Devil’s Gun

Rambo’s rollicking, high energy sequel to You Sexy Thing returns to the bioship of the same name, its valiant captain, Niko Larsen, and its colorful multispecies crew. The crew’s space restaurant was taken over by baddies in the previous installment, and now they’re on the run from a vicious pirate king, Tubal Last. Niko’s determination to find both her missing lover, Petalia, who may be Last’s prisoner, and an ancient space weapon rumored to be able to defeat Last takes the crew on a wild romp through a topsy-turvy universe full of just as much magic as science. Along the way, each of Niko’s crewmates must confront their own traumatic pasts. Most touching are the stories of half-lion, half-human Talon, who yearns to clone his murdered twin, Thorn; augmented chimp Gio, who, after escaping the nasty villain Gnarl, just wants to hang with the crew; second-in-command Dabry, who mourns his lost family; and You Sexy Thing itself, slowly learning to understand and experience human emotions. In the midst all the chaos, the crew also manages to set up a new, pop-up restaurant. Rambo has a knack for conjuring extraterrestrial speech and thought patterns, the camaraderie between the crew is heartwarming, and the far-out foodie descriptions are wonderfully bizarre. This freewheeling space opera adventure hits the spot, while leaving plenty for readers to look forward to in the next one. (Aug.)