Review: Help Fund My Robot Army!

…and Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects

Edited by John Joseph Adams

Available here

The most outlandish uses of Kickstarter brought together in one easily accessible place…

Ever felt that crowd fundraising Kickstarter was too boring and mundane, with people just wanting to fund projects that actually make sense? If you’ve wondered quite how the more insane projects might get off the ground, then pick up a copy of this fun little ebook.

Adams has brought together an eclectic group of writers from across the world, and let them run riot. We’ve got the eponymous Robot Army being funded – but there are also projects to bring back the dead, travel through time, deal with sparkly vampires (one of my favourites), and much more.

Some of them are presented in the traditional Kickstarter format, with all the various sections of the fund-raising details compiled, and it’s through the project updates that the story is told. Some are closed down projects and it’s the post-mortem that we focus on. In other cases, the comments tell the story.

They range from the laugh-aloud hilarious to the bittersweet (Chuck Wendig one of the many writers managing to combine the two!) and many of them act as a brief window into a much wider story that we only glimpses elements of in the tale. That’s both the limitation and the benefit of Adams’ approach, but once you get used to the way the stories work, you’re likely to find much to enjoy here.

Verdict: A very varied and enjoyable mix of tales. 8/10

Paul Simpson