Fuzzy Nation

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, John Scalzi - introduction

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In John Scalzi's re-imagining of H. Beam Piper's 1962 sci-fi classic Little Fuzzy, written with the full cooperation of the Piper Estate, Jack Holloway works alone for reasons he doesn't care to talk about. On the distant planet Zarathustra, Jack is content as an independent contractor for ZaraCorp, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, that's not up for discussion.

Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth.

But there's another wrinkle to ZaraCorp's relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species. Then a small furry biped - trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute - shows up at Jack's outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp's claim to a planet's worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the fuzzys before their existence becomes more widely known.

©2011 John Scalzi (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Science Fiction, 2012

“[Scalzi’s] style and skill make it a highly entertaining read. It succeeds both as a new novel from a talented writer and as a tribute and gateway to Piper’s work.” ( Wired)

"It’s a wonderful book.... [T]he way that Scalzi puts that wonderful novel of Piper’s into a fresher context is cynically lovely.... Year’s best? Yeah, one of them." ( The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“A perfectly executed plot clicks its way to a stunning courtroom showdown in a cathartic finish that will thrill Fuzzy fans old and new.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Fun read [listen], but...

Too many "he said", "she said"s!! Higher quality writing knows more verbs. It's a bit painful when listening, and it's frustrating when otherwise, it's a good story.

Excellent writing with excellent narration

This was the first John Scalzi book I have ever read/listened to, and it was excellent! The writing was superb and it held my interest the whole way through. The narration by Wil Wheaton was excellent, as always. The story itself is heartfelt and engaging. The characters are well fleshed out. An excellent audible title I would recommend to anyone that enjoys Sci-fi novels.

such a great book!!!

Sci-fi at it's very best uses a weird, plausible and interesting future to explore human behavior, emotions, and morality. This book is just such an extraordinary example. READ IT!

fuzzy fuzz

Fun book. Drawing parallels with bad Corp and wacko environmentalists.
Biggest issue was constantly hearing he said, she said, she said, he said.

Good Book, Frustrating Listen

Ok, so the book was good - and the bonus of being able to listen to the original version of the story was just that, a bonus.


But the main purpose of this review is to warn about the character dialog:

As soon as I started listening to this book I remembered why it had been in my wishlist and not in my library.
This book reminded me of another of Scalzi's efforts: "RedShirts" - in which the dialog between characters may drive you to distraction.

"I do" said A.
"What do you do" asked B.
"I do what I want" said A.
"That's not a proper answer" replied B.

The above may be *readable*, but when narrated all of the "he said, she said" stuff gets very old, very quickly.

In the future I may stick to the print/kindle versions of Scalzi's books.

PS: Wil Wheaton, as usual, does an awesome job narrating.

A good, simple sci-fi book

What made the experience of listening to Fuzzy Nation the most enjoyable?

The characters, the humor.

What did you like best about this story?

The politics of the company exploiting the Fuzzy Nation, what allowed them to be able to use the resources, and what would keep a big company from being able to exploit the planet. Very interesting, incredibly easy (and fun, even) to extrapolate to modern events. I also liked the ideas about language.

Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton and John Scalzi (Introduction) ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love all Wil Wheaton's readings, he's by far the reader I listen to most, and often without even realizing it. I've listened to a lot of John Scalzi's as well, and they don't get old, always independently enjoyable.

2 Books for the Price of 1

It was a very pleasant surprise to finish the first file, and start the next file only to have Little Fuzzy by H Beam Piper included. Wil Wheaton's performance of Fuzzy Nation was spectacular as always.

Emotionally satisfying no matter your politics

Yes this is a variation of “bad Corp exploiting helpless natives and damaging the environment” but unlike Avatar it’s got a sense of humor, it’s not politically sanctimonious, and as courtroom dramas go, it’s quit satisfying. It would be fun to have other writers substitute their own main character with a different moral compass and see how differently the story plays out.

I’m still waiting for someone to write a story about an amoral native species who use political manipulation and lawyering in human society to extort billions from business partners, and sew chaos as a prelude to invasion.

Till then, will do.

Fuzzy Nation

Loved the original Fuzzy book & this audio book Fuzzy Nation, too. Recommend to all and wish there were more audiobooks of Fuzzy like this one ... It is the Best !!!

awesome

fuzzy Nation is such an awesome book there are so many things that made the story great I listen to this book over four days and finished it I couldn't stop this thing to it this book deserves to be in everyone's Library