Excited to check the novel out, I’ve only read and quite enjoyed from him The Kaiju Preservation Society which was a fun romp. I can see the comparisons to a “xyz”-wood screenplay as mentioned by another comment here.
I have Kaiju on my reading list but haven’t gotten to it. He has some pretty fun books though. He has a knack for taking a wacky premise and then treating it seriously and managing to craft a great story around it.
Kaiju is like reading a popcorn flick, it knows what it’s about and leans into it which I appreciated. Plus it makes a lot more sense when you read the afterword (spoiler: he wrote it during the covid-19 pandemic). Yeah, I think you’ve surmised his writing style and approach perfectly!
Did you ever read Red Shirts? I put it off for a long time because it sounds so dumb (essentially the side people in a Star Trek-like universe figuring out that they’re treated as expendable), but it’s actually great.
I’ve not yet, I’d heard about it and then became more interested to read it after I watched a bit of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Now it’s a matter of getting to it in my tbr 😅, glad to hear you enjoyed it – that bodes well!
Unrelated digression about another thread of ours:
I watched the Klara and the Sun movie, and damn that was weird in a disappointing way.
Wasn’t it? It makes me sad to think so many people will think that’s what the book was like.
Scalzi writes like it’s for a Hollywood screenplay… it’s dialogue heavy with a lot of action. But he still puts a lot of intelligence and knowledge into his books. It can be too superficial sometimes but in a lot of his work it’s the perfect balance of concept and execution…it’s hit or miss but with the misses they are still fun like an action flick.
My favorite series of his would be The Last Emperoux.
Yeah, that seems pretty spot on. Did you read The Android’s Dream? He mentions in the forward to the edition I read that he wasn’t under contract to write the book (very unusual for him), so he felt free to do whatever he wanted. I think it’s “true Scalzi” - it’s a weird, funny, rollercoaster of a story.
yeah that was a manic fun one… and still very compatible with being a screenplay as essentially saving a damsel in distress and the whole planet. perhaps like Men In Black
I’d love to see it on screen
A long time ago, I tried reading a Scalzi’s novel (I don’t remember the title), but it just didn’t click with me. I found it rather bland.
Do someone think I should give him another chance? Especially since he’s also written a few short stories that I haven’t checked out yet. If they’re any good, I’d consider interviewing him.
I for sure would. His body of work is really diverse, and is on a spectrum from silly fluff (e.g., Starter Villain) to more thought provoking, serious SF (e.g., Old Man’s War). Even some of his silly stuff can be surprisingly well handled. I put off reading Red Shirts because the concept seemed dumb, but I really enjoyed it.
Cool! TY. I’ll pick one of his short stories collection and see by myself. If it’s good Ill buy the other and then maybe contact him.
I’ve never read any of his short stories. Let us know what your think.
You might give Old Man’s War a try.
Will do.
