The Android's Dream

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.