long before for not being able to pay a debt to the ruthless Kloff gang.
Nina’s dream is that she will be able to locate the captain and restore the ship to its normal order and has been conducting an investigation in her spare time. Markham decides to help her in his bumbling way, but they soon run afoul of the gangsters, who don’t want the captain found. They find themselves on the run through the vast ship, trying to stay one step ahead of Kloff’s thugs while searching for clues. As Markham’s memory slowly returns, it turns out he may have more knowledge of the captain’s fate than either of them first realized….
I’m not sure I’ve made it clear enough that this book is hilarious. Jokes and ironies abound throughout. I think my favorite exchange was this one:
Markham nodded without looking up from his glossy, dressed leg wound.
“Are you sure I need to go into the sauna? Is saltwater really a good idea on this?”
“Dr. Flabberstein is never wrong,” Nina said.
“Dr. Flabberstein was a vending machine.”
“And did the ointment he popped out work?” Nina challenged.
Okay, so I have to come clean: the author S.C. Megale is a friend of mine and a fellow member of the Writers of Chantilly writers’ group. Nevertheless, I don’t think I’m biased when I say this is one of the most charming and imaginative books I’ve ever read. At first, the whimsical cruise ship is so unfamiliar that characters and occurrences seem almost random, but that’s merely a function of how original the setting is–one simply doesn’t have any similar previous books as a reference point to know what to expect. With continued reading, a reader discovers that the world-building is in fact governed by a rigorous logic.
While Markham and Nina and the friends they make during the mystery are sympathetic, it’s really the setting that’s the star of the book. Around every corner, on each new deck, there are fresh aspects of the ship for the characters to explore, and new creatures with gills, fins, and unpredictable attitudes to encounter. Each new page is a delight to read, and as the story unwinds it constantly surprises and amuses. While not a traditional epic fantasy-type book, I highly recommend it to any fantasy reader who wants to try something entirely new.