Plot summary
Jamie Gray goes to a six-month performance review as an employee for food delivery startup füdmüd expecting to impress boss Rob Sanders with plans to grow the company, only to be terminated and offered a delivery contract instead. At first rejecting the offer, Jamie is eventually forced to take it after all to make rent, as jobs are scarce in COVID-19-afflicted New York City. One delivery client turns out to be Tom Stevens, an old acquaintance, and over the next few weeks of deliveries they renew their friendship. Tom has a lucrative position with KPS, a secretive animal rights NGO, and is slated to head out into the field right about the same time Jamie loses the delivery job (füdmüd having been bought out). Tom offers Jamie a job with his own employer, and Jamie, again out of options, goes in for the interview, is accepted, and is soon on a plane to Thule Air Base in Greenland.
Thule Air Base turns out to hide the gateway to a parallel Earth, in which evolution took a different turn after the early Mesozoic era, resulting in a planet dominated by impossibly immense creatures whose growth is fueled by internal bio-nuclear reactors. Mankind first became aware of this world in the wake of World War II, when the use of atomic bombs opened temporary portals between the worlds, to and through which the creatures were attracted by the radiation fallout, on which they feed. After Japanese filmmakers were inspired by rumors of the initial breakthrough to make "Kaiju" movies such as Godzilla and its successors, the creatures were dubbed Kaiju. Aside from such rumors, their real-life existence has been kept secret by governments around the world, who formed KPS (the Kaiju Preservation Society) to study the Kaiju Earth, prevent additional breakthroughs, and protect the denizens of each world from those of the other.
Kaiju Earth is a torrid world, high in oxygen and radioactive volatiles, dominated by Kaiju and teeming with lesser predators. Sent to Tanaka Base, an outpost in the Kaiju Earth version of Labrador, Jamie supports the scientific staff studying the biota there, particularly the Kaiju "Bella," a brooding mother laying her eggs at the irradiated site of the death of another Kaiju, whose internal atomic pile overheated and exploded—a not infrequent occurrence. Unfortunately, this event weakened the barrier between worlds, and Bella planting herself at the very location the event occurred is keeping the barrier from rehealing. A predatory corporation on the Human Earth side (coincidentally led by Jamie's old boss Rob Sanders), in on the Kaiju secret, takes the opportunity to breach the barrier and move the Kaiju mother and her eggs to the Human side. Jamie and the other KPS team members must somehow cross over themselves and recover Bella, both to preserve the Kaiju secret and protect both worlds from catastrophe.
Reception
Booklist characterized the novel as "a wonderfully inventive take on the kaiju theme, ... ow[ing] a substantial debt to the Japanese kaiju film genre, and to Pacific Rim and Jurassic Park ," and noted that Scalzi "gleefully acknowledges [that] debt with references scattered through the book." [8]
Kirkus Reviews calls the book an "unusual pandemic novel," which "despite the absurdity of the premise (...) isn't entirely escapist fluff", specifying that although it has "the banter and snarky humor [that] readers expect from [Scalzi]", it is 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." [9]
In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls the novel a "wonderfully witty and refreshingly earnest adventure yarn" in which "[a] more ethical Jurassic Park meets the camaraderie of Parks and Recreation," a "hyper-current story ... 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)." It concludes "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." [10]
Kristi Chadwick in Library Journal writes "Scalzi's ... prose is action- and humor-driven and includes just the right amount of the current climate to anchor the setting without wallowing in it," noting that his "first stand-alone novel in several years is a wild ride filled with takes on pop culture, startups, governmental influence, and science." [11]
Adam Morgan in Scientific American writes "John Scalzi's stand-alone adventure novel is a fun throwback to Michael Crichton's 1990s sci-fi thrillers. ... Scalzi describes the book as a 'pop song,' and he's right—there are no cerebral messages about animal rights or nuclear proliferation. Written with the brisk pace of a screenplay, it's as quippy as a Marvel movie and as awe-inspiring as Jurassic Park." [12]
Lisa Tuttle in The Guardian calls the book "Hugely enjoyable, intelligent and good-humoured fun." [13]
Tom Shippey in The Wall Street Journal rates the novel as "[a] great romp all the way through." [14]
Brandon Crilly at blackgate.com describes the novel as "a remarkably fun book" and "exactly the book I needed for late December 2022." Noting how Scalzi "works a narrative through pointed dialogue and non-stop pacing," he writes that "[a]nyone with an understanding of bureaucracy, activism, kaiju, and dealing with horrible rich people will probably adore this story." [15]
The novel was also reviewed in Shoreline of Infinity for June 2022. [1]
Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group, a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles.
Ian McDonald is a British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. His themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.
John Michael Scalzi II is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Old Man's War series, three novels of which have been nominated for the Hugo Award, and for his blog Whatever, where he has written on a number of topics since 1998. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2008 based predominantly on that blog, which he has also used for several charity drives. His novel Redshirts won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel. He has written non-fiction books and columns on diverse topics such as finance, video games, films, astronomy, writing and politics, and served as a creative consultant for the TV series Stargate Universe.
Old Man's War is a military science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, published in 2005. His debut novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006.
Lavie Tidhar is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Tidhar has lived in London. His novel Osama won the 2012 World Fantasy Award—Novel, beating Stephen King's 11/22/63 and George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons. His novel A Man Lies Dreaming won the £5000 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, for Best British Fiction, in 2015. He won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2017, for Central Station.
Daniel James Abraham, pen names M. L. N. Hanover and James S. A. Corey, is an American novelist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin fantasy series, and with Ty Franck, as the co-author of The Expanse science fiction series, written under the joint pseudonym James S. A. Corey. The series has been adapted into the television series The Expanse (2015–2022), with both Abraham and Franck serving as writers and producers on the show. He also contributed to Wildcards anthology series shared universe.
Mary Robinette Kowal is an American author and puppeteer. Originally a puppeteer by primary trade after receiving a bachelor's degree in art education, she became art director for science fiction magazines and by 2010 was also authoring her first full-length published novels. The majority of her work is characterized by science fiction themes, such as interplanetary travel; a common element present in many of her novels is historical or alternate history fantasy, such as in her Glamourist Histories and Lady Astronaut books.
The Locus Award for Best First Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best First Novel was first presented in 1981. The Locus Awards have been described as a prestigious prize in science fiction, fantasy and horror literature.
Liu Cixin is a Chinese computer engineer and science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China's Galaxy Award and has also received the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel The Three-Body Problem as well as the 2017 Locus Award for Death's End. He is also a winner of the Chinese Nebula Award. In English translations of his works, his name is given as Cixin Liu. He is a member of China Science Writers Association and the vice president of Shanxi Writers Association. He is sometimes called "Da Liu" by his fellow science fiction writers in China.
Ken Liu is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. Liu has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards for his novel translations and original short fiction, which has appeared in F&SF, Asimov's, Analog, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, and multiple "Year's Best" anthologies.
Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his Machineries of Empire space opera novels and his short fiction. His first novel, Ninefox Gambit, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel.
Naomi Kritzer is an American speculative fiction writer and blogger. Her 2015 short story "Cat Pictures Please" was a Locus Award and Hugo Award winner and was nominated for a Nebula Award. Her novel, Catfishing on CatNet won the 2020 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book.
Rebecca F. Kuang is an American fantasy novelist. Her first novel, The Poppy War, was released in 2018, followed by the sequels The Dragon Republic in 2019 and The Burning God in 2020. Kuang released a stand-alone novel, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence in 2022. Her newest book is Yellowface, a satirical novel which was published in 2023. Kuang holds graduate degrees in Sinology from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and University College, Oxford, and is currently studying at Yale University.
AnnaLinden Weller, better known under her pen name Arkady Martine, is an American author of science fiction literature. Her first novels A Memory Called Empire (2019) and A Desolation Called Peace (2021), which form the Teixcalaan series, each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
The Changeling Sea is a fantasy novel for juvenile readers by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Atheneum/Macmillan in October 1988, with a paperback edition issued by Del Rey/Ballantine in December 1989. It was subsequently reissued in paperback and ebook by Firebird/Penguin in April 2003. The first British edition was published in hardcover by Oxford University Press in September 1991, with an ebook edition following from Gateway/Orion in December 2015.
Tamsyn Muir is a New Zealand fantasy, science fiction, and horror author. Muir won the 2020 Locus Award for her first novel, Gideon the Ninth, and has been nominated for several other awards as well.
Catriona Ward is an American and British horror novelist.
Cherae Clark, also known under the pen name C. L. Clark, is an American author and editor of speculative fiction, a personal trainer, and an English teacher. She graduated from Indiana University's creative writing MFA and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. Their debut novel, The Unbroken, first book of the Magic of the Lost trilogy, was published by Orbit Books in 2021 and received critical acclaim, including starred reviews at Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. The Unbroken was a Finalist for the 2021 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2022 Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel from the British Fantasy Awards, the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Novel - Adult, and the 2022 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her work has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies,FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die, PodCastle, Tor.com, Uncanny, and The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (2021). Clark edited, with series editor Charles Payseur, We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction of 2020, which won the 2022 Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Anthology.
The Spare Man is a 2022 science fiction murder mystery novel by Mary Robinette Kowal. The novel was nominated for the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2023 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Starter Villain is a science fiction novel written by American author John Scalzi. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Tor Books, and audiobook by Audible Studios, on September 19, 2023; British hardcover and ebook editions were released by Tor UK on September 21, 2023. A large print hardcover edition was issued by Thorndike Press on November 28, 2023, and a trade paperback edition is due to be issued by Tor Books on October 1, 2024. The novel was nominated for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
