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A review by caroline77
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
1.0
***SPOILERS HIDDEN***
John Scalzi's newest book is brought down by an under-developed, rushed plot that’s focused more on the “society” of the title than on the “kaiju.” Any comparison to Jurassic Park applies only insofar as this is a story about humans living alongside huge, dangerous creatures. Scalzi didn’t flesh out his characters (human and monster alike) or include any high-adrenaline thrills.
Kaiju are Godzilla-like monsters first dreamed up in Japan. For this book Scalzi adapted the mythology to have them living on an alternate Earth to which certain people, mainly scientists, can travel via a portal. The need to keep the kaiju from traveling into human Earth is a concern that hangs over the story.
The most impressive thing about this book is how Scalzi managed to leach every ounce of excitement out of the mythology and his own plot. He barely did anything with his alternate Earth. A few scenes show the characters encountering some dangerous creatures, but. The kaiju of the title are mostly limited to one especially gigantic kaiju named Bella. Aside from sometimes swatting at and chasing away aircrafts that venture too close, she keeps to herself, roars now and then, and spends most of the story .
The society of scientists—and main character Jamie Gray, who’s there only to “lift things,” as he points out to an annoyingly frequent degree—are an overly sarcastic bunch who spend more time talking about the kaiju in meetings than interacting with them in the wild. Characterization is just enough to tell which character is which and no more: There’s the nerd who’s always explaining things; the kind scientist you want to befriend; the smart aleck who’d be flattered to be called a “bitch”; the stereotypical tough-talking leader; and Jamie, who’s taking it all in with wide eyes.
Excessive dialogue is at the expense of delving into these characters’ inner lives, of showing moments of reflection as they try to come to terms with their fears, hesitations, disorientation, even homesickness—feelings all people would experience in a hazardous alien environment. Instead the story’s tone is light with occasional seriousness tossed in but never weighing anything down for long. Discussion of technical problems and biological processes weighs down the story instead, with Jamie asking questions for the reader’s benefit. In one of the best examples of glaringly obvious info-dumping, one chapter is a tedious question-and-answer session with some new people throwing out questions in a tidy sequence and listening as the nerd scientist explains in detail.
I expected to plow through this book’s 258 pages, so I was shocked to find it a chore. I normally enjoy a wry and witty tone, but cardboard characters constantly speaking sarcastically to each other in work meetings isn’t as entertaining as Scalzi thought it would be. A boring kaiju and unrealized alternate Earth are disappointing, to say the least. Scalzi did write a few imaginative scenes that have the ingredients for something exciting, but there’s no emotion in the excitement.
I actually most liked the acknowledgements, where Scalzi explained the process of writing this book. It goes a long way toward shedding light on why it is the way it is—light, airy, insubstantial popcorn. In 2020 he began writing a novel that sounds like it had promise. He’d agreed to write something that “was meant to be dark, heavy, complex, and broodingly ambitious,” but the pandemic threw him off in more ways than one, so he decided to scrap what he’d started and write popcorn.
Although this backstory is interesting, I sensed an underlying defensiveness in Scalzi’s words, a need to justify this book that he knows is a whole lot of wasted potential. I wish he’d stayed the course with the heavy and complex novel he’d begun writing. He churned out The Kaiju Preservation Society fast, and it shows. There’s no adventure to be had here, for the characters or for the reader.
John Scalzi's newest book is brought down by an under-developed, rushed plot that’s focused more on the “society” of the title than on the “kaiju.” Any comparison to Jurassic Park applies only insofar as this is a story about humans living alongside huge, dangerous creatures. Scalzi didn’t flesh out his characters (human and monster alike) or include any high-adrenaline thrills.
Kaiju are Godzilla-like monsters first dreamed up in Japan. For this book Scalzi adapted the mythology to have them living on an alternate Earth to which certain people, mainly scientists, can travel via a portal. The need to keep the kaiju from traveling into human Earth is a concern that hangs over the story.
The most impressive thing about this book is how Scalzi managed to leach every ounce of excitement out of the mythology and his own plot. He barely did anything with his alternate Earth. A few scenes show the characters encountering some dangerous creatures, but
Spoiler
thanks to convenient “pheromone sprays” and fancy sci-fi weapons, the characters are able to keep them at bay and are never in actual perilSpoiler
stock still in a trance as she lays eggsThe society of scientists—and main character Jamie Gray, who’s there only to “lift things,” as he points out to an annoyingly frequent degree—are an overly sarcastic bunch who spend more time talking about the kaiju in meetings than interacting with them in the wild. Characterization is just enough to tell which character is which and no more: There’s the nerd who’s always explaining things; the kind scientist you want to befriend; the smart aleck who’d be flattered to be called a “bitch”; the stereotypical tough-talking leader; and Jamie, who’s taking it all in with wide eyes.
Excessive dialogue is at the expense of delving into these characters’ inner lives, of showing moments of reflection as they try to come to terms with their fears, hesitations, disorientation, even homesickness—feelings all people would experience in a hazardous alien environment. Instead the story’s tone is light with occasional seriousness tossed in but never weighing anything down for long. Discussion of technical problems and biological processes weighs down the story instead, with Jamie asking questions for the reader’s benefit. In one of the best examples of glaringly obvious info-dumping, one chapter is a tedious question-and-answer session with some new people throwing out questions in a tidy sequence and listening as the nerd scientist explains in detail.
I expected to plow through this book’s 258 pages, so I was shocked to find it a chore. I normally enjoy a wry and witty tone, but cardboard characters constantly speaking sarcastically to each other in work meetings isn’t as entertaining as Scalzi thought it would be. A boring kaiju and unrealized alternate Earth are disappointing, to say the least. Scalzi did write a few imaginative scenes that have the ingredients for something exciting, but there’s no emotion in the excitement.
I actually most liked the acknowledgements, where Scalzi explained the process of writing this book. It goes a long way toward shedding light on why it is the way it is—light, airy, insubstantial popcorn. In 2020 he began writing a novel that sounds like it had promise. He’d agreed to write something that “was meant to be dark, heavy, complex, and broodingly ambitious,” but the pandemic threw him off in more ways than one, so he decided to scrap what he’d started and write popcorn.
Although this backstory is interesting, I sensed an underlying defensiveness in Scalzi’s words, a need to justify this book that he knows is a whole lot of wasted potential. I wish he’d stayed the course with the heavy and complex novel he’d begun writing. He churned out The Kaiju Preservation Society fast, and it shows. There’s no adventure to be had here, for the characters or for the reader.