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A review by aoeada
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
2.0
2.5/5
There were some moments here I enjoyed quite a bit. I'm a fan of expository text that just explains scientific processes in a world that is unlike our own. I could read that for like eight hours and feel like I've just read the best book ever. Scalzi does a good job explaining the unique world here in terms of biology and physics. It even hits a few moments where it feels like an Andy Weir novel; then the dialogue comes in and the "I'll ironically explain this by saying I'm not saying it" exposition drops.
There's a good amount of excitement here in entering a weird world that is explained somewhat interestingly. The climax pays off to an extent and has a few moments where the author takes the events kind of seriously, but just for a couple of pages.
On to the bad. If someone asked "what do people mean when they say a millennial sense of humor is annoying?" I would show them this book. If you use the word "epic" to describe shit all the time then this is the book for you. I get that everyone finds certain things funny, but after a while this Marvel-style sense of humor is extremely grating. This book turns that sense of comedy up to astronomical levels.
My other major complaint is that the first person POV usually gives a unique perspective and a more personal telling of events and what the character is seeing. When everyone has the exact same voice, there's no real reason to have a first person narrative. I would have preferred anyone else too, because this MC doesn't explain a single thing! There's a giant kaiju in front of you for the first time, you'd probably talk about its unique fur pattern, the way its body moves, ANYTHING. This guy says "this kaiju is the size of a mountain" and that's what we get the entire book. Absolutely nothing is described beyond a single adjective. If this was an intentional choice, I think it could have been pulled off much better. As it stands, it feels very lazy and destroys my immersion.
This just feels like the narrative of a person who barely cares that they're in this insane world and gets used to it within three minutes.
There were some moments here I enjoyed quite a bit. I'm a fan of expository text that just explains scientific processes in a world that is unlike our own. I could read that for like eight hours and feel like I've just read the best book ever. Scalzi does a good job explaining the unique world here in terms of biology and physics. It even hits a few moments where it feels like an Andy Weir novel; then the dialogue comes in and the "I'll ironically explain this by saying I'm not saying it" exposition drops.
There's a good amount of excitement here in entering a weird world that is explained somewhat interestingly. The climax pays off to an extent and has a few moments where the author takes the events kind of seriously, but just for a couple of pages.
On to the bad. If someone asked "what do people mean when they say a millennial sense of humor is annoying?" I would show them this book. If you use the word "epic" to describe shit all the time then this is the book for you. I get that everyone finds certain things funny, but after a while this Marvel-style sense of humor is extremely grating. This book turns that sense of comedy up to astronomical levels.
My other major complaint is that the first person POV usually gives a unique perspective and a more personal telling of events and what the character is seeing. When everyone has the exact same voice, there's no real reason to have a first person narrative. I would have preferred anyone else too, because this MC doesn't explain a single thing! There's a giant kaiju in front of you for the first time, you'd probably talk about its unique fur pattern, the way its body moves, ANYTHING. This guy says "this kaiju is the size of a mountain" and that's what we get the entire book. Absolutely nothing is described beyond a single adjective. If this was an intentional choice, I think it could have been pulled off much better. As it stands, it feels very lazy and destroys my immersion.
This just feels like the narrative of a person who barely cares that they're in this insane world and gets used to it within three minutes.