The Android's Dream
Ratings98
Average rating4
I wish all books were as good as this. Strongly and well pulled together. I smiled for the last few chapters. Love his work! Will try to read all of his works.
I've read a few Scalzi novels and generally enjoy them. They are, of course, not Great Literature, but that doesn't seem to be Scalzi's goal as a writer. Instead, he wants to be the iconoclast of science fiction. In many cases, science fiction writers affect an elevated tone and style: characters Speak and Proclaim. Dickensian comes to mind (looking at you, Asimov).
Scalzi is far more colloquial, drawing his tone from everyday people in everyday situations. He loves tough, glib, no-nonsense heroes who find themselves in bizarre circumstances: galactic wars, collapsing empires, or, in this case, a succession crisis on an extraterrestrial planet.
As in most of his novels, he eschews world building to explain how Earth became part of a pan-galactic empire. We are meant just to take it as a given. He is also vague about when this story takes place: there are vague references to the twentieth century being some time in the distant past but no clear sense of how far back or what the current year is. Despite this, everything feels completely contemporary: other than the spaceships, there are few references to exotic, futuristic technology; the USA is still a functioning political entity (amusingly, Scalzi suggests that, even in the distant future, the US is the de facto world government that alien civilizations deal with); a key scene takes place in a suburban shopping mall; and characters use “communicators” that are indistinguishable from smartphones. Even Robin Baker, the heroine/Maguffin, owns a small pet store and lives in a small apartment on the brink of poverty.
The key conflict involves a succession conflict between two noble clans (with confusingly similar names) on the homeworld of the Nibu, one of the members of the galactic federation to which Earth belongs. Without getting too deep into the weeds, the conflict has to do with the adherence to certain rituals in the succession ceremony. For complicated (and funny) reasons involving a genetic experiment gone haywire, Robin Baker (or, more accurately, her blood) is a key element in the succession, so the two clans engage in espionage and other hijinks to either secure Robin or prevent her from being part of the ceremony.
What follows is standard action-adventure fare: shootouts, chases, brinksmanship, risky escapes, high-tech computer espionage, and score settling. There's even a little bit of courtroom drama with a controversial court ruling raising the stakes in the succession crisis. Clearly Scalzi is sending up political action-thriller potboilers like the books of John La Carré, Len Deighton, Ian Fleming and others while writing a fairly strong story that stands well on its own. It's not Austin Powers but it also doesn't take itself too seriously. While it's a little loose and talky in the first act, the balance of the novel is tightly paced and efficient, leavened with a healthy dose of humour and plot armour.
Overall it's a fun read, one in which you can easily spot elements of other books you've read before while yet finding a few innovations. Fans of Scalzi know what to expect, and newcomers will see the foundational elements of what has become his signature style.
Not a cyberpunk, despite the title. Not really scifi either, but an action thriller with a (way too) large cast of one-dimensional cardboard characters and way too many deus ex machina and coincidences. Fun for about half, but bogging down towards 2/3. Not nearly Old Men War level - and I don't consider that a masterpiece...
A somehow disappointing finale after a really good story. 3.5 I would say. The big issue I have with the book is mostly around the main character who, as in many of scalzi's other books, is this guy who has been everywhere, did everything but comes from nowhere. A sort of every boys dream who they want to be but never will. Despite this caveat, the story itself is witty and full of twists and turns. Besides maybe one or two weird Deus ex machina moments it was good and entertaining read in between something more serious.
Second Scalzi book since Lock In, and I enjoyed it. It's different, lighthearted, interesting, amusing.
Executive Summary: I found this book a lot of fun, but utterly ridiculous, even for Mr. Scalzi.
Audiobook: Wil Wheaton does his usual good job at delivering John Scalzi's snark. He reads clearly and with good inflection. He doesn't do voices, but I do feel that audio is definitely a solid option for this book.
Full Review
After my last book, I was looking for something light and fun, and John Scalzi always fits that description for me. This is one of the few books by him I haven't read. I picked up the audio on a deal a few years back and for some reason I just never got around to listening to it.
This book starts out on a ridiculous premise and just seems to keep getting more ridiculous as the book goes on. The protagonist is a bit too competent at times as well, but considering the circumstances he was put in, it didn't really matter that much.
I've always enjoyed Mr. Scalzi's sense of humor, and this one is no different. There were less times that I found myself laughing at a joke than I was simply shaking my head at the events I was listening to however.
I liked the world building a fair bit, even if they were a large part of the silliness as well. I'm a sucker for interplanetary space federations. I'd be interested in reading another book set in this world.
Overall this was a fun and fast read and was exactly what I was looking for when I listened to it. It's not as good as some of his other work, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
This is a probably actually more of a 3.5 star book than the 4 stars I have given it. The story is fast paced and fun at times, however it didn't grab me and sometimes it felt that events were just a little too coincidental to ring true (the scene with the shoes struck me as particularly crowbarred in). Having said that, some of the characters were interesting; it would have been good to delve further into the lives of Brian and Archie in particular.
All-in-all, I am glad I read the story, but I suspect it won't stay with me too long.
This book confirmed my suspicions about the author's obsession with the sense of smell. From the title, I had the question “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” in my head from another book, but that has very little to do with this story. I enjoyed the twists, mystery, aliens and future as told by John Scalzi. Although, I'm not sure a future with lab-grown meats is ideal.
This was a really fun listen. Wil Wheaton is a great narrator for it. It reminds me a bit of the [b:The Stainless Steel Rat 9354374 The Stainless Steel Rat Harry Harrison https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1284960062s/9354374.jpg 824589] books
This was really great, Scalzi really pulls all the stops, and makes the whole puzzle fit together in the end with no deus ex machina. I look forward to more.
Very enjoyable and humorous. Seems to be the personality of John Scalzi and it definitely suits me.
Short Review - A science fiction setting, but more of a spy/adventure book. Henry Creek has to find a particular breed of sheep to stop an interstellar war that the Earth will be sure to lose. It has a lot of humor so it feels like a Carl Hiaasen or Christopher Buckley book with a science fiction setting.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/androids-dream/