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dogmomirene 's review for:
The Dispatcher
by John Scalzi
I snagged this audiobook novella during the free promotional period for it on Audible. I had no information about the plot, but the two hour and 19 minute story was written by John Scalzi and narrated by Zachary Quinto.
A perfect pairing of science-fiction goodness!
The opening scene is set in an operating room with an irate surgeon. And I mean writhing in rage because the dispatcher has arrived. The dispatcher, Anthony Valdez, is 100% low-key calm. For several minutes I had no idea why these two were at odds.
Quinto creates various character voices in a subtle, but effective manner. The angry tones of the surgeon are distinctly different than Tony's mostly simple, even one-word answers, of mellowness.
Scalzi continues to build suspense by avoiding a stale info-dump on the background on dispatchers. Instead, we watch the surgery through the eyes of the dispatcher. Once the surgery begins to fail and it's obvious that the surgeon is going to lose her patient, the dispatcher steps in to perform his job.
Without being spoilery my reaction was complete shock. And I knew, this novella was going to be a good philosophical time!
Tony Valdez is writing his report about his dispatch when a police officer finds him and starts to question him. Tony stepped in for another dispatcher who has disappeared. And now the plot is revealed: a futuristic detective story with the dispatcher and the cop working together to solve the missing person's case.
The science of this science-fiction story is completely hinky. Scalzi doesn't even try to fabricate metachlorians or dilithium crystals. He goes for a straight-forward honest answer that the science cannot be explained.
The origin and evolution of this science has not been explained in this world. At all. It's merely studied as it is and people understand how to use the science, mostly to their advantage.
But this advantage gives people an edge in life that we're not supposed to have. And it creates a series of various moral questions that Scalzi explores in some interesting ways.
For instance, at one point Tony explains to the detective what most of his dating experiences are like. He uses a pair of ten-sided dice to illustrate perfectly the odds of anything going wrong with a dispatch.
In further conversations with the detective, Tony analyzes various moral questions and considers various bigger picture repercussions of this new science.
This story is a science-fiction gem that will philosophically startle you, and keep you wondering about the boundless moral questions explored in such a short time.
A perfect pairing of science-fiction goodness!
The opening scene is set in an operating room with an irate surgeon. And I mean writhing in rage because the dispatcher has arrived. The dispatcher, Anthony Valdez, is 100% low-key calm. For several minutes I had no idea why these two were at odds.
Quinto creates various character voices in a subtle, but effective manner. The angry tones of the surgeon are distinctly different than Tony's mostly simple, even one-word answers, of mellowness.
Scalzi continues to build suspense by avoiding a stale info-dump on the background on dispatchers. Instead, we watch the surgery through the eyes of the dispatcher. Once the surgery begins to fail and it's obvious that the surgeon is going to lose her patient, the dispatcher steps in to perform his job.
Without being spoilery my reaction was complete shock. And I knew, this novella was going to be a good philosophical time!
Tony Valdez is writing his report about his dispatch when a police officer finds him and starts to question him. Tony stepped in for another dispatcher who has disappeared. And now the plot is revealed: a futuristic detective story with the dispatcher and the cop working together to solve the missing person's case.
The science of this science-fiction story is completely hinky. Scalzi doesn't even try to fabricate metachlorians or dilithium crystals. He goes for a straight-forward honest answer that the science cannot be explained.
The origin and evolution of this science has not been explained in this world. At all. It's merely studied as it is and people understand how to use the science, mostly to their advantage.
But this advantage gives people an edge in life that we're not supposed to have. And it creates a series of various moral questions that Scalzi explores in some interesting ways.
For instance, at one point Tony explains to the detective what most of his dating experiences are like. He uses a pair of ten-sided dice to illustrate perfectly the odds of anything going wrong with a dispatch.
In further conversations with the detective, Tony analyzes various moral questions and considers various bigger picture repercussions of this new science.
This story is a science-fiction gem that will philosophically startle you, and keep you wondering about the boundless moral questions explored in such a short time.