A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy

By Author / Illustrator

David Solomons

Genre

Funny Stories

Age range(s)

Publisher

Nosy Crow Ltd

ISBN

9780857639936

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

07-07-2022

Synopsis

A brilliantly funny story of what happens when a galactic princess moves in next door and almost brings about the end of the world.

Gavin's got a new neighbour and she's really annoying. Niki follows him everywhere, bosses him about, and doesn't care that her parents will obliterate Earth with their galactic warships if she doesn't stop running away from them. Can Niki and Gavin sort out the alien despots (aka Mum and Dad) and save the planet? Possibly. Will they become friends along the way? Doubtful...

A hilarious new story from the author of My Brother Is a Superhero, winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the British Book Industry Awards Children's Book of the Year. Perfect for fans of David Baddiel and David Walliams.

Find out more about author David Solomons

Welcome to A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy. Here is author David Solomons to tell us more!

1. What got you started in writing children's books, and what has been your best moment as a published author?

It was a complete accident. Or a kind of war of attrition. I'd tried screenwriting (with moderate success), then writing a novel for adults (which was a disaster), and then I came up with an idea which it was obvious had to be a book for children. Voila. Easy as that.

My publishing highlight remains winning the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year Award for my debut, My Brother is a Superhero.

2. Your books are very funny, so what kinds of things make you laugh, and why do you want to make children laugh?

I think the truth is that I write to amuse myself, which means I have the sense of humour of an 11-year-old boy. Nothing wrong with that.

3. Why did you decide to head into space for your book, A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy?

Two words. Star. Wars. In 1978 when the first movie came out in the UK, my dad drove us into Glasgow to see it. I'd never been so excited. Then he couldn't find a parking space and drove straight home. That classic combination of not being able to find a parking space coupled with galactic adventure is what I'm going for in this book.

4. What happens in the story?

It's the old story of boy meets girl next door. Girl turns out to be galactic princess on the run from her terrible parents, the rulers of the galaxy. Boy and girl don't get along, but have to team up to save Earth (and the galaxy), helped by a cat bounty hunter and a starship Artificial Intelligence trapped in the body of a plush unicorn toy.

5. Did anyone help inspire the galactic princess, Niki?

Oooh yes. My six-year-old daughter, Lara. (Niki's real name is Dread Princess Xylarra). I've come to terms with the reality that my job as a parent is to make sure that when Lara does take over the galaxy, I remember to pack her cuddly toy rabbit.

6. What's it like writing a character, Gavin, who is 'the most unremarkable being in the galaxy'.

I am obsessed with the Chosen One. So many children's books feature a boy or a girl destined to save the world from some great evil, usually with the aid of special abilities. I loved those books growing up, but I can't bring myself to write one. So, my protagonists are usually standing next to the Chosen One. Hence Gavin, the most cosmically ordinary being. He's special, but in the most ordinary way imaginable. The trick was not to write him dull!

7. Why did you make your bounty hunter a cat, and the space ship's AI computer, Starburst, a unicorn?

I'm one of those writers who does a bit of planning but leaves gaps. That's where the good stuff happens. I can say that until the description of the cat bounty hunter came off the end of my pencil I didn't know it was going to happen. Same for the unicorn, but there was the added element of what's the most ridiculous cuddly toy an Artificial Intelligence could end up in?

8. Gavin ends up going to space. Given the chance, would you be willing to join him on that spaceship?

No thanks. I can't even cope with rollercoasters, so I don't imagine I'd get on with the g-forces involved in launching into space. Also, not great in tight spaces. Or calm in stressful situations. Y'know what, I may be the least qualified person to go into space.

9. What would a space-inspired writer's shed look like?

I think it would look a lot like mine. Behind me right now are: the TARDIS, the Starship Enterprise, Thunderbird 2, a TIE fighter, various Star Wars figures and a full-sized Darth Vader helmet. Also, my desk goes up and down at the touch of a button. And my blinds too. The only thing not fully automated is my writing process, but I'm working on that.

10. What are your favourite escapes from your space-inspired writer's shed?

I have one of those e-bikes and I like to get out into the countryside around me as often as possible. Ideally, with a thermos and a book.

Download Extract

Reviews

Sam

A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy is a highly amusing sci-fi adventure that explores some of the more complex issues of relationships, family and friendship, while laughing all the way. Gavin lives with his foster family in Middling and, having been moved from one foster home to another, he is keen to keep a low profile, in the hope that he will not have to move again. Although with the recent arrival of a young baby, aka 'the Tiny Horror', Gavin feels sure he's soon to be moved on and the last thing he needs is to become 'the centre of attention'. However, when Niki Apple and her rather unusual family move next door, Gavin soon realises that remaining unremarkable is much harder when you're the subject of attention of a Galactic Princess on the run from her parents.

Author David Solomons manages to describe the potential emotional trauma of foster care and feuding parents, alongside feline bounty hunters, alien chefs and a fleet of armed spacecrafts, without getting too serious and while still managing to pack in no end of witty retorts and loads of laughs. This brilliant story will inevitably make its reader think about their own family and friendships. An easy read for any Key Stage 2 independent reader, that is no doubt going to be a popular read in schools and homes this summer.

336 pages / Reviewed by Sam, teacher

Jane

Niki is a tall girl with long black hair. Or, if you're Gavin, she's your new neighbour who's a 'fruitcake with extra crazy currants'. She also happens to be Dread Princess Xyllara, heir to the throne of the Dark Galaxy (which might explain her super-sized ego) and is on the run from her parents D'Rek the Destroyer and Pamnatakrocula the Pitiless (Derek & Pam). Gavin is not meant to know this, nor that Sam and Mercedes are her bodyguards, not Niki's parents, and Bart is just for 'spare parts'.

Indeed, there's a lot that is not meant to happen: the memory-wiping toothbrush malfunctioning, the spaceship's AI refusing to venture into the dark and, instead, taking up residence in a toy unicorn. Strangest of all is that 'unremarkable' Gavin should repeatedly save the day and, in the end, strike up a lasting friendship (of almost equals) with the impossibly annoying Niki.

Weird, silly and increasingly funny as the story progresses, A Beginner's Guide to Ruling The Galaxy is a book that will certainly entertain, from an already well-established comic writer. Certainly one recommend to children in Key Stage 2, and even to teachers for a class read.

336 Pages / Reviewed by Jane Rew

Elen

A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy is a fabulous read and children looking for a book packed with adventure and laughs - and a spaceship or two - will love it.

Gavin is an ordinary child who attracts unwanted attention in the form of Niki, his new neighbour, who takes an immense interest in how ordinary he is. It turns out that Niki is actually a galactic princess, the daughter of a feuding king and queen who want her back and nothing - including planet Earth - is going to stand in their way as they fight over which one of them their daughter will end up living with.

From an AI computer ending up with the body of a stuffed unicorn and terrified of space after watching weeks of streamed films, to a bounty hunter turned loyal friend in the shape of a cat, the story is peppered with distinctive characters that add to the story's appeal. Gavin's eventual spiky but loyal friendship with Niki and the lengths her adoptive family will go to to help her also bring warmth and heart to the story.

The author is an obvious Star Wars fan, but there are also echoes of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for any adults sharing this with children. Readers of the series My Brother is a Superhero will be thrilled to see a new series by David Solomons and I know many children who will be reaching for A Beginner's Guide to Ruling the Galaxy this summer!

336 pages / Reviewed by Elen