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A review by fromdusktil
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
3.0
I wish I loved this book more than I did. I wanted to be immersed in the world of kaiju, to picture these giants roaming the jungle.... and I could not. Reading this book made me reflect back on my days of reading stories written by teenagers on FictionPress. Good idea, maybe not the best execution.
This was largely due to the fact that more or less all of the characters had the same personality: smart asses. Even in the face of danger they're cracking jokes at each other's expense. You have all sorts of people from different backgrounds, but they all have the same exact personality.
Another big problem I had was that despite this being a book about kaiju, the descriptions of the kaiju were basically non-existent. I couldn't picture them at all. Was I supposed to picture a bunch of Godzillas? He makes a point of talking about the fact that there were different species of kaiju, but made no effort to tell what made them unique.
That said, this was a fun read, and it's clear that Scalzi had fun writing it. The plot wrapped up nicely, and I didn't have to get too emotionally attached to anything that was going on. I would consider this a "palate cleanser" book - something to read after a book that wrecks you emotionally and you just need some mindless fun.
This was largely due to the fact that more or less all of the characters had the same personality: smart asses. Even in the face of danger they're cracking jokes at each other's expense. You have all sorts of people from different backgrounds, but they all have the same exact personality.
Another big problem I had was that despite this being a book about kaiju, the descriptions of the kaiju were basically non-existent. I couldn't picture them at all. Was I supposed to picture a bunch of Godzillas? He makes a point of talking about the fact that there were different species of kaiju, but made no effort to tell what made them unique.
That said, this was a fun read, and it's clear that Scalzi had fun writing it. The plot wrapped up nicely, and I didn't have to get too emotionally attached to anything that was going on. I would consider this a "palate cleanser" book - something to read after a book that wrecks you emotionally and you just need some mindless fun.