From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

The Android's Dream

John Scalzi,

Wil Wheaton (Reader)

Start date: January 14, 2015

Finish date: January 28, 2015

Why we're reading this: I listened to this book read by Wil Wheaton. Though it seems... Scattered? It is worth getting through. I…more
[close] I listened to this book read by Wil Wheaton. Though it seems... Scattered? It is worth getting through. I have recently been reading other books by Scalzi, but this was the one that started it.

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Aug 27, 2019 Kristen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, audio-book, 2019

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When one human diplomat kills his alien (Nidu) diplomatic counterpart - by farting him to death - Earth and its more advanced neighboring alien civilizations find themselves on the brink of war. The Nidu government tells Earth that all will be made well again if Earth will supply them with a special variety of sheep the Nidu use exclusively in their inauguration ceremonies. The sheep is called Android’s Dream and it has electric blue wool. The problem is that all such sheep w My Blog | My Twitter

When one human diplomat kills his alien (Nidu) diplomatic counterpart - by farting him to death - Earth and its more advanced neighboring alien civilizations find themselves on the brink of war. The Nidu government tells Earth that all will be made well again if Earth will supply them with a special variety of sheep the Nidu use exclusively in their inauguration ceremonies. The sheep is called Android’s Dream and it has electric blue wool. The problem is that all such sheep were systematically destroyed by a Nidu rival. Only one woman in the galaxy, Robin Baker, has some of the Android’s Dream DNA in her genetic complex, thanks to her sheep/human hybrid biological mother she never knew about. Now, former soldier Harry Creek is tasked with the job of keeping Robin safe and alive, out of enemy Nidu hands as well as those of human agents working to prevent the Nidu coronation at all costs. Helping Creek is an AI he built based on a friend from his days as a soldier, Brian. Also, there’s a bit about the Church of the Evolved Lamb, which its founders cheerfully admit was based on a scam but adherents to the faith are determined to make their prophecies come true anyway.

This was a fun, funny romp through sci-fi, though I admit it is not my favorite Scalzi novel I’ve read. But still, there were a lot of parts that made me laugh out loud and tons of action to keep things interesting. The first chapter is pure adolescent hilarity.

Every time anything about the Church of the Evolved Lamb came up, I cracked up. I could unpack a whole lot of thoughts about what commentary Scalzi might have been making about the religions of the world, but I think I’ll let the name of the church speak for itself. I loved this so much.

I thought maybe the early-middle parts dragged on a little bit, but the action picked up again with the kidnapping attempt and gun fight at the Arlington Mall, and again later during the battle on board the cruise liner. That’s just straight up good fun, that is.
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Nov 13, 2016 Cindy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, science-fiction, 2016

This was a wonderfully wacky read, exactly the antidote I needed to election stress. Wil Wheaton did a great job as a narrator. My only complaint was the sheer amount of profanity in here. If I had been reading it in paper format, it probably wouldn't have bothered me as much. But as an audiobook, it got old really fast. If I hadn't been so into the story I think I would have returned it. ...more

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Jul 09, 2009 Chessa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf_fantasy, comedy

I absolutely loved this book. It was smart, fast-paced, hilarious, full of weird aliens and politicians and generally snarky and wonderful.

Harry Creek is a low-level state department employee who gets the illustrious job of trying to find a genetically-altered (and proprietary) species of sheep called Android's Dream - all in order to avoid an alien-human diplomatic nightmare that would most certainly lead to war. When all the sheep are targeted for death (by those wishing to disrupt the allianc ...more

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Sep 21, 2007 Shelley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

David Hewlett, how are you so awesome?

Man, this book was funny. What's not to love about a political science fiction farce? It was hard to keep characters separate at first - there were a lot of them, with some murky connections. Part of my problem may have been that I kept having to set it down after a few pages to do class reading, and went days between pages. Once I was able to just sit down and read, it went much smoother.

Could have lived without the violent murders, but the humor was great ...more

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Jul 03, 2014 Loretta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, audiobooks

I listened to the audio book ages ago but apparently forgot to record it, possibly because I was on the road at the time. Anyway, this was great fun, interesting characters, fascinating premise. I loved the resolution. Loved.

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