Agent to the Stars

This starts out great, with all the sly wit I've come to expect from Scalzi. But I feel like the pacing is poor, and the story bogs down terribly when it gets to extended reflections on bioethics. Not only does this meditation last too long and clash with the tone of the first part of the book, but it feels rather contrived to deliver the outcome Scalzi wants so the plot can wrap up well, rather than an honest philosophical discussion.

Still, this is well worth reading and is overall very charming and fun.

Executive Summary: A decent, but not great sci-fi story. You can see the early signs of Mr. Scalzi's work, but not nearly as developed as in his later works.Audio book: This is the third audiobook I've listened to read by [a:Wil Wheaton 37075 Wil Wheaton http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1356706649p2/37075.jpg]. I think it might be his best of the three. He does a much better job with voice variation for the characters in the book. Voices aren't his strong suit, especially female voices. I still enjoy him as a narrator however.Full ReviewIf taken in a vacuum, knowing this is a novel that Mr. Scalzi wrote to see if he could, it's pretty good. Of course things aren't in a vacuum, and given my enjoyment of his later works, this one just isn't as good.This book was a series of ups and downs for me. I started off a little slow, but built up as it went on. I liked most of the characters. The normal Scalzi snark is present, but not as funny as in his other works.The premise itself is an amusing one. Thomas Stein is an up and coming young agent in Hollywood. He works for one of the top agency's in L.A. His boss is probably one of the best known people in all of Hollywood. It is for that reasons that aliens contact him. The very benign Yherajk have a problem. Despite being very peaceful, they look terrifying, and smell worse. They've been watching our movies and TV for years, and worry about how the human race will react. They decide they need an agent. Tom is chosen by his boss as someone who can spare the time to work the problem without being found out.Of course things don't go exactly as planned.Just as I was really enjoying the story, the book took a turn. It really changed the whole tone of the book for me. It went from being a light sci-fi story to something more serious, and characters I liked were pondering actions I didn't like.Things righted themselves a bit, and the ending saved the story from going completely off the rails for me.Overall, I'd say this is one that could safely be skipped by all the biggest Scalzi fans. It's enjoyable enough, but nothing that special.

Short Review: The official description: 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. Seemed like a humous book to me, so I picked it up on a whim. It was good. Felt like a science fiction version of Christopher Buckley book (high praise in my book).

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/agent-stars/