The Kaiju Preservation Society
Ratings244
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings244
Average rating3.9
Shortlisted for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set on an alternate Earth - perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky and Michel Crichton's Jurassic Park. 'John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today' - Joe Hill, author of The Fireman They're big, they're bad and they're about to become extinct . . . Jamie's dream was to hit the big time at a New York tech start-up. Jamie's reality was a humiliating lay-off, then a lowwage job as a takeaway delivery driver. During a pandemic too. Things look beyond grim, until a chance delivery to an old acquaintance. Tom has an urgent vacancy on his team: the pay is great and Jamie has debts - it's a no-brainer choice. Yet, once again, reality fails to match expectations. Only this time it could be fatal. It seems Tom's 'animal rights organization' is way more than it appears. The animals aren't even on Earth - or not our Earth, anyway. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures roam a tropical, human-free world. And although Kaiju are their universe's largest and most dangerous animal, they need support to survive. Tom's 'Kaiju Preservation Society' wants to help. However, others want to profit. Unless they're stopped, the walls between our worlds could fall - and the consequences would be devastating.
Reviews with the most likes.
A Godzilla cheese fest.
Jamie Gray loses his job and is thrown into a role of delivering food to people's doors. Until one day, he serves an old friend who invites him on a journey, one that will change him forever.
The story is fairly short and I managed to finish this within an hour or two. KPS doesn't break down any new doors and it isn't very deep, however it was fun at times. I couldn't get used to the humour, it felt like a cheesy sit com and I wanted to roll my eyes one quite a few occasions. I really can't see anyone living with their sense of humour, it felt like you were waiting on the fake audience laughter.
This was maybe not my type of book, it had big potential and it could have been something special but fell flat.
2.5 stars out of 5
KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It's a pop song. It's meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you're done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face.
Yes, everyone is including this quote from the Author's Note in their reviews, but I can't resist. This is such a perfectly self-aware encapsulation of the novel. This is fun. There are sympathetic characters who make jokes and become friends. There's bonkers sci-fi stuff, some action, and eventually there's an overarching plot arc that comes to a satisfying conclusion. It does take more than half the book for the main conflict to really come to the fore, but the setup before that is a lot of fun, so who cares?
Also - I love that the main character could be any gender. In general I could have used a little more physical description of characters (and especially of kaiju!), but this choice was lovely.
ALERT: The Author's Note at the end is not to be missed, even if you don't normally read them.
I must pause to recommend reading the Author's Note. It bumped this book from 4 to 4.5 stars for me. Everyone will relate, and it just made me feel seen and understood, and like we all went through something together. I'm glad it will be there decades from now to be read by young nerds who view 2020 through a fuzzy, history-class lens, and give them a surprise: a very poignant, personal time capsule of what this time felt like to live through.
I'll close with a quote from Murderbot (who is lovingly name-dropped in Chapter 1 - yes, I cheered!) that almost perfectly summarizes KPS:
(It was called Worldhoppers, and was about freelance explorers who extended the wormhole and ring networks into uninhabited star systems. It looked very unrealistic and inaccurate, which was exactly what I liked.)
Reminiscent of Scalzi???s early standalones ???Redshirts??? and ???Agent to the Stars??? this is a fun, funny, and exciting romp through Scalzi???s pandemic-locked-in mind. It???s lighthearted with plenty of inside-joke material. This was a popcorn flick of a good time and plenty of laughs.
Described by the author as “a pop song”, this book is joyful. Dialog drives the plot forward almost exclusively.
