The Kaiju Preservation Society

October 1, 2021

In this standalone from sf champ Scalzi, COVID-19 has devastated New York City, and Jamie Gray barely gets by as a driver for food delivery apps. Then a friend offers him what sounds like a cool gig--stepping in to manage the next visit of an animal rights organization--but fails to mention a little detail. The animals in question are Kaiju, gigantic creatures from an alternate universe that are both dangerous and endangered. Unforunately, other organizations have found a way to slip into this universe behind the Kaiju Preservation Society, which may ultimately pose a threat to Earth. Billed as a light, uplifting COVID-19-escapist story, which does give pause; with a 200,000-copy first printing.

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Starred review from January 3, 2022
A more ethical Jurassic Park meets the camaraderie of Parks and Recreation in this wonderfully witty and refreshingly earnest adventure yarn from Hugo Award winner Scalzi (Redshirts). Atomic bomb tests in the 1950s revealed a parallel Earth inhabited by Godzillian kaiju, a fact Jamie Gray learns upon being hired by KPS, the eponymous secret organization, which monitors and protects the massive creatures. Jamie and several other new KPS employees are stationed at a base on this parallel Earth—and when an investor’s malfeasance threatens both Earths, the band of newbies fights back. The hyper-current story spans March 2020 through March 2021, touching on the Covid-19 pandemic and offering exactly the kind of playfulness and hope that were needed during that period (and are still more than welcome now). The parallel world Scalzi builds is understandably dangerous even as he carries on the science fiction tradition of questioning who the real monsters are, but those realistically dark elements help highlight the more optimistic themes of collective action and preservation. The resulting escape is equally lighthearted and grounded—and sure to delight.

January 1, 2022
In this unusual pandemic novel, a young person--whose gender is never specified--is given a unique, literally out-of-this-world opportunity to escape the Covid-19 lockdown. In early 2020, Jamie Gray is working as a marketing executive at food delivery startup f�dm�d when Rob Sanders, the company's asshole chief executive, abruptly fires Jamie for no apparent reason. Reduced to working as a delivery person for f�dm�d in the following months (during the height of the pandemic, no less), Jamie leaps at a job opportunity offered by an acquaintance. That's how Jamie winds up on a parallel Earth working for the titular Kaiju Preservation Society: lifting heavy objects, serving snacks in conference rooms, shooting monsters in the face, and just generally providing assistance to the scientists studying skyscraper-size, Godzilla-like creatures with internal nuclear reactors. In the process, Jamie discovers just how much of an asshole that former boss really is, to the potential detriment of two worlds. In his author's note, Scalzi calls this book "a pop song...light and catchy," in contrast to the "brooding symphony" of the completely different novel he had intended to write. But despite the absurdity of the premise, the book isn't entirely escapist fluff. Sure, it bubbles with the banter and snarky humor readers expect from this author. But it's also a blunt and savage swipe at tech-bro/billionaire culture, the Trump administration, and the chaos and tragedy that result when powerful and rich people set themselves against science and scientists in order to profit from disaster. The evil plot would seem creaky and melodramatic if it weren't such an accurate satiric mirror of the current sociopolitical milieu. In short, it's a fictional delivery system for the outrage that Scalzi typically expresses in his tweets and on his blog about the mess we currently find ourselves in. Fun but with a purpose.

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Starred review from October 15, 2021
Without warning, just as the country is going into COVID-19 lockdown, Jamie Gray is fired from their job. Desperate for work, Jamie accepts an offer from someone they barely know to work for a company they've never heard of. It turns out to be the adventure of a lifetime. Scalzi's latest is a wonderfully inventive take on the kaiju theme ("kaiju" being the Japanese term for big, giant creatures: Godzilla, King Kong, Mothra). Jamie's new employer, the Kaiju Preservation Society, has one mission: to keep Earth safe from these oversized critters, and to keep the kaiju safe from Earth. But kaiju are not exactly domesticated animals, and the human element can sometimes be wildly and dangerously unpredictable. Catastrophe lurks around every corner, and, as Jamie soon discovers, when catastrophe strikes, it strikes explosively. Scalzi owes a substantial debt to the Japanese kaiju film genre, and to Pacific Rim and Jurassic Park, and he gleefully acknowledges the debt with references scattered through the book. Readers familiar with the early Scalzi novels Agent to the Stars (2005) and The Android's Dream (2006) will recognize the same energetic writing style and lightning-fast pacing: this is Scalzi having a lot of fun. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Scalzi is a big name in sf, and his inventive latest will also garner attention outside the genre.

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