On the worst morning of his life, Ben learns he's dying of untreatable cancer. So when his best friend gets what surely has to be a scam text offering a fully operational starship for sale, Ben has nothing left to lose.

Fun and funny with plenty of heart to boot. ( )

Just no. ( )

Forbes, M. R. Starship for Sale. Starship for Sale No. 1. Kindle, 2022.
M. R. Forbes is a prolific independent SFF author. Starship for Sale, my first foray into his work, is a moderately entertaining, self-consciously derivative space opera. If you read it without having a clear memory of 1984’s The Last Starfighter, you will miss many of the jokes. Ben and his friend Matt are a couple of contemporary twenty-somethings trying to get a rock band going, but plans are derailed when Ben is diagnosed with a brain cancer that reminded me of the brain cloud from Joe and the Volcano. They answer an ad claiming to have a functional starship for sale to the right customer at a negotiable price. They meet a fast-talking guy named Keep, who reminds everyone, including himself, of Centauri (Preston Foster) from The Last Starfighter. And the space opera begins. The ship has an AI and a shape-shifting crewmember. They name the ship Head Case and set out to find a planet with a cure for Ben’s brain cancer. But first, there is an evil count and a lot of bad debt to take care of first. Unpretentious fun. 3.5 stars. ( )