The Kaiju Preservation Society

A fun, breezy story about unexpectedly landing a job at a secret scientific base on a parallel world studying giant Godzilla-like animals. Which is about as dangerous as it sounds. Plus, of course, not all humans are interested in the kaijus' welfare, and the KPS has to step up the "Preservation" part of its name.

There's some interesting world-building in terms of what kind of environment and ecosystem would actually support 100-meter-tall animals, what kind of biology would be able to handle the size, the energy, shooting beams of radiation, etc. And what might evolve to protect itself in a world with kaiju. And of course: what role nuclear explosions have in the whole thing, because these are kaiju after all!

It's also weird because it takes place in 2020. Like, real 2020, complete with Covid-19 lockdowns and everything. The main character starts out working for a GrubHub competitor at the beginning of the pandemic.

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excellent summer fun

The author says, basically, the world was too harsh in 2020 and 2021 for him to write a serious novel. So he wrote this instead, for which I'm grateful. It's not deep, it's not artful, it's just good plain fun. Highly recommended as a summer vacation read.

When COVID-19 hits New York, a recently fired executive who now makes deliveries ends up making deliveries to a certain person who recognizes his (nerdy) skills and asks him to join the 'non-profit' KPS. It is only later that he learn what KPS means, and it's there in the title. Indeed, the society moves its members to an alternate earth where Kaiju exists. The KPS is there to study them and to make sure they are safe from the monsters from our world.

I decided to read this novel based on the title and the premise, but ended up enjoying it. What starts out sounding ludicrous ends up being a really fun, breezy novel to read, where most characters treat each other with respect while putting up with horrible puns and Kaiju in-jokes. The science is, of course, hand-wavy, but in the context of the novel, it works and there are no obvious 'McGuffins' introduced. Of course, there are bad guys, and you can tell there are bad guys because they don't treat others with respect, nor do they understand what it means to really make a Kaiju angry.

If you're looking for a fun (and funny) novel to pass the time, this one may be a nice choice.

Scalzi tells another fun tale

I had no idea what to expect, but I was smiling within the first couple of pages, and then sucked into the book pretty much after that.

It's a silly story of corporate silliness and sci-fi randomness, told with just enough humor and humility. I really really enjoyed this one.

Well, that was a fun romp. As the author explains in the back matter, this isn't a brooding symphony; it's a pop song. It's not terribly serious, but it is fun. If you saw the title, did a double-take and thought, "Wait, is this... [b:Jurassic Park|40604658|Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)|Michael Crichton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529604411l/40604658.SY75.jpg|3376836] but with Japanese monster movies?" then this book is for you.

Oh! But this is ridiculously fantastic fun. An unemployed sci-fi geek escapes the pandemic by going all David Attenborough with Godzilla.

Yes, it is an exercise in nerdy wish fulfilment. But who among us wouldn't have rather spent the last two years being chased by giant scary monsters rather than cowering away from a microscopic virus?

It a joyful piece of bubble-gum sci-fi. It plays well with tropes and, much like Redshirts, gives the reader exactly what they need.

It isn't very subtle. But then, these are not subtle times. The goodies are good, the baddies suitably menacing. It drifts towards the science side of science-fiction. Lots of geologists and physicists expositioning on what makes a Kaiju tick.

In a way, it's a shame that the book's title gives away the first-quarter twist - it would have been nice to have been as shocked as the protagonist. It's also suffused with mid-pandemic terror which, again, I could have done without - having just lived through it! But those are minor complaints.

If you want to sit down on a beach with a good slice of sci-fi - and have a thorough good time escaping from reality - this is perfect. And you'll get to say how much you enjoyed the book compared to the inevitable Netflix series.