On the HahaFiction shelf
The Android's Dream
Audiobook available · 10 hr 35 min
Harry Creek has to find a sheep before Earth loses its freedom. After a fatal diplomatic encounter, an alien coronation requires a rare breed that humans must supply. Mercenaries, a cult and rival alien interests make a difficult search more dangerous.
From the publisher’s blurb
“There’ll only be one chance to save the life of the sheep – and ensure the future of humanity.”Read the full description at Tor / Pan Macmillan
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What makes it funny?
The opening gives interstellar diplomacy a very literal odor problem. Dirk Moeller uses engineered flatulence to insult aliens who communicate status through scent. Even a book-group reader who generally wasn’t keen on Scalzi singles this novel out for its humor.
The comedy at work
Scalzi explains the gas-emitting device with the attention a harder SF novel might give a spacecraft. The official business stays solemn while the reader knows what is happening under the table. Elsewhere, the satire takes in patriotic posturing and a religious movement founded by a science fiction writer.
Try this if…
A prospect for readers who like political maneuvering and action with their science fiction comedy. Book-group discussions recommend it alongside Redshirts, though the toilet humor here is worth taking into account.
Good to know
The first chapter contains strong language and sexual references as well as the extended flatulence joke. The action also includes alien gore.
A few distinguishing details
- A coronation sheep determines humanity’s future
- Alien etiquette makes a bodily function a diplomatic weapon
More funny space opera
Sources & further reading
- Apple Books lists The Android's Dream (Unabridged) by John Scalzi with a length of 10:35.
Book information
- Pan Macmillan lists The Android's Dream by John Scalzi as a paperback, ISBN 9781529087499, with 400 pages.
Publisher
- Publishers Weekly review: The Android’s Dream
Review
- Tor: The Android’s Dream
Publisher
- John Scalzi: The Android’s Dream, chapter one
Reading sample
- Reader discussion: The Android’s Dream
Reader discussion
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