Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi

Discovering a gem node on a distant planet, contractor Jack Holloway believes he has become a wealthy man before encountering an indigenous race of small, furry, sentient beings who his corporate partners are determined to eliminate in order to secure their stake in the treasure.

A scoundrel with good hearth protagonist, lives in a remote planet working as a harvester of precious minerals for a big company. He is lazy, lucky and a smart ass, the kind of guy who loves to do things his own way instead of by the books. There is basically one woman in the whole planet, an intelligent and beautiful Biologist, who happens to have fallen in love with him at one point but then they got separated, because the bad boy is not capable of maintaining a good adult relationship.

He accidentally finds out the motherload of precious minerals, and by “virtue” of his deviousness, he manages to obtain a big cut of the profits. By coincidence, the only sentient beings on the planet happens to reveal themselves to him. He contacts his old girlfriend, who is dating someone else, and asks her to help to investigate this new life form.

I stopped here, as this is already a very simple and predictable plot. He will find out that the sentient beings, who looks like big cats and looks oh so adorable, are somewhat being damaged by the planet exploration. he will have to choose between being rich or being moral, and because he will choose the latter, he will get his girl back as well.

This is very straightforward and too boring for me.

Read 1:42 / 7:18 23%

Very short and fun novel. John Scalzi's writing style overcomes the shortcomings of characterization and originality in this story.

A short book but one of my favorites. Even better in the audio book version because Wil Wheaton reads it. He fits the part or the main character Jack Holloway perfectly. If you get a chance get the audio book of this. If not it is a great story even in the printed version. Also if you have not read anything else be John Scalzi go out right now and get the “Redshirts”, and “Old Man's War”.

This is a great, quick read. Couldn't put it down once I'd started late yesterday night. Now it's 5:00 AM, and here I am writing a review.

I kept picturing the lead character, Jack Holloway, as some sort of American Old-West Anti-Hero. The way he slid into the role of the fuzzies' protectors was both believable, and... satisfying. It helped that the story moved at a very brisk pace, spending just enough time on characters and settings. Events that occurred towards the end of the story even made me cry (a bit). I really can't remember the last time, that's happened.

Still, this is not a masterpiece. Superb, but not special. Hence, the four stars.