Customer Reviews

Agent to the Stars

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kurt Helm's review: "Agent to the Stars" by John Scalzi

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK unless you have eight uninterrupted hours to devote to having an incredibly good time with characters you'd like to hang out with and a plot that provides one delightful surprise after another!

"Agent to the Stars" is a break from Scalzi's highly acclaimed "Old Man's War" series with a seamless move from military sci-fi to humorous sci-fi. The plot involves a benevolent alien species, the Yherajk, that comes to help mankind. The only problem is that the Yheraji are not likely to be well received by humankind. They are frighteningly repulsive looking blobs of "space phlegm" and their main form of communication is by a variety of smells; very, very bad smells.

Our hero, Thomas Stein, is an up and coming Hollywood talent agent, still a bit low in the pecking order of his agency, who gets picked by his legendary boss to be the one to take on this alien species as their agent. His job is to "sell" these frighteningly alien blobs to the world as benefactors, not as scary invaders. Along the way the author gets to explore Hollywood hype; holocaust issues; friendship and love; family relationships; the high pressure, superficial life of a Hollywood agent; and how to deal with five gallons of rotten-smelling Jell-O slime with a 180 IQ. All of this with the snappiest dialogue since the West Wing TV show went off the air (Aaron Sorkin, eat your heart out!)

The only flaw I could find (and believe me I feel like I am picking fly-specks out of the salt by bringing this up) is that for the first chapter or two I had a little trouble keeping two of the main characters apart because of the similarity of their names (i.e., Miranda and Michelle.)

Overall, Anyone, regardless of his or her interests, who is fascinated by an author's ability to take the same old words we all use and put them together in such a way that we can see time-worn subjects with a fresh new perspective, will enjoy this book. Come to think of it, I don't think of "Agent to the Stars" as a sci-fi book after all. It is first and foremost a can't-put-it-down, funny as heck, read. The sci-fi part is just background, the skeleton upon which all the enchanting flesh of ideas, images and associations is hung.

John Scalzi just keeps on going from Strength to Strength with his books, and Agent to the Stars is no exception in his October 2008 release. What do you do when you are an agent, who is trying to sell the public on an otherwise fine species who just happens to smell really bad and we would find them very ugly.

Scalzi takes on Hollywood and Spin Doctors in this book, as he explores the idea that the public can be sold on anything, if it is done right. This time the Yherajk have come to earth to start off a new friendship with the planet, only rather than being god like or beautiful (or even looking like angels or Satan) the alien race is just not appealing to the human sense of beauty at all. Bring on Thomas Stein who is given the task of spinning humanity and its view point to appreciate and sell the world on the Yherajk. This is not going to be easy.

This is another must read five of five stars book, entertaining, funny, and in line with the Androids Dream, this is another densely packed and vivid story that is easy to follow, laugh at, and understand/feel the people's issues. This is a stay up all night book reading, and well worth spending time with it, totally "sold".

John Scalzi is such a good writer that probably even his grocery lists glow with effortless wit and narrative flow. Scalzi has already left a sizable imprint in the sci-fi world, and I guess AGENT TO THE STARS sort of falls in that genre. Scalzi demonstrates a terrific sense of humor in all his books, but the humor in this one is decidedly more pronounced. There's the precise skewering of Hollywood and a topsy-turvying of that old sci-fi chestnut: first contact with aliens. It's a really fun read.

AGENT TO THE STARS, we learn in the author's foreword, turns out to be Scalzi's "practice novel," the book he wrote to see if he could actually write one. It was first made available for the readers in Scalzi's website and eventually found its way to publication in book format. Except that the guy is so good that it doesn't at all feel like a debut novel.

The Yherajk (*not pronounced "earjack" or "earwax"*) are a friendly lot, a highly advanced alien race, and they'd like to get to know us better. For the past 70 years they've been tapping into Earth's broadcasted signals and have gotten exposed to our television shows. The Yherajk are civilized folks, but they look like gross snotty-looking gunk and they communicate by exchanging seriously foul scents, so they're well aware that humanity's first reaction probably won't be a hug. So what do they do? Do they land in front of the White House? Do they contact Earth's most renowned scientists or the League of Nations? No. They get a Hollywood agent to represent them. Which actually isn't that ridiculous a notion. Who better than a Hollywood agent to convince the masses that $#!+ don't stink? And that smelly sentient blobs may actually be the good guys?

John Scalzi knows how to write sympathetic characters, and when you can make not only a smelly sentient blob but also a Hollywood agent sympathetic, well, then you know you got skills. There's always been a satirical element in Scalzi's humor, and this is never more evident than in this novel. Our central character is glib-talking Tom Stein, a Tinseltown up-and-comer representing a stable of not much. Tom's one A-lister is a 25-year-old starlet who lucked into a B-movie that surprisingly made tons in the box office, and now she thinks she can act. Now she wants the lead in a biopic about an influential Holocaust survivor. The rest of Tom's clientele are no-hopers, but all of them are ambitious dreamers. Then there's that sneaky reporter from a gossip rag who gets a whiff that something big's going on with Tom and starts to hound him.

All that aggravation, though, pales to diddly squat once Tom is hired by the living gooey goop. Now Tom has to introduce the Yherajk to Earth in such a way that Earth welcomes them with open arms or at least with open minds. But how?

I really dig Scalzi's Old Man's War series, but AGENT TO THE STARS is almost as much fun to read. It's definitely a change of pace. It early on establishes a breezy tone and mostly maintains it, only in the end giving way to a show of nicely-handled sentiment. There may have been a suspicious moistness in the eye or a sniffle or two when I read the last two chapters. Never mind that it played out sort of the way I figured it would. It's a very satisfying read; Scalzi keeps things moving, and the Hollywood dialogue rings true (not that I'm an expert, but Scalzi seems to know what he's talking about). And I think it's pretty neat (and very polite) that the Yherajk would actually phone ahead to announce their presence. Even my mom doesn't do that.

First, I'm a Hollywood agent. A small one, heading a voice-over talent agency in LA, but a real one, working with actors and producers every day. So I bought this book on a lark because sci-fi is my favorite genre and I figured I could laugh at the skewed vision the author would bring. Which I did - repeatedly and out loud throughout this very clever, wonderfully witty and oh so droll little gem. Although it was published in 2005, it still reads like today -- no small accomplishment.

But the heart of the pleasure here is the author's insistence on the good in his characters. Agents included. I was also quite surprised to find myself feeling tutored in the finer aspects of agenting; handling clients, sticking to principle, fighting for justice -- sheesh, this guy is the Green Lantern of our set!
Finally, it isn't often you get to meet the kind of aliens you'd really LIKE to, and as corny as it sounds, I was left with a longing to be there when that day comes. In the meantime, Scalzi paints us a rare and lovely picture, filled with very real Hollywood types, a compelling and crafty story and a wheelbarrow of absurdities and interchanges that kept me waking my wife with gaffaws night after night.

I'd never heard of John Scalzi before seeing this book on a shelf. Probably as I'm no huge science fiction reader. I do however love humorous fiction and that's what appealed to me about this book, from the quote on the cover saying if "Steven King wrote Science Fiction (author of quote obviously hasn't read much of King as he has written a ton of science fiction), he'd be lucky to be half as entertaining as John Scalzi." An entertaining is an understatement for this debut novel.

This book is hilarious at times and just plain clever during the rest of the pages. The alien interaction stuff isn't where the masterpiece status lies, that comes from the Hollywood agent interactions with journalists, clients and studio heavyweights by the quick minded and witty main character Tom Stein. His interactions with a hot but self centred upherself singer named Tea Reader was nothing short of brilliant writing. Of course the main part of the plot revolves around Tom Stein being assigned by his boss who was visited by an alien representative of the alien race Yherajk, to be the public relations arm and agent for their revelation to the people of earth that we are not alone. Be an easy job you'd think, but no unfortunately these aren't the cutest creatures in the universe, they've seen through what satellites have beamed into space how movies have made aliens who look like them to always be evil aliens and know they can't just land and present themselves straight up. They also communicate through disgusting smells (although some can speak English too learnt from watching our TV and movies). The Yherajk will be Stein's biggest ever client, the fate of a whole alien species lies in his hands.

If you're getting the 2008 edition which is the one with cover quote about King on it and the black and red UFOs with the title words inside them it comes with the nice bonus inside the author's note and Acknowledgements where he explains how he came to write Agent to the Stars to see if he could write a novel, never expected it to be published and was content back in 1991 to post it on his website as shareware asking for $1 as a donation if anyone was pleased enough with it to do so. He also explains how it was first published in 2005 Amazon acutally sells the original version too and how in 2008 he updated a few cultural references for this mass market publishing edition.

Agent to the Stars is a fun farce about first contact with an alien race. We start out meeting a junior agent at a powerful talent agency in Los Angeles. He has a handful of B, C and D list clients, one major star, and a very capable assistant. We quickly find out that his boss has been approached by an alien race to manage their "first contact" with humanity, and his boss drops the job on him. The problem, he quickly discovers, is that, while the aliens are friendly, incredibly intelligent, and very evolved morally, they are blobs of goo that communicate via smells, which means they reek. No warm-fuzzy Ewoks or E.T. phone home here. The aliens do, however, speak perfect vernacular English, a result of absorbing all our television and radio transmissions for decades.

The book is great fun, very engaging and a lively read. It is loaded with snarky humor and jokes (some of which work better than others - the humor is a bit uneven), and the plot moves along nicely. The characters are rather one-dimensional, however, and they all have the same sarcastic sense of humor, including the alien liaison to the humans. This wore a bit hollow as I progressed through the book. The aliens also have moral standards that are portrayed as a fundamental outcome of their alien-ness, but come across as very "perfect human." This, too, makes them feel a bit less developed than I might hope. On the other hand, just as I was starting to despair that the conclusion was going to be a contrived let-down, the author surprised me with a final chapter that worked very well.

Obviously, the book is intended as humor/satire, and it succeeds well in that aspect. As a fun read, I highly recommend it. However, I think that there was potential for better, and that more than anything else left me a bit disappointed. Some might call me a bit overly critical of a fun romp of a book, but I see a missed opportunity for something even better.

This was the 4th Scalzi book I've read and enjoyed. This is not hardcore science fiction like Old Man's War. It's a light farce in a sci fi setting, as was The Android's Dream. The writing is smooth and engaging, the characters are very likeable. As everyone says, it's a fast easy read.

Recipe for a John Scalzi novel

Take the sharp sci/fy wit of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,
Simmer for 15 min on low,
Stir occasionally,
Add 20 CCs of Neil Gaiman's creativity (its powerful stuff),
Add sweet cream to lighten (plain yogurt will do to avoid sugar),
Take the literary mastery of George R R Martin and grind to release essential oils,
Add slowly while stirring,
Lastly add two parts triple distilled, charcoal filtered, crazy awesomeness,
Put mix in a blender with ice,
Blend until smooth,
Pour into a mojito glass, garnish with sprig of spearmint,
Serve and enjoy.

WARNING: Imbibe only one John Scalzi novel at a time and make sure to have enough time to finish it all because you will not want to put it down.
Peace.

Although relatively young compared to his envious peers, Hollywood agent Tom Stein is the top gun in his vocation at this moment. His confidence is extremely high that he can sell anyone. His newest star literally comes from the stars. He will represent the sentient alien Yherajk as they make their first appearance on the earth stage.

However selling the Yherajk to xenophobics will be difficult as the Yherajk are not what humans would call centerfold material. Instead they are gelatin gels with a distinct odor that makes a spraying skunk smell nice. However Tom is confident he can sell his new client to humans though he understands the issues he and Yherajk face.

Although he leaves the military science fiction sector (see THE ANDROID'S DREAM and the OLD MAN'S WAR), John Scalzi continues his specialty of lampooning icons; this time Hollywood and spin doctors. The story line is amusing as Tom adheres to the Barnum-Bush capitalist theory that you can sell to the American people anything. Fans who enjoy a lighthearted first contact satire will relish the selling of a species that smell worse than fish rotting.

Harriet Klausner

I very much enjoyed the Old Man's War trilogy, and The Android's Dream, so I looked forward to reading this work. Regretfully I feel it fell far from some of his other books. It may appeal to some, but for me it lacked that energetic flow of his other works. This one tended to be somewhat boring and slow. It had hints of the quirkyness of Scalzi but there were painful pop-culture references that smacked of fan fiction rather than a seasoned writer. If you're dedicated to reading everything Scalzi has produced, go for it, its not un-readable or even un-enjoyable to some extent. Personally I'd opt for a re-read of some of his other work.