I've blogged about sci-fi author and popular blogger. John Scalzi. before, but his latest SciFi book, The Android's Dream is a must have for any serious SciFi fan. OK, well maybe I shouldn't limit his audience to just SciFi fans, as it is less about SciFi, and more of a satirical look at politics (done in the best Monty Python's Flying Circus Meets Rory Blyth styled humor). If all you do is buy this book and read the first chapter, you get your money's worth of laughs, for sure. What SciFi or comedy fan wouldn't appreciate a plot where one of the main species upper class (the Nidu) communicates via smells, as well as verbal communication, and the author throws caution to the wind (literally) and writes in some great flatulence-related (aka potty) humor? Who wouldn't love that? The out and out side splitting laughs are (mostly) contained in the first chapter, but with plot lines that include a human female with Sheep DNA, a religious cult called the "Church of the Evolved Lamb", and a genetically engineered line of sheep known as "Android's Dream", the book definitely has plenty of jokes along the way. Android's Dream is a major departure from Scalzi's previous 2 military SciFi books, Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades (which are must reads on their own), and I think that is a good thing, as it shows Scalzi trying to stretch his boundaries a bit (well maybe in his case, mix his SciFi with his successful "Uncle John's Presents - Bathroom Reader series).
I've been a subscriber to John Scalzi's blog for a couple years now, and he has definitely rekindled my love affair with SciFi again, as he has mentioned a couple other authors in his blog that I've gone out and read and have been very happy with. There was a time when I thought that all the good SciFi had been written, and that most of the modern stuff was just plain garbage, but it turns out that I've been looking in the wrong place and just needed someone to show me the light. I've been traveling a lot lately, which usually means I've got a book along with me for the flight, etc. I've got about 4 or 5 new SciFi books that I've got to blog about and so, I'll create a new blog category, Science Fiction Book Reviews for all of the new (and old) posts.