Agent to the Stars is a science fiction novel by american writer John Scalzi. It tells the story of Tom Stein, a young Hollywood agent who is hired by an alien race to handle the revelation of their presence to humanity. Scalzi started Agent to the Stars in 1997 as his "practice" novel, to see if he could write a novel. He published it as a shareware novel on his web site in 1999, requesting that readers send him $1 if they liked the story. After five years, during which he reports he made about $4,000, he stopped asking for further donations. After the publication of Scalzi's second book, Old Man's War, by Tor Books, a limited edition of Agent to the Stars was published in 2005 by Subterranean Press, with a cover by Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade fame. Tor later released a trade paperback edition in November 2008, …
Agent to the Stars is a science fiction novel by american writer John Scalzi. It tells the story of Tom Stein, a young Hollywood agent who is hired by an alien race to handle the revelation of their presence to humanity. Scalzi started Agent to the Stars in 1997 as his "practice" novel, to see if he could write a novel. He published it as a shareware novel on his web site in 1999, requesting that readers send him $1 if they liked the story. After five years, during which he reports he made about $4,000, he stopped asking for further donations. After the publication of Scalzi's second book, Old Man's War, by Tor Books, a limited edition of Agent to the Stars was published in 2005 by Subterranean Press, with a cover by Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade fame. Tor later released a trade paperback edition in November 2008, and a mass market edition in December 2010. An audiobook version narrated by Wil Wheaton was released on December 7, 2010.
Aber man merkt dem Buch schon an das es eigentlich nur als Schreibprobe und Fingerübung gedacht war. Es lies sich gut lesen aber mit einem guten Lektor hätte man viel mehr rausholen können.
Worthwhile read for [a:Scalzi, John|7325548|Scalzi, John|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] fans, quality work for a self-published debut novel.
Good:
Humor is on point
Strong opening with the reveal of the aliens & main protagonist's reaction
Good balance of goofiness, pop culture references & high Sci-Fi concepts
Bad:
Plot gets overcomplicated by the end
* Characters feel more like caricatures than human beings with believable emotional reactions, leading to confusing motives
I ultimately read this book because I needed a book published in 2004 for the 21st Century challenge I was doing, but I had added it to my TBR before then because it sounded interesting. It was! huzzah! Yes, in 2017, the book is a little dated, with its references to America Online accounts, but not so much so that it's distracting. The copy i read must have been taken from his website and collated into chapters because it had "Agent to the Stars - an Online Novel" sprinkled throughout, which was distracting.
The premise is of course silly, but it was a super easy read and this close to the end of the year, when I start to get antsy about finishing up as many books as possible, that's exactly what I'm looking for.
Scalzi's very first novel, which he wrote to figure out if he could actually be a writer. Many years later the answer is yes, and this was formally published in novel form with a few edits. It's a silly, funny, aliens-arrive-on-earth story, basically. If you enjoyed books like "Year Zero" by Reid or "The Android's Dream" also by Scalzi then you'll probably like this. Our hero Thomas Stein, up and coming Hollywood talent agent, is hired by the newly arrived and very un-attractive aliens to figure out a way to introduce them to earth in a way that won't horrify the world; and that's basically what he spends the rest of the book trying to figure out how to do.
Not too bad. I found a fair bit of the conclusion unimpressive and flat, but that's largely because it (necessarily, perhaps) ignored a host of contributing and mitigating factors that could have drastically complicated the story, but would have added an uncharacteristically deep complexity to the plot.
Well written.
Rises above the silliness to be pretty awesome.
I'm close to the end but I don't want it to be over! It's funny and heartwarming (as cheesy as that sounds) and Wil Wheaton is an awesome reader. I highly recommend it.
