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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I read this originally online on John's site and then bought the hardbound when it came out & read it again. A very funny first encounter story with Hollywood backdrop.
I’ve read this book before. I read when I interviewed [a:John Scalzi|4763|John Scalzi|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1236228326p2/4763.jpg] for Strange Horizons after reading his other novel,[b:Old Man's War|1406395|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312034479s/1406395.jpg|50700]. At the time, Agent was (and still is) a “freeware” novel. John had put it up on his site back in 1997 or 1999 (too lazy to check) as a “shareware” novel and asked that those who liked it could send him $1. He earned over $4000 from the shareware project until he put to freeware [no more asking for donations] in 2004. Which is only $1000 less than a standard SF advance for an unknown author, and given he tried and failed to sell it, is pretty good money.
He was approached, after selling Old Man’s War, by Subterranean Press to sell the book in a hardbound limited edition. John said yes, got Gabe (aka Mike Krahulik) of Penny Arcade to do the cover art. And 10% of the proceeds of the pre-sales were donated to Penny Arcade’s charity, Child’s Play. Which is a long way of saying: Just the distribution of this book rocks. A good author. One of my favorite comic artist’s first cover art and giving to charity? Sign me up.
I ended up re-reading this book in 3 parts. I have a test I do with books that I like and have read: I open them to a random page and start reading from there. If the book is good (and not uber dense) I can pick up the story from there and enjoy it. If the book isn’t as good as I remember (or dense in terms of plot) I’ll have to start over. So I did this with Agent on a lunch break, just to pass the time. Then it was the only book I had handy after finishing Urban Shaman, so I started from the beginning, got to my pick up and then flipped to the end of my pick-up and finished the book.
It is still a very funny first contact story with some great aliens, some good Hollywood satire and likable characters. Re-reading it (and/or because it was in book form rather than e-book) I found some more flaws with it than I had before, but I enjoyed it still and will re-read it again in the future, I’m sure.
I’ve read this book before. I read when I interviewed [a:John Scalzi|4763|John Scalzi|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1236228326p2/4763.jpg] for Strange Horizons after reading his other novel,[b:Old Man's War|1406395|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312034479s/1406395.jpg|50700]. At the time, Agent was (and still is) a “freeware” novel. John had put it up on his site back in 1997 or 1999 (too lazy to check) as a “shareware” novel and asked that those who liked it could send him $1. He earned over $4000 from the shareware project until he put to freeware [no more asking for donations] in 2004. Which is only $1000 less than a standard SF advance for an unknown author, and given he tried and failed to sell it, is pretty good money.
He was approached, after selling Old Man’s War, by Subterranean Press to sell the book in a hardbound limited edition. John said yes, got Gabe (aka Mike Krahulik) of Penny Arcade to do the cover art. And 10% of the proceeds of the pre-sales were donated to Penny Arcade’s charity, Child’s Play. Which is a long way of saying: Just the distribution of this book rocks. A good author. One of my favorite comic artist’s first cover art and giving to charity? Sign me up.
I ended up re-reading this book in 3 parts. I have a test I do with books that I like and have read: I open them to a random page and start reading from there. If the book is good (and not uber dense) I can pick up the story from there and enjoy it. If the book isn’t as good as I remember (or dense in terms of plot) I’ll have to start over. So I did this with Agent on a lunch break, just to pass the time. Then it was the only book I had handy after finishing Urban Shaman, so I started from the beginning, got to my pick up and then flipped to the end of my pick-up and finished the book.
It is still a very funny first contact story with some great aliens, some good Hollywood satire and likable characters. Re-reading it (and/or because it was in book form rather than e-book) I found some more flaws with it than I had before, but I enjoyed it still and will re-read it again in the future, I’m sure.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wanted to like this but found the ending rushed and irritating.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Really 3.5--sometimes only having the full star rating system stinks. In October, 2017, a dear reading friend recommended Scalzi to me. The time was NOT right. Fast forward to Christmas 2018, after a full year of Scalzi related feeds popping up all over the place, and the time WAS right. Apparently this is his first book chronologically (altho the author himself swears his books do not have to be read in chronological order). Since that says everything about who I am as a person, I started at the beginning. The book was a good, funny, fast read. It was full of pop culture references. Hollywood agent Tom gets recruited to act as agent to an alien race on its first arrival at Earth. The aliens have been monitoring Earth television/movie/radio transmissions for years, and realize that they need someone to introduce them to humanity as friendly aliens. Since these aliens are anything but attractive (or even remotely humanoid) in appearance, they feel strongly that Earthlings must be prepared to receive them. Adventure ensues. I suspect that Scalzi is the victim of over-hype here. I certainly would not place him ahead of Christopher Moore or Terry Pratchett in my pantheon of humorous fantasy writers, but that could be because he came after them in my reading experience? I will certainly continue reading this author--plan to start the Old Man's War after I trim my reading pile down a bit.
I went back and forth on whether to rate this a 3 or a 4. It's a hard call - the book is certainly enjoyable (if you like Scalzi's style, which I do), but it's really two different books. One is a very interesting and amusing story about the life of an film agent dealing with various calibers and personalities of entertainers, as well as with the nature of the holocaust and the entertainment industry.
Then there's the story of contact and trying to sell with the nice but ugly aliens. This is a story Scalzi came back to with the much better Fuzzy Nation. This story lags a bit, and while it has nice ethical issues the whole feels contrived. Indeed, once we hit the two thirds mark the story is all too predicable. Scalzi isn't this predictable in later works - and to be fair there are enough possible plot threads before the turn point help out. But it is clearly, as Sclazi says, his test book. It's still worth reading, and thanks to Animal Man it's not even the worst thing I've read this year.
Then there's the story of contact and trying to sell with the nice but ugly aliens. This is a story Scalzi came back to with the much better Fuzzy Nation. This story lags a bit, and while it has nice ethical issues the whole feels contrived. Indeed, once we hit the two thirds mark the story is all too predicable. Scalzi isn't this predictable in later works - and to be fair there are enough possible plot threads before the turn point help out. But it is clearly, as Sclazi says, his test book. It's still worth reading, and thanks to Animal Man it's not even the worst thing I've read this year.
Another fun, smart winner by Scalzi, read by Wheaton.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another winner from John Scalzi. Warm relationships (except for the absolute shade thrown at the characters who deserved it), believable characters, tons of dry humor, and plenty of sweet moments.
The science part of the sci fi about the aliens was a little hand-wavy, and Tom's realizations about his true feelings about Michelle rang pretty false to me. The romantic relationship was also unnecessary.
Love the wackasoo nature of the idea of aliens making first contact through Hollywood agents. The opening author's note is also a fun read if you're not familiar with the origins of this book.
Absolutely worth reading if you like lighter (but not fluffy), emotionally intelligent, human sci fi (or Scalzi of course). Not just another first contact book for sure.
The science part of the sci fi about the aliens was a little hand-wavy, and Tom's realizations about his true feelings about Michelle rang pretty false to me. The romantic relationship was also unnecessary.
Love the wackasoo nature of the idea of aliens making first contact through Hollywood agents. The opening author's note is also a fun read if you're not familiar with the origins of this book.
Absolutely worth reading if you like lighter (but not fluffy), emotionally intelligent, human sci fi (or Scalzi of course). Not just another first contact book for sure.
Enjoyable read about an agent who finds himself trying to represent the a smelly blob alien species to all of Earth. The humor in it keeps the book rolling, working to smooth out the rough spots, but doesn't entirely save it from the really implausible parts (I know, entire plot premise aside, because after all, it is well, aliens); and an entirely too predictable and pat ending.