Stargonauts is a science-fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

-comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 novel written by David S. Garnett

David S. Garnett

David S. Garnett is a UK science fiction author and editor whose novels include Cosmic Carousel, Stargonauts and Bikini Planet. He edited a paperback anthology revival of Michael Moorcock's New Worlds magazine, two Zenith anthologies of original British SF stories, and three Orbit Science Fiction...

 and released in 1994

1994 in literature

The year 1994 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Kevin J. Anderson - Champions of the Force, Dark Apprentice and Jedi Search*Reed Arvin - The Wind in the Wheat*Greg Bear - Songs of Earth and Power...

. A sequel novel, Bikini Planet

Bikini Planet

Bikini Planet is a science fiction comedy written by David S. Garnett and released exclusively in the UK as a paperback. It is written as a sub-sequel to an earlier story written by Garnett in 1994, entitled Stargonauts, which features the some of the same settings and characters from the first...

, followed in 2000

2000 in literature

The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...

.

Plot

The novel takes place sometime in the future, when the Earth is dominated by several wealthy and lucrative businesspeople. William Ewart - owner of Ewart Communications - is one of these, and is completely obsessed with maintaining his position as the wealthiest man on Earth.

After a hostile takeover by another rival leaves him powerless, Ewart leaves Earth along with his henchman Grawl to marry his fourth wife, a princess of Algol. Along with a dysfunctional group of mercenaries and missionaries, the group proceeds to the pleasure-planet Hideaway, where Ewart hopes to make a quick comeback after his humiliating downfall on Earth.

Sequel

In 2000, Garnett wrote a follow-up novel entitled Bikini Planet

Bikini Planet

Bikini Planet is a science fiction comedy written by David S. Garnett and released exclusively in the UK as a paperback. It is written as a sub-sequel to an earlier story written by Garnett in 1994, entitled Stargonauts, which features the some of the same settings and characters from the first...

. However, the novel only features two of the original characters - in this case, Grawl and Princess Janesmith - and thus is only an indirect sequel to the original.