Agent to the Stars

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: They're hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish. So getting humanity's trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal. Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it's quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he's going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster.

©2005 John Scalzi (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Narrator Wil Wheaton animates the slapstick text with a tone that is appropriate for the story of a young Tinsel Town agent whose other clients are either equally deranged or aren't making him much money.” ( AudioFile)

Entertaining

Great light hearted listen, exceptionally witty in places and just a general feel good book.

ridiculous plot but good listening fun

enjoyed the oersonalites so so so aa aa aa bb bb bb vv cc xx

Intelligent speculative fiction

I’m a big Scalzi fan, and Wil Wheaton does a great job of reading this story. An interesting take on a first contact scenario that I enjoyed.

Brief and wonderful

Lots packed into a small story. It's clear Scalzi knows his material, and the reflection behind the plot is believable. Quick characters are still fleshed out, and Wheaton's performance is, as usual, exact. Funny, touching, and human, I laughed out loud while listening to this book biking. Got some good looks from passing motorists!

Generally enjoyable

Very good narration. Overall a good story. A bit slow at times. Worth the read. Would try this author again.

PR for good aliens

How do you get people to accept nice aliens that come to earth? Get them an agent!

The story was great and Wil Wheaton made it excellent! I'll definitely give it a second listen.

Funny and enjoyable

Any additional comments?

I only got this book because Wil Wheaton was the narrator and I'm a big fan. His performance did not disappoint. The plot summary looked pretty stupid to me, but I'm so glad I listened. I'll definitely be reading more Scalzi books. He had me laughing at loud at points. This is one book where the writing and characters really make the story.

Much more than an alien visiting Earth story

I bought this book quite a while ago and then procrastinated about listening to it. The subject interested me but I still hesitated. After finally starting the book I had a hard time stopping. It was a great book with well developed characters who really changed from the beginning if the book to the end.

The aliens were polite and very funny. Characters that seemed like villains were transformed into if not heroes then at least better people than they had been. It was funny thought provoking sad and very engrossing.

Great Narrator, Average Story

I decided to split the difference for my overall rating. Wheaton's voice work was great and several times he had me laughing out loud in public. He really did a good job giving every character a unique voice so you can always tell what character is talking. He was great. The story is pretty average. I think if I'd been reading it myself, I probably wouldn't have finished it. One small point that bugged me as a historian was the total misrepresentation of what it meant to be in the Judenrat. I think Scalzi should really have done some more research. The book presents a very old historiographical viewpoint that Trunk shattered in the 1970s with his still very relevant work entitled Judenrat. This is, of course, a very minor point in the story but it bothered me quite a bit. I'm sure most people would have overlooked it.

Frickin frackon Woot performance.

Really fun and fast paced listen. Will Wheaton does a great job narrating worth the listen.