John Scalzi had a problem and that problem was myriad: Covid, politics and a whole lot of writer’s block. So he decided to pull the plug on his current project despite contractual obligations. Then he had his own The Big Idea (The Big Idea is Scalzi’s vehicle on his blog that gives a platform to other writers to talk about what inspired their latest work.) And the The Kaiju Preservation Society was born (hatched? produced?). Don’t skip the Afterword on this one, it contains a lot of interesting tidbits and insight into the process.

The The Kaiju Preservation Society is set in a near-present-day period and features an aspiring academic who ends up in a go-nowhere gig-economy job during Covid. Until one day a “client” offers him an interesting proposition. What follows is fun, fast-paced and above all the signature Scalzi brand of clever. Throughout the book Scalzi plays with words, tropes and cultural references while weaving a delightful tale that is easy on the brain, yet satisfying and ultimately a darn good read.

In this book, Scalzi depends less on fancy technology or science-fictiony elements and leans heavily on his (admittedly slightly absurd) premise to force his characters to move the story along. It becomes one long string of what-ifs that, in aggregate reads more like a 70s adventure/spy novel than anything else. Given Scalzi was going for a “fun” read, I think that was an excellent choice. I certainly enjoyed the ride.

If this is your first venture into Scalzi’s oeuvre then you won’t be disappointed (unless perhaps you don’t like light-hearted romps) and if you are a long-time reader then, well, it’s 100% pure Scalzi.

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Also posted on Goodreads