by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
John Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society (Bookshop.org)
Thanks to partner Tor Books for the ARC of John Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society, which will be released this coming Tuesday, March 15. Somehow, despite all of the positive reviews I've read, this is my first book by Scalzi.
The Kaiju Preservation Society begins in New York City at the beginning of the pandemic, when the world is first becoming aware of COVID. Jamie Gray is part of the upper management of a successful food delivery service when his boss fires him, then offers him a replacement job as a driver. Driven by desperation in the face of the shutdown, Gray accepts the job. At first, it seems like that's where he'll be for the duration, until he delivers to Tom, an old acquaintance who has an intriguing job prospect: working for the Kaiju Preservation Society.
Gray accepts, even though the job is veiled in secrecy . . . and he doesn't know what a kaiju is. What he finds is an alternate dimension inhabited by creatures that are bigger than dinosaurs and that, under the right (or wrong) circumstances, can threaten our Earth.
Jamie is soon drawn into the excitement and danger of this new, strange world, attracted by its focus on the most essential elements of life. And then the greed and corruption that so frustrated him in his old life makes an entrance, and he starts to understand the "preservation" part of his new job.
I absolutely loved this sci fi adventure. I was reminded more than once of Crichton's Jurassic Park (and that's a comparison Scalzi acknowledges quickly in the book). They share a sense of scientific thinking combined with suspense and the ways that humans so often make mistakes driven by selfishness and hubris. The world building is phenomenal but never too much, and I think this would hold appeal even for those who aren't sci fi fans.
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