The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

‘John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today’ – Joe Hill In New York City, Jamie Gray is a driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls ‘an animal rights organization’. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous animal and they’re in trouble. It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society whose found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set on an alternate Earth – perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky and Charles Stross.

A Godzilla cheese fest.

Jamie Gray loses his job and is thrown into a role of delivering food to people's doors. Until one day, he serves an old friend who invites him on a journey, one that will change him forever.

The story is fairly short and I managed to finish this within an hour or two. KPS doesn't break down any new doors and it isn't very deep, however it was fun at times. I couldn't get used to the humour, it felt like a cheesy sit com and I wanted to roll my eyes one quite a few occasions. I really can't see anyone living with their sense of humour, it felt like you were waiting on the fake audience laughter.

This was maybe not my type of book, it had big potential and it could have been something special but fell flat.

2.5 stars out of 5

KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It's a pop song. It's meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you're done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face.

Yes, everyone is including this quote from the Author's Note in their reviews, but I can't resist. This is such a perfectly self-aware encapsulation of the novel. This is fun. There are sympathetic characters who make jokes and become friends. There's bonkers sci-fi stuff, some action, and eventually there's an overarching plot arc that comes to a satisfying conclusion. It does take more than half the book for the main conflict to really come to the fore, but the setup before that is a lot of fun, so who cares?

Also - I love that the main character could be any gender. In general I could have used a little more physical description of characters (and especially of kaiju!), but this choice was lovely.

ALERT: The Author's Note at the end is not to be missed, even if you don't normally read them.
I must pause to recommend reading the Author's Note. It bumped this book from 4 to 4.5 stars for me. Everyone will relate, and it just made me feel seen and understood, and like we all went through something together. I'm glad it will be there decades from now to be read by young nerds who view 2020 through a fuzzy, history-class lens, and give them a surprise: a very poignant, personal time capsule of what this time felt like to live through.

I'll close with a quote from Murderbot (who is lovingly name-dropped in Chapter 1 - yes, I cheered!) that almost perfectly summarizes KPS:

(It was called Worldhoppers, and was about freelance explorers who extended the wormhole and ring networks into uninhabited star systems. It looked very unrealistic and inaccurate, which was exactly what I liked.)

Reminiscent of Scalzi???s early standalones ???Redshirts??? and ???Agent to the Stars??? this is a fun, funny, and exciting romp through Scalzi???s pandemic-locked-in mind. It???s lighthearted with plenty of inside-joke material. This was a popcorn flick of a good time and plenty of laughs.