The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Published by Tor Books on March 15, 2022

John Scalzi spent two months of his pandemic knocking out an amusing novel. When he’s being serious, Scalzi can be an incredibly moving writer. Even when he knocks out a two-month pandemic wonder that is written for laughs, he’s a good storyteller who makes me smile.

Jamie Gray has a tech job for a niche startup that competes with food delivery apps like Uber Eats. After he’s fired, he signs up to make deliveries because there aren’t many jobs available during the pandemic. After making several deliveries to a customer who has sympathy for Jamie’s situation, the customer offers Jamie a job. His new job, as he frequently explains, is to lift things.

Until he arrives in Greenland, Jamie doesn’t realize that he will be working in another universe. It’s possible to cross into that universe (and for very large and nasty creatures called kaiju to cross into ours) when the dimensional barrier is weakened by nuclear explosions. Unfortunately, the radiation from those explosions attracts the kaiju, who are basically powered by their own naturally occurring nuclear reactors.

The kaiju are not so much animals as ecosystems. They maintain symbiotic relationships with parasites that keep them from exploding like a nuclear bomb. Every now and then, their system breaks down and the kaiju die a spectacular death.

Most people don’t know about this alternative universe, although rich people are in on the secret because they’re helping the government fund its study. Jamie’s team is one of three that periodically enter the universe through the Greenland portal. Most of his colleagues are scientists but they still need someone to lift things.

Scalzi explains enough of the science underlying the alternate Earth to fool me (a nonscientist) into believing that the story is plausible. That’s all the science I need in a story that is meant to amuse.The plot sets up a rich guy as an evil nemesis of Jamie. Naturally, the evil rich guy embarks on an evil scheme and it will be up to Jamie (and a few other characters) to thwart him.

This is primarily a science fiction conspiracy thriller with enough action to justify calling it a thriller despite its failure to thrill. The plot doesn’t hold any real surprises, but the characters’ banter is … amusing. Scalzi fans presumably understand how his characters  engage in good-natured banter. The banter is probably enough to keep them happy until Scalzi turns his attention to more serious work.

RECOMMENDED