A review by deedireads
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

The Kaiju Preservation Society was a complete and utter delight. The perfect snack of a sci-fi novel, fun and funny and engaging.

For you if: You love a good sci-fi set-up beginning with a plotty ending.

FULL REVIEW:

I have never read John Scalzi before, but with this book nominated for the Hugo Award, it was finally time. What a fun party I’ve been missing out on!

I don’t think I could put it better than John himself did in his author’s note:

“[This book is not] 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.”

And truly, that’s exactly what’s going on here. As the pandemic hits, a man named Jamie goes from employed at a start-up to delivering food to pay the bills, which lands him the gig of a lifetime: a job where he spends six months of the year as “off the grid” as you could LITERALLY get in a sci-fi novel, working for the Kaiju Preservation Soceity. (If you, like me, did not know what a Kaiju was, it’s essentially like a movie monster a la Godzilla or Jurrasic Park). And that’s all I’ll say, because the discovery is more than half the fun.

This is definitively sci-fi, with lots of sciency worldbuilding, but what a fun and engaging time of it. The banter between characters is full of levity and jokes. The tone of the prose is wink-winky. The plot is just enough until all of a sudden it takes over and you rush to a fast-paced ending. And throughout, there’s just enough heart here to squeeze ya.

If you’re looking for something quick and fun, this is ABSOLUTELY it. Now, on to Scalzi’s backlist!
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