John Scalzi's Newest Book: "The Kaiju Preservation Society"

John P: I felt that I needed a change of pace and to read something that would be engaging. The Amazon suggestion bar offered a number of titles that were interesting. I noticed Scalzi’s name, which a friend had mentioned a while back and that his work offered a good read. The title was appealing. Come on, “The Kaiju Preservation Society,” protecting Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, et al.
The initial chapters allowed me to “suspend disbelief” and I was off and reading. Plot developed quickly, character interactions felt natural, especially conversations, and I had a feeling I knew who the nemesis was going to be, but how that spoke was going to fit into the plot became a tease. When it happened I was pleased that I had been right and wasn’t displeased with how it came about.
I am glad that I picked this title to read. I can understand why my friend recommended Mr. Scalping work. If a friend of mine asked for a recommendation of a sci-fi novel to read, I would suggest this one.

United States on Oct 28, 2023

J. S.: I love John Scalzi's humor and dialogue. This book seems like it's ready-made for a movie, and I'll be surprised if it ultimately isn't.

It was a nice, fast, and entertaining read. The characters were all likeable, although not very deeply developed, but that is really the standard for kaiju movies and stories, so he was pretty spot on there as well. The villain was over the top, but that was part of the fun.

Really fun read you can burn through in a weekend.

If you have not read Scalzi's Old Man's War series, I definitely recommend it. There's 100% less kaiju, but it's brilliant sci-fi that I love to re-read.

United States on Oct 28, 2023

Susan E Dix: Holy moly! I was not prepared for this book! It is amazing! There is no way to explain this book without giving away the surprise that awaits you. I’ll just say this book has everything imaginable and unimaginable within its pages. Read it. You’ll absolutely love it.

United States on Oct 27, 2023

Donna McMaster: This was my first time reading Scalzi, and from the description I was afraid the book might be too creepy and scary. In fact it was creepy but in a good way. The pace was brisk, the adventure and suspense kept me reading, and the mood was rarely dark. It was also a relief to read a relatively short novel that didn’t have a dozen sequels trailing behind.

United States on Oct 20, 2023

stefania: Letta la versione kindle, è una storia assolutamente verosimile, che parte pre pandemia e si evolve con elementi fantascientifici assolutamente affascinanti. La vera perla sono ovviamente i personaggi e i dialoghi, che mantengono un tono leggero e allegro anche di fronte ad eventi drammatici.

Italy on Sep 22, 2023

Christian Wyss: At least for a while. Scalzi somehow manages to build a world why Kaiju actually can live and funktion, an does it all in the typical Scalzi-style, with light-hearted banter, bad puns, raised stakes and sudden action.

Germany on Sep 16, 2023

Barry Mulvany: Jamie is working in a techbro style startup in a good job when he is unceremoniously fired. This is set during the pandemic in 2020 and he ends up getting a job as a delivery person in the same company just to make ends meet. A fortuitous encounter with an old college acquaintance leads to a new job on an alternate Earth where there are nuclear powered Kaiju and all sorts of other crazy creatures. Mayhem of course ensues.

As I said this is a crazy premise. There's no real build up or anything, we just find out that this exists, is known by governments and other rich people and that's that. All the characters, including our only POV Jamie are pretty superficial and all are brilliant at the Marvel style quips, no matter what the situation.

Most of the book is concerned with just setting up the world and how it exists and then there's a tacked on ending to add some drama. It's short and sweet and I didn't dislike it, but I also wasn't particularly blown away by it either though I don't think I was supposed to be. In another mood this might have been exactly what I was looking for but at this time I think I was in the mood for something with more substance.

The...

United Kingdom on Aug 30, 2023

KGBeast: 2019: James (Jamie) Gray hatte nach seinem Magister in Anglistik begonnen in einer Art Parallelbetrieb zu Uber Eats als Marketingspezialist zu arbeiten - und wurde aus mehr oder minder klaren Gründen nach der Präsentation einer Spitzenidee mit dem Job eines Auslieferfahrers 'belohnt', was er zunächst ablehnte. Doch es blieb ihm keine Wahl und so trifft er einen alten Kommilitonen, der ihm einen neue, sehr geheimen Job im Tierschutz anbietet.n

Durch eine seltsame Einrichtung in einem Naturschutzgebiet in Labrador kommt er mit einigen anderen Neulingen in eine andere Dimension, wo sie Kaijus studieren und beschützen sollen, denn diese gigantische Lebewesen sind zum Überleben und zum Fortpflanzen von allerlei externen Hilfen abhängig - Godzilla und Co. vergessen tatsächlich manchmal, wie man Nachwuchs produziert.

Eine Arbeit, die seit dem Auftauchen Godzillas vor der japanischen Küste auf internationaler Ebene - und sehr geheim - betrieben wird. Und nun ist Jamie mit seinen neuen Kolleg*innen Teil dieses Programms und lernt ganz neue Überlebensstrategien kennen, denn die Parallelwelt der Kaiju ist voller unangehmer, freßsüchtiger Kreaturen, von den...

Germany on Aug 17, 2023

Tomasthanes: I think my first response to the title of this book is to equate "Kaiju" with the creatures in the "Pacific Rim" movies which is probably not a stretch. You leave our Earth for a parallel "Kaiju Earth" through a portal created by vast amounts of energy and radiation. Once there, it's like every predator is cranked up to 11 on methamphetamine.

It was a good story (good enough that I wish there were a sequel but the author is successful enough (for obvious reasons) that he can write whatever he wants to - I'll read it). The characters are plausible. The protagonist, Jamie Gray, is unassuming enough at the beginning ("I lift things") but by the time that you're at the end of the book, he's competent in many different areas. It's interesting that as he goes to work for the Kaiju Preservation Society, they never really tell him the full story until he's standing there on "Kaiju Earth" seeing these huge mountains of creatures (because just saying it out loud would not be enough - you have to see in order to believe).

Lots of nice little references to other parts of Sci-Fi and technology (Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"), crawling inside of a tauntaun on Hoth to survive the...

United States on Aug 16, 2023

Johanna: Bra och rolig bok men corona är en stor drivkraft för händelseutvecklingen. Kommer det att hålla för framtiden?
Dock rolig och underhållande läsning och jag rekommenderar

Sweden on Jul 23, 2023