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Title: The Android's Dream
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science fiction
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: The fate of two planets rests upon Harry Creek's ability to find a sheep.
Thoughts: This is an early work, and it shows. But it's so relentlessly entertaining that it more than makes up for its missteps.
Scalzi has been accused of writing only characters that sound like himself. To some extent, it's a legitimate criticism. Most of his characters do, in fact, sound the same. But I really like his voice, so it doesn't particularly bother me. Here, too, we have a number of characters who have fairly similar styles (to the point that I was having trouble keeping a couple of them straight). But the book is fast paced and witty, with the occasional touch of pathos to keep it from getting out of hand.
It's also incredibly convoluted, with multiple political parties from multiple species, several of whom are spies, traitors, and moles. Everyone double crosses just about everyone else. The main character doesn't actually make an appearance until several chapters in, which contributes to the disorientation. It's both fun and also confusing. But while the mechanism by which everything is going to be wrapped up becomes evident to us before most of the characters, the climax does in fact tie everything together satisfactorily.
It's also completely off-the-wall loony, with genetically modified sheep, aliens eating people all over the place, a church dedicated to making what they know was a con artist's bad poetry actually come true, spycraft via vending machine, and some literal bouncing off the walls. Good fun.
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science fiction
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: The fate of two planets rests upon Harry Creek's ability to find a sheep.
Thoughts: This is an early work, and it shows. But it's so relentlessly entertaining that it more than makes up for its missteps.
Scalzi has been accused of writing only characters that sound like himself. To some extent, it's a legitimate criticism. Most of his characters do, in fact, sound the same. But I really like his voice, so it doesn't particularly bother me. Here, too, we have a number of characters who have fairly similar styles (to the point that I was having trouble keeping a couple of them straight). But the book is fast paced and witty, with the occasional touch of pathos to keep it from getting out of hand.
It's also incredibly convoluted, with multiple political parties from multiple species, several of whom are spies, traitors, and moles. Everyone double crosses just about everyone else. The main character doesn't actually make an appearance until several chapters in, which contributes to the disorientation. It's both fun and also confusing. But while the mechanism by which everything is going to be wrapped up becomes evident to us before most of the characters, the climax does in fact tie everything together satisfactorily.
It's also completely off-the-wall loony, with genetically modified sheep, aliens eating people all over the place, a church dedicated to making what they know was a con artist's bad poetry actually come true, spycraft via vending machine, and some literal bouncing off the walls. Good fun.
