| Author: John Scalzi | |
| Rating: 7 (Neth's Scale) | Reviewer: Neth |
| Genre: SciFi | Publisher:Tor |
| Pages: 400 | Orig Pub Date: November, 2006 |
| Binding: Hardcover |
This book is fun – it achieves exactly what it sets out to do. It is the quintessential page-turner, something that deserves such trite descriptions as ‘action-packed adventure’ and ‘rip-roaring fun’. Simply said, I enjoyed it very much. This is not a book that will make you think very hard, but it aims to entertain and it hits the mark.
The first paragraph of John Scalzi’s The Android’s Dream offers an idea of what’s to come.
Dirk Moeller didn’t know if he could fart his way into a major diplomatic incident. But he was ready to find out.
This line reveals and conceals much of what can be expected from the rest of the novel. Yes, the book is humorous and some of that humor is ’14-year old boy’ humor. No, the prose is not that of a polished wordsmith – it’s just a functional tool for telling the story. But the book does not suffer from trying too hard to be funny at the expense of a highly entertaining story; in fact, beyond the first chapter, humor takes a back seat to the story.
In the distant future the Earth’s closest allies in the Common Confederation (of sentient species) are the Nidu, a reptilian species of questionable motives. A plot is about in United Nations of Earth to end this relationship with all the usual power grabs involved.
A unique and rare genetically modified sheep species (the Android’s Dream) plays the key role in the Nidu’s succession rituals (this really isn’t as silly as it sounds) and these sheep have been slaughtered all over Earth, Nidu, and their colonies to prevent their use in the Nidu ceremony. To avert an impending diplomatic crisis, the Assistant Secretary of State enlists a close friend to track down who is behind the conspiracy and to obtain a sheep of the Android’s Dream variety.
Harry Creek is a classic reluctant James Bond or Dirk Pitt character. He’s smart, funny, can kick some major ass, and has a dark past. The rest of the book is action-packed as Creek, assisted by his Artificial Intelligent Agent, rescues a girl and saves the world.
This book is not about the human condition or the ethics surrounding technology and such – it is not ‘deep’. Scalzi doesn’t pretend the book is any of the things, nor does he apologize for it. The prose can really only be described as functional, the humor is both clever and humorous, the plot decent, the characterization mediocre, the damsel in distress is even more useless than the average Bond-Girl, and there is no effort to hide info dumps.
But this book is fun – it achieves exactly what it sets out to do. It is the quintessential page-turner, something that deserves such trite descriptions as ‘action-packed adventure’ and ‘rip-roaring fun’. Simply said, I enjoyed it very much. This is not a book that will make you think very hard, but it aims to entertain and it hits the mark.
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