As with most of John Scalzi's work, this book is funny. Not funny "ha-ha," but still pretty funny. Similar to my problems with Redshirts, this book is light on character development. Scalzi has a knack for taking a high concept, putting it in a comedic blender, then document the muddied results. He writes books that are Hollywood fodder, for better or for worse. The book reads fast, the characters make the reader chuckle, and the story is prescient (HELLLLOOOO COVID). Now if only he could put as much time into character as he does with creating concepts and situations.

Slowly, over the last few years, I think John Scalzi has become one of my favorite authors. Or, at least, one of the scifi authors that I can depend on to write something that I want to read and I enjoy. Both were true for this book.

It's fun. It's a bit light. It's a bit silly (tbh, one running joke keeps happening a bit too much, but you, that happens in real life too). Anyway, I liked Jamie and all the science nerds. I was rooting for them Much like I enjoyed the ship names in the last series, I enjoyed the naming conventions here!

Thank you Net Galley and Tor for the advance copy!

This is my first Scalzi read, but it won’t be my last. The Kaiju Preservation Society is a nonstop, slightly ridiculous (duh, it’s about Kaiju and their preservation!) story. As someone working retail during the Christmas season, this book was so necessary for me. It’s light, fun, and well written. There’s no timeline where I wouldn’t recommend this book.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.25 stars

The Kaiju Preservation Society follows Jamie, who has just lost his job at the start of the COVID pandemic in New York and is working as a food delivery guy when he bumps into an old aquaintance who offers him a mysterious job for a animal protection charity. He soon learns that the charity in question is in fact responsible for the preservation of a parallel earth where giant monsters known as Kaiji roam and danger lurks around every corner.

John Scalzi is fast becoming one of my autobuy authors for sci-fi - I love his prose so much (it is very reminiscent of Joe Abercrombie - not as dark but the humour and wit are very similar) and his books are such a joy to read. This book in particular was such an enjoyable ride, I had a grin on my face so often while reading and it is the perfect remedy to what is currently a rather shitty world. It is not a particularly complex or deep book but it is so much fun and sometimes you are just in the mood for that!

The characters were a lot of fun - I loved following our group of scientists (and jamie) as they explore the kaiju world and the creatures that inhabit it! I really liked all the ecological and biological aspects to this book, it's quite science-y and I always love exploring new alien worlds and biology. I find it fascinating the intersection between imagination and nature. The world of the Kaiji is also really cool, I loved the jungle atmosphere and the variety of monsters we meet, especially the Kaiji themselves - I loved learning about them!

The book has a great focus on friendship and I loved the banter between the group. Jamie is your typical nerdy quarter life crisis millennial and provides a witty commentary on events through his narration of the story. The ending was exicting and surprisingly high stakes, while still fitting with the overall tone of the story being a fun romp.

There was also some interesting themes on human greed and the peril this puts the enviroment in as well as unintended consequences and who the true monsters are (which is admittedly a little bit cliche but it was done in a really fun way). Scalzi always excels on the fun but thinky sci-fi.

Overall I would highly reccomend this book, if you are looking for something fun and feels like a break and escape from a depressing reality that is the world in 2021 T_T

"The Kaiju Preservation Society" is the perfect combination of the humor of "Men in Black" with the adventure of "Stargate" and "Jurassic Park" while providing a very understandable and enjoyable explanation of the giant "Kaiju" monsters such as Godzilla. Scalzi provides the perfect level of reality, suspended belief, human interactions and growth, deadly risk and danger, nasty bad guys, scifi geekery, and comfortably happy endings.

It is hard to go into well deserved detail without writing spoilers, so let me conclude that if you like humor, adventure, scifi, kaiju, travel to Earth in an alternate universe, and monster conservation, then this book is for you. I really cannot wait for the sequel. Please John! Don't let us down! We are depending on you for more adventures with kaiju!

I am most appreciative to John Scalzi and Tor Books for graciously providing an electronic review copy of this awesome story.

The Kaiju Preservation Society is very definitely a John Scalzi book. In his Afterword, which is worth reading, he describes it as a pop song. It came to him almost fully formed after he finally abandoned a book he describes as “a brooding symphony.” It’s frothy, entertaining and goes down smoothly while pointing out significant cultural issues. The good guys win and the bad guy satisfyingly gets what’s coming to him.

I really loved that Scalzi starts this book firmly in our world, in our moment in time. As Covid-19 is on the edge of becoming a global pandemic, Jamie Gray is feeling secure and getting ready to go in for his 6 month performance review at the Füdmüd company with some great ideas about how to help the company through the upcoming lockdown while also helping it’s ground level employees. Füdmüd is a food delivery app started by Rob Sanders, a guy from a wealthy family, who insists on calling the delivery people “deliverators.” He’s obviously an asshole. After hearing Jamie’s great ideas, Rob lays him off and tells him he can be a “deliverator.” Faced with the economic reality of lockdown, Jamie becomes a deliverator. And then, he gets laid off from that job too. Just as he is about to buy a bottle of vodka and celebrate his impending unhoused status, a customer gives him a card and tells him to go apply for a job with KPS, “lifting things.”

KPS is an international NGO that takes it’s employees out into the field for 6 months at a time. While in the field, KPS pays your rent or mortgage and makes your student loan payments. I would like to apply for a job. I can lift things too. Once Jamie and the Gold Team arrive on site, things start hopping. Jamie learns his new world, and bonds with his fellow newbies. Naturally, they save the world with science and pluck.

Scalzi builds a comfortable bubble into a world based in our current reality where almost everything winds up being ok. He populates it with a characters that aren’t just white Americans, and it took me a few minutes to realize that one of the characters is non-binary. It was a really nice read and I’m glad he wrote it rather than the “brooding symphony” he gave up on. At this moment, The Kaiju Preservation Society was exactly what I needed.

If you do like Scalzi’s style, you are likely to enjoy this book. If Scalzi annoys you, this isn’t the book that’s going to change your mind.

Anyway, there are no ethical billionaires, pay workers a living wage, stop using the planet as a resource just for you, and respect people’s pronouns.

CW: Off page death of a few characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for this advance reader copy. My opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this book so badly since I am a big fan of the author. It started out so promising, too. I was laughing at the sly humor and the wry take on a pandemic-era economy. I also liked the start of the narrative centered around the kaiju. However, I felt like the setting was carrying too much of the load of the story. Sure, I was initially intrigued by how kaiju existed in a parallel dimension that was unlocked partly through nuclear reactions. As with any Scalzi book, the tone was just right: funny and just informative enough in regards to the science to feel authoritative. However, once the initial interest in the setting wore off, I didn’t feel like much else was carrying the plot forward. Also, neither the narrator nor the surrounding scientists seemed distinctive enough for me to care about. Honestly, they all mixed together in my head, so when there was danger or an accident, I didn’t feel invested because I didn’t really know who was at the center of the incident. The action picks up 3/4 of the way through the book, but by that point, I was out. Even the reveal of *why* the big event at the end was happening was not a surprise. I could see it coming miles away. Even so, the writing had charm and humor, which redeemed it somewhat for me.

Simply said this is just one of those 'right book at the right time' kinda read. I really didn't know what I was expecting when I requested this on Netgalley but it honestly met my expectations.

It's a pandemic-era book. Our protagonist Jamie is up for promotion but instead gets some bad news that leads him into becoming a food 'deliverator' and then eventually jobless. By happenstance, he meets Tom who offers him a job that is as equally mysterious and dangerous sounding as it has perks. Turns out the multiverse exists and in this case, our earth is able to open up to another earth where instead of humans it houses Kaijus. And they're even more ginormous and complicated than in movies. What follows is a lot of adventuring, eye-opening revelations, a friendly nerdy-found family full of emotion, some tragedy, greedy capitalists assholes, and don't-get-too-deep-into-it science.

I've read other Scalzi and this definitely has a little bit of a different tone to it. It could've been a little bit tighter plotwise. But honestly, it's still a straightforward yet thrilling joyride. As much as it depicts the effects of capitalism, bad politics, environmental damage it still provides a moviesque action-packed journey with interesting and relatable characters and that doesn't take itself too seriously.

What a delightful read! A breath of fresh air and a gratifying interlude, that I immensely enjoyed!

As the author’s note say, this is “not a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you are done and you go along with your day , hopefully with a smile on your face” I’ve been a big fan of Scalzi having enjoyed his Old Man’s War and had high hopes for this and was duly not disappointed.

This was a book that spends most of it’s time on world building and what a world it was. Pays light hearted homage to Jurassic Park, but has influences from Godzilla and other similar types of movies and books blending all into one delightful novel. The prose is brilliant, giving you a want to desperately be there with the characters, yet also making you feel you are already there!

Set at 252 pages, this is a short novel or a big novella whatever you prefer. With such a short page count, there really isn’t too much time for in depth character development or epic plot progress, but the book doesn’t really suffer for it. We follow the adventures of the MC, Jamie Gray who goes from a budding corporate lackey to a delivering food to a part of inter dimensional adventure ending up as unlikely savior for both Kaiju and Humans. Despite the sweeping nature of the progression, it really is done very organically as I was taken on a tour through the current and alternate dimension. Quite immersive and impressive!

The book moves at great pace and plot begins from get go. The pace is steady and relentless as I got pulled in deeper into the plot and stakes got higher. The supporting cast is great. Each characters get to make a impression irrespective of their page time, which adds to the brilliance of the world building. It’s a book of the “now” as we mostly see characters reacting in real time rather than long term character development. This also makes you feel as if the action is happening in front of your eyes rather than being a reader of a told story.

My only gripe was the nature of the antagonist, which I felt was a bit predictable, which made me drop a point from my rating.

Despite that, it still was a pleasure to having gone on this adventure with Jamie and Scalzi!

Definitely a must read if you are looking for a light adventure novel or a palate cleanser from your otherwise heavy reads. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

As always, Scalzi gives us another quick, quippy and smart read. Full of likable characters with great banter, it's the perfect book for taking your mind off of depressing reality and go tearing off on a blockbuster adventure.

Scalzi wrote a great description of the tone of this novel in the author's note. He said that this book is not "a brooding symphony of a novel. It's a pop song. It's meant to be light and catchy...and then you're done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face." After finishing this book, I definitely have a smile on my face. This book does not have the deepest characters or most dramatic stakes, but what an enjoyable book this was. The science fiction of the story is great, with Scalzi fleshing out the science of the alternate earth and the kaiju to a very believable extent. There is a lovable cast of characters and the book moved along at a great pace that slowly but surely built out the world and the tension of the plot. This is not Scalzi's most groundbreaking novel because it was not intended to be, but it succeeded at its aim of creating a breezy and fun book that allows you to explore another world for as long as Scalzi takes you there.

Thanks to Netgalley, the editors and the author himself for the opportunity of reading John Scalzi’s newest craziness, The Kaiju Preservation Society. I mean, look at the title! I knew I was in for a ride!

And it was such a fun ride too! I rarely read novels that leave me with the sensation of having read something light, fun, quirky even. I am fond of the brooding, gothic, gloomy novels that drag you along for the nightmare, but I really liked John Scalzi’s Redshirts back in the day and thought that maybe it was the perfect time to change the rhythm and avoid the great darkness for a little bit. (I don’t know when you will be reading this, but I got the ARC in December 2021, when it was night at 6 p.m. and I really, really needed a serotonin boost).
A couple days. This novel lasted me a couple of amazing, fun days, and nothing more because the way it is written, mostly through fast-pace conversations between the main characters, made it so it was impossible for me to stop. I wanted to be there, being part of the conversation, laughing out loud to some of the comments (mostly by Jamie, I loved his personality and his wit), making comparisons between the character and people I know in real life. They were so well fleshed!
And the story was bonkers, just what I expected and I needed. John Scalzi says, in his own words, that this was the story that he needed to write, which sounds peculiar when reading the premise, but that makes total sense once you are inside this new world, meeting Bella, and Ed, Sanders, and all of the other monsters, both human and Kaiju. It seems that the author had an amazing time writing KPS, and it really shows throughout the pages, both in the light, non-stop conversations and in the more complex, action-packed sequences.
March cannot come fast enough!

Jamie Gray has just been fired from his marketing job at füdmüd. However, they offer him the opportunity to be delivery guy in lieu of nothing at all. Amid the COVID pandemic Jamie has no choice but to accept. This puts him in touch with old friend, Tom, who offers him a much better job opportunity working for an "animal rights organization." Jamie soon finds out that the animals he's meant to protect are kaiju living their best lives in an alternate dimension.

This book is a quick compelling read. I read it in one day, and it was a lot of fun. I couldn't help but root for Jamie's friend group and found Bella to be my favorite character. My only complaint is that despite the fact that Scalzi describes them (pretty much once in vague detail), I couldn't get a clear picture of the kaiju or the parasites in my head. And let's face it, we're all here for the kaiju.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC. It was a fun, upbeat read.

A fun action/adventure movie in book format. We follow Scalzi's typical snarky characters as they banter their way through wacky situations. If you like Scalzi's past works, especially Redshirts, you'll most likely enjoy this. If you haven't been a fan in the past, I don't think this is going to convert anyone new. (Not a complaint, just advice)

I’m not sure I can explain how good this book was better than the author himself in his acknowledgments, and that was this way:

“KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you’re done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face. I had fun writing this, and I needed to have fun writing this. We all need a pop song from time to time, particularly after a stretch of darkness.”

And that’s exactly it. But this is a review and I do have to say something myself, so I’ll say this. KPS is EFFORTLESSLY readable. At no point during the narrative did I want to put the book down, not because I was consumed with feverish obsession as with some books, but simply because the pages seemed to be flipping themselves and it seemed somehow only the polite thing to do to keep reading.

Both familiar and fresh, the story hits all the right beats and the cast is…well they’re just the best, from all parts of the globe and talented and smart and diverse and the kind of people I’d like to be friends with and hang out with, if this damn plague ever shuts the hell up.

For some reason this just did not do it for me—maybe because it was a bit too talky and less descriptive than I would have liked, which is weird because I loved his latest trilogy. But still enjoyable and I think others might like it more than I.

This book is just fun. Scalzi describes it as a pop song in his notes at the end and that is exactly it: something to make you happy, to let you have fun. It was a soothing romp of a novel that reminded me of both Jurassic Park and Old Man's War in the best ways. Thank you Mr. Scalzi for the good time.

In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jamie Gray loses a job. Fortunately, an opportunity at an NGO dealing with wildlife preservation presents itself. Only that life turns out to be more wild than Jamie could imagine.

I've been anticipating this novel. I've been a latecomer to John Scalzi's books, but what I've read so far have deftly balanced high concepts and themes with down-to-earth characters and an engaging writing style. As much as that, though, I've been a longtime follower of Japanese Kaiju films (that would be primarily Godzilla for the uninitiated), so I was somewhat predisposed to come in to this story with positive expectations.

This book is, in many ways, popcorn fiction. Not that there's anything wrong with that. As Scalzi himself acknowledges, this has been a trying couple of years and many of us need some lighter entertainment to compensate for pandemics, shootings, and attempted insurrections. At the same time, as with all good science fiction, this book still has important observations on humanity and the world we live in, even though presented through the lens of a fictional one.

The title of the book communicates the basic premise of the story quite clearly, with a world being presented in which the titular kaiju (giant monsters) are treated and examined as wildlife, though obviously of a much more fantastic variety. The story revolves around how these creatures exist, thrive, and how humanity interacts with them, both those who would try and understand them and those who would exploit them. However, as with previous Scalzi books, the true strength lies in the characters. Jamie Gray and friends are written with depth and personality, with much playful bantering and a humorously matter-of-fact reaction to the extraordinary situations into which they are thrown. There's a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, presented in an organic and, in some cases, surprisingly subtle fashion. The true joy of this book is in seeing how these characters interact with one another, an achievement considering giant monsters are a key component of the story.

If someone is looking for a fun science fiction adventure, this qualifies. But even if not a science fiction fan, the reader may just find themselves engaged with the entertaining cast of characters.

This is my first written-in-COVID, mentioning-COVID, novel. If you're not ready for that yet, maybe skip this for now.

Having said that, it's not like it's ABOUT COVID (you should avoid Station Eleven more than this book if it's the ABOUT COVID aspect you're worried about). Instead, the realities of businesses being shut down and people being frustrated is a catalyst for our narrator to take an... unusual job. He doesn't realise the full weirdness of the job when he signs on, of course.

Look, you can see the title. Kaiju Preservation Society. You're already ahead, since Jamie just knows he's signing on to lift things for KPS, a group who help look after 'large animals'. What sort of large animals? He doesn't know until after he gets on a plane with other newbies, and then through a door, and then... ta dah.

This is what I take to be classic Scalzi. Super fast-paced - not TOO fast, so I never felt lost, but also nothing extraneous and very few lulls and I read it in a single afternoon. Effortless diversity, delightful banter, and persuasive enough that I was content to read about ludicrous kaiju biology and just go along with it.

It's pretty obvious from the set-up - newbie gets involved with group who are looking after kaiju, which are secret from most people in the world - that eventually something is going to go wrong. That's no spoiler, but I'm also not going to reveal WHAT goes wrong, because I am not a monster (heh). I was fascinated, though, by some of the commentary Scalzi gets into what could just have been a romp (this is not unexpected, of course). The idea that private corporations AND governments might work together on something as expensive as this is... kinda weird from an Australian point of view. I mean it happens, sure, but I feel like we're less at ease with it than the American standard. (Maybe I'm just naive.) The discussions about how start-ups sometimes work, and how the American system let people down during COVID, were also particularly sharp - while completely fitting into the narrative.

This book is bonkers, and was an absolutely delightfully madcap ride. An excellent read when you when you want to immerse yourself into something delightfully ridiculous.