The Android's Dream

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

A human diplomat creates an interstellar incident when he kills an alien diplomat in a most unusual way. To avoid war, Earth's government must find an equally unusual object: A type of sheep ("The Android's Dream"), used in the alien race's coronation ceremony.

To find the sheep, the government turns to Harry Creek, ex-cop, war hero and hacker extraordinaire, who with the help of Brian Javna, a childhood friend turned artificial intelligence, scours the earth looking for the rare creature. And they find it, in the unknowing form of Robin Baker, pet store owner, whose genes contain traces of the sheep DNA. But there are others with plans for the sheep as well: Mercenaries employed by the military. Adherents of a secret religion based on the writings of a 21st century science-fiction author. And alien races, eager to start a revolution on their home world and a war on Earth.

To keep our planet from being enslaved, Harry will have to pull off the greatest diplomatic coup in history, a grand gambit that will take him from the halls of power to the lava-strewn battlefields of alien worlds. There's only one chance to get it right, to save the life of Robin Baker - and to protect the future of humanity.

©2006 John Scalzi (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"With plenty of alien gore to satisfy fans of military SF and inventive jabs at pretend patriotism and self-serving civil service, Scalzi delivers an effervescent but intelligent romp." ( Publishers Weekly)

A Knockout from the duo of Scalzi + Wheaton

Wil Wheaton and John Scalzi were made for each other. No, not that way, you twisted people, but artistically.

I am a fan of Mr. Scalzi's works, with the occasional misgiving over the frequency of profanity; I would not hand a Scalzi work to a child, but a teenager I would have less issues. He has excellent pacing, his stories gleefully dance down a plotline with the sporadic hard twists and turns, and humor abounds even while a serious story is laid down.

I have now heard three of Scalzi's works narrated by Mr. Wheaton, and his voice fits the tone of the books like that oft mentioned glove. So perfect is the match between authorial voice and narrated voice, I find myself hearing Wheaton's delivery even while reading Scalzi's Whatever blog. Scary, eh?

I've listened to this one twice now. I think I'll have a third helping.

.....Sci-Fi Fun With Annoying Dialog Scenes.....

This was my first taste of John Scalzi. I heard that he is one of the most popular Science Fiction writers in the realm of Sci-Fi fandom. A quick search revealed that he is a very popular blogger who made good becoming a successful published writer. Listening to this book it is clear that he understands the SF world inside and out. It is nice to get all the insider jokes and well loved SF tropes. His sense of humor is much appreciated. It is clear that tongue-in-cheek is standard operating procedure for Scalzi. I like that.

That said, there is an element of this book that almost caused me to bail. The numerous reviews mentioning the obnoxious repetition of “he said,” “she said” is truly annoying. The repeated use of these dialog identifiers as first seems to be just a beginner’s mistake. Such markers are easy to ignore visually when reading a book in print, but with a narrator charged with speaking every word on the printed page the listener is forced to endure every “he said” until it becomes a dreaded anticipation, like waiting for that pesky mosquito to lite on your leg again after shooing it away for the umpteenth time.

After listening to this book I decided to try another Scalzi book, AGENT TO THE STARS and am pleased to report that no such overuse of “he said,” “she said” is present in that book. This begs the question: Is Scalzi just playing with his audience? From listening to that second book it is clear that Scalzi knows how to write dialog with a minimum of character identifiers, so why all the “he said,” “she said” repetitions here?

Fortunately the wonderfully sarcastic Wil Wheaton is the narrator. When voicing these “he said,” “she said” sections Wheaton lilts his voice to emphasize each one in just the right way as if to say, “I get it. This is really annoying.” Half way into the book I began to look forward to hearing Wheaton speak my frustration. He makes these awkward dialog scenes into an ongoing joke. If the story had been less interesting I would have abandoned the book long before the end, but I realized that I liked Scalzi’s plot construction, and proliferation of SF ideas. If you are new to Scalzi, I don’t recommend listening to this book first. The dialog will likely put you off, and that would be a shame. Try AGENT TO THE STARS for a better example of what he is capable of. But do return to this one if you can handle brushing away those pesky mosquitoes.

Such fun!

Would you listen to The Android's Dream again? Why?

I don't know that I'd listen to it again, but if I did, I'd enjoy it. John Scalzi is funny, and his books are always the audio equivalent of page turners. I found myself making my daily walks longer just to listen more.

What other book might you compare The Android's Dream to and why?

I guess his books are a combination of page-turner-thrillers, hard sci fi and the kind of humor that the Brits (Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams) usually do best. Word play and genre play but with stories that hook you in.

Which character – as performed by Wil Wheaton – was your favorite?

I can't really single out one -- his Robin was great and his Harry too, but he also did a great job with the alien Tak (no idea how to spell it) who sounded like a naive teenager even though he was a big scary person-eating alient.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not a lot of sentimentality in this book, but having the brothers (one computer, one human) meet at the end worked for me.

Any additional comments?

A great time was had by all!

Aliens, Sheep, Action!

This was my first novel by John Scalzi and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wil Wheaton does a great job reading it. This science fiction novel is a dryly funny, action-packed story of intercultural politics. Worth a listen

Scalzi-Wheaton Can't Be Beat

I've now listened to all of John Scalzi's novels that are narrated by Wil Wheaton. This is the only one I've listened to after reading the print edition. I would give the print edition the same four stars for being a humorous science fiction tale that hits a number of bulls-eyes, as fun and funny as much of Scalzi's work. But the audio edition is better. And that's because of Wil Wheaton's narration. This type of book is by definition going to be better in audio if the narrator gets his comic timing down, and Wil Wheaton never fails to deliver. I look forward to the continuing Scalzi-Wheaton collaboration.

In Android'd Dream, Scalzi transposes present-day Washingtonian politics, world diplomacy, crackpot religion, and hacker technology into a future where Earth as a planet is a U.S.-style democracy that exists in an interplanetary setting filled with extraterrestrial cultures. It provides a recognizable context to that future, while at the same time using that imagined future to comment comically on our current way of doing things.

I especially like the sections where Scalzi explains what things are like in the future and how they got that way -- how Creek sets up his intelligent agent computer system, how the Nidu and UNE stack up militarily, how the Scientology-like Church of the Evolved Lamb came into being. That's where Sclazi gets to be at his funniest and where Wheaton's narration works best. And of course there is the now famous (as well as infamous) opening scene in which a mid-level trade negotiator enrages an extraterrestrial diplomat via flatulence. Hilarious!

Although the title is a direct nod to P.K. Dick's best known book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the basis for the movie Blade Runner), and there is one mention of it again within the book, the story otherwise has nothing whatsoever to do with PKD or his novel. If that's what you're looking for, it's not here, not beyond the homage in the title.

Really starting to like John Scalzi

This is the second book I've read from J. Scalzi. I have enjoyed both. Irreverent, funny, and good story telling.

What an imagination!

I'm so glad I discovered John Scalzi. His books are always so interesting. If you like sci-fi I highly recommend this one.

Will Wheaton is one of my favorite narrators. He's quick and does a great job with the various characters.

Great story

Would you listen to The Android's Dream again? Why?

No, only because I listened once and there is so much more to listen to

What other book might you compare The Android's Dream to and why?

NA

Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

NA

Any additional comments?

Funny and fast paced book. Really kept my attention and I could not wait to here what would happen next.

Started slow, picked up, ended awesome

I stopped listening after about 2 hours in. Left the book alone for 2 months cause I just wasn't in to it. Came back because I was bored. At 2.1 hours in, the hooks set and I was intrigued. Finished the rest in 2 days. Awesome book. Don't know why I doubted it for a second. Scalzi and Weston: win every time. Get it!

Laugh out loud funny Intergalactic espionage.

Assassination by fart. That's really all you need to start this kind of story and it sure does deliver.