The Android's Dream
By John Scalzi
Let's get this out of the way immediately: There is no android in this book and therefore no dream for said non-android to have. The Android's Dream of the novel is actually a breed of genetically engineered sheep named by science fiction geeks and there the book's very tenuous connection to Philip K. Dick ends.
I've been leery of the youngish breed of science fiction writers that nest so comfortably online. Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfeld, John Scalzi and the sort, they all seem like smart self-promoters who use the web to its maximum marketing potential and I can't blame them for that. The question has lingered though. Can they write?
The Android's Dream was my first venture into Scalziland and I believe it may be his only work of fiction that isn't part of his Old Man's War series which has generated quite a bit of notice in the science fiction community. Dream is set in a future where the Earth has been accepted into an interstellar community consisting of hundreds of alien races and one of her closest alien allies is also the race she's most likely to war against. After a flatulence-ridden diplomatic disaster (that's right), the alien Nidu are none too happy with humanity at large. However, the Nidu might see be persuaded to drop the whole thing if Earth's state department is able to track down a suddenly elusive sheep known as The Android's Dream, a breed gifted to the aliens by humans and one that plays an essential role in the coronation ceremony of the Nidu nation's next leader. Unfortunately, it needs to be a living sheep and for some reason all that anyone, Nidu or human, has been able to turn up lately are dead ones.
Harry Creek, diplomat, war hero and computer genius, is on the case and only half a step ahead of those who are not so excited about the Nidu coronation. These are the bringers of pain and sometimes death, consisting of psychopaths, human-devouring aliens exploring religious paths and undercover agents for The Church of the Evolved Lamb, a very Scientologisty sort of group.
The story itself is good time, and even when we're waiting for action, we don't mind the wait as we explore juvenile delights such as the disgusting sexual habits of aliens, a bit of not so alien bestiality and the aforementioned gas-passing incident. And then we can jump into the bloody, bone-breaking fun.
Even with all of this, I had issues with the story. For about the first third of the book the characters are not easy to tell apart. We're given names and job positions to distinguish them and that's about it. The names come fast and the reader may require a scorecard early on to track the somewhat intricate relations of who's working for whom, from governmental big boys to creepy hit-men. The united Earth seemed far too American for belief, especially given the current rise of China and India on the world stage. Similarly, the aliens often seemed far too human in motivation, technology, and dialogue. These problems must be noted but can be forgiven in light of the rest of the tale.
Scalzi's method of story-telling has been christened, "The New Comprehensible," in response to the ever-thickening jungles of jargon embraced by so many modern science fiction writers (I'm looking at you, Mr. Stross), and so it is that The Android's Dream is a very easy and remarkably fast read, even at close to four-hundred pages. It's a good nominee for a gateway book for your friends who aren't nearly as excited about science fiction as they should be.
So, again, "Can they write?" As for Scalzi, the answer is a big "Yes." But not in the way that makes a book stick in your gut long after you've read it. He writes entertainment, pure and simple and he writes it well enough that I was able to appreciate entertainment for it's own sake for the first time in years.
-Matthew Sanborn Smith