Tor Books
400 Pages
I’m relatively new to the works of John Scalzi. Thanks to my good friend, Howie, I was introduced to Starter Villain and from there I’ve been grabbing them whenever I see them on the shelf at the Lockport Public Library. This time, The Android’s Dream came home with me. And it was well worth the selection.
This book takes its title from a Philip K Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? If you know that book, you might know that it was the basis for the movie, “Blade Runner.” Other than the title, there’s not much in common between Dick’s book and Scalzi’s. While Dick’s book is definitely dark, The Android’s Dream has dark edges among the glistening levity.
In the future, Earth has been visited by several alien cultures. Earth is vastly outnumbered and outgunned in this new coalition of planets, mere babes on the universal scene. When a human kills his alien counterpart during a negotiation, there’s only one thing that can stop the annihilation of the human race. A sheep. It’s not just any sheep. It’s a special sheep and suddenly, they’re dropping like flies. Harry Creek has to race against time to save his charge and save humanity at the same time. What ensues is hilarity with a bit of social commentary and bitter social humor.
John Scalzi’s novel ends up being a science-fiction story wrapped in detective noir and satire. It’s a murder mystery, thriller, comedy that will keep the reader wondering exactly what the heck is going on. You won’t be able to help yourself. You will want to keep reading just to find out how our heroes get out of each successive mess where they find themselves. Even when it seems most dire, a little humor can get you out of a tight spot.
Good satire is hard to find, but Scalzi keeps delivering with great aplomb. While the story centers around the misunderstandings between aliens and humans, it very easily could be written to be between any group of humans already here on the good planet Earth. Scalzi’s biting commentary, while hidden behind levity, showcases the ridiculousness of many of our disagreements. WIth aliens who can swallow humans whole, and said humans who are aware they’re being consumed, what is the best course of action? In the end, it’s a loophole that sets the ship right and sailing into the future.
I can’t give too much away in this review, but the deeper meaning behind John Scalzi’s The Android’s Dream rings true in our everyday lives. The very absurdity that Scalzi delivers is a reflection and reckoning of how we collectively live our lives. Sometimes we let the stupid win, and this book reminds us that there’s so much more -- if we work at it instead of taking the easy way out.
I really liked The Android’s Dream by John Scalzi. Even if my interpretation of it is light years away from what he intended, his words rang with a familiar truthiness. It might be even funnier if I got it all wrong. That’s the beautiful thing about satire. It’s open to interpretation. I figure I’ll end up reading all his books in the very near future. I know I have at least two more on the shelf ready to be read and another review coming very soon from another book. Stay tuned.
Craig Bacon likes to laugh when he reads books, even if it’s a sad laugh because he knows there’s nothing he can do.