I have enjoyed a couple of other books by John Scalzi, so I was excited to start The Kaiju Preservation Society last year (paid link). I didn’t know much about the premise so I went into this read blind. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Wil Wheaton.
I previously reviewed Starter Villain by the author and you can find my review of it here, and a purchase link here.
Here is the blurb:
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end 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 panda and they’re in trouble.
It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society that’s found its way to the alternate world. Others have, too–and their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.
⭐⭐⭐
Like other books by John Scalzi, this was an easy read (and listen) and started quickly by putting the protagonist in a tough situation and throwing him into a series of surprising events.
Jamie learns that the Kaiju Preservation Society (or KPS) takes care of gigantic Godzilla-esque creatures on an alternate Earth. His experience as a food delivery driver is ironically being put to use in his new role as a messenger with the KPS. He works hard and is excited to be able to help. Most of the story in the first part of this book shows Jamie experiencing the reveal of the secrets of Kaiju-Earth.
The biology of the kaiju was inventive and surprising, but also features in an important way as the plot develops. Even weapons training is a fun (which is synonymous with dangerous) excursion, at least for the trainers.
One of the weaknesses of this book was that all of the young scientists felt like the same character to me. Scalzi tries to give them quirks to set them apart, but this didn’t help enough. My favorite character was Martin, the helicopter pilot who takes Jamie and crew out to see one of the local kaiju, Bella. He becomes a pivotal character and his daring and skilled piloting is critical to the story.
While I enjoyed the ideas in this book, for most of the story it lacked conflict. Jamie visits Kaiju-Earth and sees the sights, but nothing goes wrong until very close to the end of the novel. The story generally lacks an antagonist and then rushes to fill that gap with a flurry of action in the final quarter of the book. I wish that the story had been more evenly paced.
Wil Wheaton as narrator is a hit, of course. He does the narration on many of Scalzi’s books, but I have also listened to him on Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (paid link).
Have you read other books that feature kaiju? Let me know about them in the comments.
You can find more of my reviews here.
Salvage – a flash fiction science fiction story with a winter holiday theme