The Kaiju Preservation Society: Shortlisted for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel

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I whipped through it in one evening, and it's the kind of book I might read again sometime, just for the sheer enjoyment of it. Thule Air Base turns out to hide the gateway to a parallel Earth, in which evolution took a different turn after the early Mesozoic era, resulting in a planet dominated by impossibly immense creatures whose growth is fueled by internal bio- nuclear reactors. Mankind first became aware of this world in the wake of World War II, when the use of atomic bombs opened temporary portals between the worlds, to which and through which the creatures were attracted by the radiation fallout, on which they feed. After Japanese filmmakers were inspired by rumors of the initial breakthrough to make " Kaiju" movies such as Godzilla and its successors, the creatures were dubbed Kaiju. Aside from such rumors, their real-life existence has been kept secret by governments around the world, who formed KPS (the Kaiju Preservation Society) to study the Kaiju Earth, prevent additional breakthroughs, and protect the denizens of each world from those of the other.

Fair.” She handed me my severance paperwork. “I was also told to tell you that a deliverator account has been opened in your name.” She said deliverator like it hurt her to say it. “You know, just in case.” See, this reads as if the author had written the book with perfectly assigned hetero genders and in the first or second edit-pass aimed for the (more crowd pleasing) diversity, only: he couldn't really be bothered, hence the sloppiness.The Goodreads description of The Kaiju Preservation Society does a perfectly good job of setting up this novel. For reasons, Jamey is one of several new employees transported to a “slightly different” Earth to help protect our Earth from that Earth’s Kaiju—and to protect them from us. Turns out, these "pandas" are in mating trouble and not all humans want to preserve them and their world. Tourists are a menace in any world, I guess. So Jamie and his team need to get creative, evade huge-ass tree-crabs, and get some Twilight monsters to get a groove on, all while fending off more sinister threats. Absurdly, gloriously entertaining. A story that hits all the beats and tropes you might think, and that's not a criticism: you read this book with the feelings you read a tropey romance, ie a knowing expectation of what will happen, plus gleeful anticipation for how you're going to get there.

We work in the theater,” Brent said. “And it’s like you said, everything’s shutting down. I don’t have any savings, and you know Laertes doesn’t either.” Don’t be hasty, Jamie.” Qanisha warned. “That shutdown is coming. And our Duane Reade discount is now up to fifteen percent.”You have a nemesis now,” Kahurangi said. “I'm officially jealous. I've always wanted to have a nemesis.” Throughout the whole affair you are forced to become more and more aware, that this is not a book written for an audience; it's written to stroke the author's own ego: see, here I am, famous - I am doing this, because I can; give me your money. Kaiju Preservation Society (for those like me who are insufficiently cool, for “kaiju” basically think “Godzilla”, but nuclear reactor-powered. Yes, just roll with that) is light-hearted and very funny, full of present-day references and neverending quips and snark, almost a meme in book form. It’s meant to entertain above anything, with a bit of self-aware “reverse lampshading”. And banter — or dear, the banter comes in kaiju-sized chunks and is perfect. But let’s have Scalzi himself explain things just a bit in his Author’s Note:

Yes!” I made a pointing gesture, which sank me farther into the beanbag. “I mean, we’re already better than the other apps. We just have to drive the point home.” Food app delivery driver Jamie Gray has just about had it—with work, New York City and the pandemic. But a chance encounter leads Jamie to Tom, an old friend who offers Jamie a job working for a mysterious animal rights organization called the KPS. Eager to do anything to get out of town, Jamie jumps at the chance. But this job is unlike anything anyone could have imagined. On another Earth, one warmer and devoid of humankind, gargantuan creatures called Kaiju roam. It’s up to the Kaiju Preservation Society to make sure the incredible, powerful monsters don’t hurt anyone—and that no one tries to hurt the Kaiju. John Scalzi’s THE KAIJU PRESERVATION SOCIETY, where, on a parallel earth, kaiju — the massive Godzilla-esque monsters of Japanese film lore — roam free; after humans discover entry into this universe (via tearing open the space-time continuum with nuclear explosions), scientists work to study and protect the gargantuan beasts… while others look to exploit them, optioned to Fox Entertainment, by Joel Gotler at IPG (world). I mean,” I motioned to the very nice condo in the brand-new building. “It turned out okay for you.” Maybe John Scalzi’s books won’t change your life but they can make living it just a bit less unpleasant.Science gets discussed only to then handwave it away as needed when veterans say things like how the kaiju’s unique biology allows for this or that (that shouldn’t be able to happen) to happen. But just when it is necessary to tell the reader what’s going on, there’s always someone there to (usually snarkily) natter on. It’s info-dumping via too much talking but to be fair, there’s no “as you know, Bob.” Yet there are times when I wanted more description. The whole reason all this is taking place is to save the panda kaiju creatures but I honestly have little to no idea what they were supposed to look like. BIG and SCARY is about all I got. There is one smaller nasty creature that is described as looking like palm crabs which are nasty looking things, IMO. The villain, who is little more than a flat caricature, is described as a Dartmouth legacy with too much money and an insatiable desire for more so … basically a rich white guy. the information on the Covid-vaccine is downright false: it does not immunise people against the virus: you cannot conveniently take off your masks in close quarters, just because you're vaccinated and be absolutely sure, you're safe. Deliverationing,” Rob repeated. “That’s what our deliverators do. They deliverate. So, deliverationing.” A huge part of the pleasure here is the worldbuilding--the plot doesn't start until about 2/3 of the way through and that is absolutely fine because the worldbuilding is hugely entertaining. The bad guy pretty much has 'bad guy' tattooed on his face, which is also absolutely fine because wow is his depiction and fate satisfying. There's a diverse cast, entertaining banter, lots of good swearing, pop culture references at a level I found entertaining rather than intrusive, and I have a low tolerance for that. It's also grounded in the utter shitness that was 2020, and actually that was pretty cathartic to read too. During his delivery job he runs into an old acquaintance who ends up scoring him an interview at the KPS and the rest is history.

The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi’s first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy. Scalzi is great with the science-fiction references, I was enjoying them a lot. And he doesn't overdo it, like, say, Ernest Cline who just is TOO MUCH. Scalzi is just the right amount. I laughed again at this. “It’s more like we have a workable service relationship with a tenuous personal history. But thank you, Tom. I actually did enjoy deliverating to you. Enjoy your shawarma.” I started to go. Scalzi is far better than other SF authors in consistently making me laugh. He has an ear for the absurd in everyday conversation. Some of his tales are just a riff on a current cultural phrase or obsession (see Red Shirts as an example https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). In others, like this one he probes a bit deeper into mankind and our dilemmas.It’s a mess. Seriously, don’t even think about trying to fart for the next eighteen hours. It’s not a fart. You will regret it.” Our main character is a likeable everyman, who at the start of the pandemic is being fired from his delivery company start up. He makes an ungracious fall from a corporate job to a driver, and despite some conflicts ( I don’t like you. I get that a lot) this serves as a catalyst to a mysterious job.