Eric Wagoner 📚 reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Fun Fluff
4 stars
It's a satisfying pop song of a book. Fast read, fun plot.
eBook, 336 pages
English language
Published March 14, 2022 by Tom Doherty Associates.
The Kaiju Preservation Society
by John Scalzi
4 stars
(79 reviews)
Jamie’s dream was to hit the big time at a New York tech start-up. Jamie’s reality was a humiliating lay-off, then a lowwage job as a takeaway delivery driver. During a pandemic too. Things look beyond grim, until a chance delivery to an old acquaintance. Tom has an urgent vacancy on his team: the pay is great and Jamie has debts – it’s a no-brainer choice. Yet, once again, reality fails to match expectations. Only this time it could be fatal.
It seems Tom’s ‘animal rights organization’ is way more than it appears. The animals aren’t even on Earth – or not our Earth, anyway. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures roam a tropical, human-free world. And although Kaiju are their universe’s largest and most dangerous animal, they need support to survive.
Tom’s ‘Kaiju Preservation Society’ wants to help. However, others want to profit. Unless they’re stopped, the walls …
Jamie’s dream was to hit the big time at a New York tech start-up. Jamie’s reality was a humiliating lay-off, then a lowwage job as a takeaway delivery driver. During a pandemic too. Things look beyond grim, until a chance delivery to an old acquaintance. Tom has an urgent vacancy on his team: the pay is great and Jamie has debts – it’s a no-brainer choice. Yet, once again, reality fails to match expectations. Only this time it could be fatal.
It seems Tom’s ‘animal rights organization’ is way more than it appears. The animals aren’t even on Earth – or not our Earth, anyway. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures roam a tropical, human-free world. And although Kaiju are their universe’s largest and most dangerous animal, they need support to survive.
Tom’s ‘Kaiju Preservation Society’ wants to help. However, others want to profit. Unless they’re stopped, the walls between our worlds could fall – and the consequences would be devastating.
mcmccollum reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Review of 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' on 'Goodreads'
Smart, fun read.
Dah DJM reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Save Godzilla!
4 stars
Just like in "Starter Villain", there are plenty of fun ideas in this book. It's light and a quick read. Had a French version of the book.
Lars Stitz reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Hilarious light reading
5 stars
Imagine Jurassic Park, but instead of a T-Rex, there's Godzilla - no, actually quite a few of them, and tending to these monsters is not a billionaire's private project, but in humanity's best interest. Sure, this is a fantasy-colored satire, a light snack of a read, not a real science fiction novel like Jurassic Park. But Scalzi's writing is enjoyable as always, and with the author's practiced pacing, the action just keeps coming, interrupted only for some comic relief and genre-suited banter. I found it pretty hard to put down, and felt well entertained from the first to the last page.
Courts reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Light Reading
4 stars
As the author states himself: This is the book equivalent of a pop song and not meant to go very deep. With that in mind, it was entertaining to read. The characters are a bit flat and predictable, the story needs a lot of suspending one's belief from the reader (so much that even Scalzi needed to make the main character explain what the literary term "lamp shading" means, in a meta-nod to his own story). If you're up for something light with a lot of quips and pop culture references, I recommend to read this book.
Jens reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Review of 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Reading this book felt like eating an ENORMOUS bucket of popcorn. It looks so promising! It's such a bold idea - it's going to be amazing! And it is... at first.
An exciting premise, smooth writing, cliffhangers at the end of many chapters. The protagonist is just bland enough to serve as a "self-insert", and that catchphrase... yeah, I laughed, a lot. It's a funny book, despite the adventurous goings-on.
This is not the perfect novel, however. Most of the characters sort of blended into each other for me and I forgot which one is the geologist, and which one the physicist. They're all witty and there's a LOT of banter between, well, everybody. The names of the American characters are so generic that I can't remember even one of them now.
This book made me laugh - the humor is very contemporary, and I wonder how funny people will …
Reading this book felt like eating an ENORMOUS bucket of popcorn. It looks so promising! It's such a bold idea - it's going to be amazing! And it is... at first.
An exciting premise, smooth writing, cliffhangers at the end of many chapters. The protagonist is just bland enough to serve as a "self-insert", and that catchphrase... yeah, I laughed, a lot. It's a funny book, despite the adventurous goings-on.
This is not the perfect novel, however. Most of the characters sort of blended into each other for me and I forgot which one is the geologist, and which one the physicist. They're all witty and there's a LOT of banter between, well, everybody. The names of the American characters are so generic that I can't remember even one of them now.
This book made me laugh - the humor is very contemporary, and I wonder how funny people will find this book 10 or 15 years from now. For a sci-fi book, there is shockingly little social commentary, let alone criticism
What I did like a lot about this book is that it never actually describes the titular Kaiju. Very few words tell the reader what they can do, but the rest is - fortunately! - left to our imagination. A great move, in my opinion.
All in all a very entertaining ride, a lot to discover, and a funny book too. I can ignore the things it is lacking... this time around.
Jason Evangelho reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Amazing premise, shallow characters
3 stars
It was difficult to give this one 3 stars, because it was such a brisk, entertaining read. The premise is fascinating, and I'm craving more information and stories about this world Scalzi has created.
But... and I know this critique is going to sound contradictory when we're discussing a novel about kaiju and alternate earths, but the characters just weren't realistic enough. Not believable or grounded enough. Every single character in the world has the same razor-sharp wit, snappy comebacks, and elevated charisma. As if they were all cut from the same model and then just given different names, pronouns, and histories.
To put it bluntly, while the dialogue is downright hilarious, it just wasn't remotely believable. Regardless of the dire circumstances we see them in, they're cheery and witty, cracking jokes and barely showing any speck of genuine human emotion.
That's just my opinion as someone who really values …
It was difficult to give this one 3 stars, because it was such a brisk, entertaining read. The premise is fascinating, and I'm craving more information and stories about this world Scalzi has created.
But... and I know this critique is going to sound contradictory when we're discussing a novel about kaiju and alternate earths, but the characters just weren't realistic enough. Not believable or grounded enough. Every single character in the world has the same razor-sharp wit, snappy comebacks, and elevated charisma. As if they were all cut from the same model and then just given different names, pronouns, and histories.
To put it bluntly, while the dialogue is downright hilarious, it just wasn't remotely believable. Regardless of the dire circumstances we see them in, they're cheery and witty, cracking jokes and barely showing any speck of genuine human emotion.
That's just my opinion as someone who really values dialogue and deep characters I can sink my teeth into. This is absolutely worth reading though! And I hope Scalzi revisits this world at some point.
Jason Evangelho reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Review of 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
It was difficult to give this one 3 stars, because it was such a brisk, entertaining read. The premise is fascinating, and I'm craving more information and stories about this world Scalzi has created.
But... and I know this critique is going to sound contradictory when we're discussing a novel about kaiju and alternate earths, but the characters just weren't realistic enough. Not believable or grounded enough. Every single character in the world has the same razor-sharp wit, snappy comebacks, and elevated charisma. As if they were all cut from the same model and then just given different names, pronouns, and histories.
To put it bluntly, while the dialogue is downright hilarious, it just wasn't remotely believable. Regardless of the dire circumstances we see them in, they're cheery and witty, cracking jokes and barely showing any speck of genuine human emotion.
That's just my opinion as someone who really values …
It was difficult to give this one 3 stars, because it was such a brisk, entertaining read. The premise is fascinating, and I'm craving more information and stories about this world Scalzi has created.
But... and I know this critique is going to sound contradictory when we're discussing a novel about kaiju and alternate earths, but the characters just weren't realistic enough. Not believable or grounded enough. Every single character in the world has the same razor-sharp wit, snappy comebacks, and elevated charisma. As if they were all cut from the same model and then just given different names, pronouns, and histories.
To put it bluntly, while the dialogue is downright hilarious, it just wasn't remotely believable. Regardless of the dire circumstances we see them in, they're cheery and witty, cracking jokes and barely showing any speck of genuine human emotion.
That's just my opinion as someone who really values dialogue and deep characters I can sink my teeth into. This is absolutely worth reading though! And I hope Scalzi revisits this world at some point.
A great popcorn Godzilla flick
4 stars
It's what it says on the tin. It was a super light hearted romp. There was enough world building to feel solid and enough action. The pacing was great. It read like a summer blockbuster.
Nick Barlow reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Popcorn, but good popcorn
3 stars
As Scalzi says in his afterword, this is a three-minute pop song of a novel, not a complex symphony. However, even the lightest of pop songs needs effort to make it work, and this does work on its own terms. It's a fun book that rattles along at a good pace, throwing enough big ideas into the mix to keep you reading and not asking too many questions about whether it all makes sense. Spends a lot of time setting up for not much plot, and relies a lot on coincidences to give the ending a personal stake for the protagonist, but does what it says on the tin and people who like this sort of thing will like this.
Fun action alt-Earth story. Quick read.
4 stars
A bit light in some parts, a bit obvious the desire to make into a movie or show I guess, but still enjoyable.
manny reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
If a book was a pop song
4 stars
At the end of the book, in the Author's note, Scalzi describes this book as a pop song, and it's a great description. It's about a secret organisation that looks after Kaiju. It's about billionaires being dicks. Best of all, it's hilarious.
patchworkbunny reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Review of 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A big helping of nerdy fun!
Minotaur reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Review of 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Fun just really good fun.
Gossamerchild reviewed The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Review of 'The Kaiju Preservation Society' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
This was a perfect read for a terrible, horrible, absolutely no good week. Funny, silly, and a fast read. The title pretty much sums up the plot, but it also involves alternate universes and some cool science. Niamh is without a doubt my favorite character.
This was a perfect read for a terrible, horrible, absolutely no good week. Funny, silly, and a fast read. The title pretty much sums up the plot, but it also involves alternate universes and some cool science. Niamh is without a doubt my favorite character.
