Ahoy there mateys! Members of me crew may remember that I have a love for John Scalzi as he was featured in Broadside No. 5, tidings from the crew fer the dispatcher, and on the horizon fer the miniatures. As I work me way through all things Scalzi, I realized I had never read his first written novel.
His author’s note talks about how this book became published and states:
“It began in 1997 as my “practice novel” – that is to say, the novel I wrote to see if I could write a novel . . . I had no intention of ever selling it or ever really doing anything with it.”
Luckily for me he did eventually publish it. After one particularly rough day at sea, I decided that I needed a pick-me-up. So I picked up this novel (hardy har har!) It turned out to be the right choice fer me mood. Fer a “practice” novel, it was pretty darn good.
The novel concerns humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrial lifeforms. The aliens come to Earth looking to make friends. The only problem is that they are funny looking and smell real bad. The aliens are certainly not yer stereotypical little green men. So what better person to contact than a Hollywood agent to help spin their introduction to our world? Eventually the agency hands the task to junior agent Thomas Stein who has just had the best day in his career. It is his last best day for quite some time . . .
This first novel certainly contains Scalzi’s brand of zany humor, dialogue, and characters. While I like the main character’s ingenuity and caring, I also like the secondary characters. As usual there are strong and powerful women. Hooray! The is certainly nothing earth-shattering about this one but it is super enjoyable and while silly still has moments that make ye think.
I don’t suggest this as the first Scalzi book to be picked up by newcomers but fer those already established Scalzi fans, I certain recommend going back to this beginning.
Side note: I like the fun cover design!
The blurb on the back has this to say about the book:
The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity’s first interstellar friendship. There’s just one problem: They’re hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish.
So getting humanity’s trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal.
Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He’s one of Hollywood’s hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it’s quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he’s going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster.
To visit the author’s website go to:
To buy the novel go to:
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I thoroughly enjoy Scalzi’s writing – the Old Man’s War was fun, especially the earlier novels in the series and I also liked Fuzzy Nation and LOVED Lock In and The Collapsing Empire. So maybe I should track this one down…
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I loved this book! The audiobook is especially entertaining (narrated by the amazing Wil Wheaton). I do love me some John Scalzi!
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Do ye have a favorite by him? I am partial to Zoe’s Tale melself.
x The Captain
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Sad to say, I haven’t started the Old Man’s War series yes, although it’s a goal of mine for this year. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by him so far — The Android’s Dream, Fuzzy Nation, The Dispatcher, Redshirts, Lock In… Just can’t go wrong!
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Ah that is me favorite series of his. Though yes I have enjoyed all of the novels I have read by him. I hope ye will share yer thoughts after reading them.
x The Captain
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I really enjoyed the first 3 Old Man’s War books, but haven’t cared for some of the more recent Scalzi writing. Maybe I should try this one out – I didn’t know it was his first.
I’ll probably write a post with what I think of various Scalzi books in the future, but I have so many other things ahead of it, and spend so little time blogging these days….
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This book is silly with heart. I gave it an okay rating and then moved it up to liked after thinking about it some more. I would love to read a full post on yer thoughts about the Scalzi’s books ye have read. Arrrr!
x The Captain
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