This book by John Scalzi literally starts off with a lot of gas. During trade negotiations between the planets Earth and Nidu, Dirk Moeller of Earth, fitted with a special device from a man known as the Fixer, farts Lars-Win-Getag of Nidu to death! Dirk Moeller, laughing uncontrollably, collapses with a massive heart attack. It seems that the sentient lizard-like creatures of Nidu are smell sensitive and can interpret the meaning of each fart.
The Nidu Ambassador to Earth, Narf-Win-Getag, arrives at the office of the Secretary of State Jim Heffer. The ambassador threatens war with The United Nations of Earth, believing his trade negotiator was smell insulted on purpose. Of the 617 Nations in the Common Confederation, Nidu was only ranked 488th in military power, but unfortunately Earth was ranked 530th, and the Nidu had the Glar Destroyers and the Planet Cracker bombs! Narf-Win-Getag explains that their leader (The Fehen) has died, and his son will be coronated in two weeks. The Nidu need a special breed of sheep for the Coronation, and the breed has been mysteriously wiped out. The demand is simple: Find the electric blue sheep, known as the Android's Dream, for the Coronation, and there will be no war.
This is where our hero, Harry Creek, and heroine, Robin Baker enter the story. Harry, a war hero from the Battle of Pajmhi 12 years ago, is assigned the task of finding the blue sheep. He later enlists the aid of pet shop owner Robin Baker. He also has the help of a dead war veteran, his friend Brian Javna, now a semi-alive computer program in a IBM machine.
The ensuing pages are wrought with many twists and turns along with many questions: Does the Nidu Ambassador really want the sheep found? Is the Secretary of Defense, Bob Pope, on Harry's side? Does Robin Baker have the Android's Dream DNA in her body? Can Harry solve this mystery with so much opposition? You will have to read all 394 delightful pages to find out.
What's unusual about this book is all the interesting side characters. They include the human-eating Takk, the computer geek Archie McClellan and the thug Rod Acuna. If you are a sci-fi fan, this is a must read. Congratulations to John Scalzi for another exciting novel.
RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Scalzi continues to make future technology easy to understand. Many times I've almost put a novel down, because I didn't know what the author was saying. The title is no doubt an reference to Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was made into the classic movie Blade Runner. That book asks what it is to be human, a similar theme that runs through The Android's Dream.
The Android's Dream is a Tor book. You can head over to Tor.com for great articles about John Scalzi and sci-fi in general.
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