The Android's Dream
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...
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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.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780765348289 (0765348284)
ASIN: 765348284
Publish date: October 30th 2007
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Pages no: 394
Edition language: English
A sputtering start (two protagonists introduced and killed off inside 50p) gives way to a servicable, somewhat (absurdly) humourous 'friller that will at least keep the pages turning. Some of it is surprising, some of it predictable and the exposition could be handled better, but if you liked Redshi...
I should have reviewed this right after I finished listening to it, but I just wanted to move on to something else. My memories of certain details may be a bit fuzzy, but I'll do the best I can.The story: A human diplomat figures out how to use his own farts to get revenge against the Nidu diplomat ...
I listened to Will Wheaton's audiobook performance of this one, rather than reading it, and I'd recommend it mainly as pleasant background noise; it's entertaining, but a bit on the formulaic side.
The beginning of the story begins with a man named Dirk Moeller using an apparatus to allow him to pass gas at an alien species called The Nidu and insult a trade delegate that is Nidu enough to bring about an international incident with this species and Earth.Through a lot of political maneuvering ...
This started off like one of R.A. Lafferty's Retief novels, but then switched gear to a more conventional save-the-planet thriller. It's not quite a comedy, but there is some sassy banter between the leads, Harry and Robin, that sets a lighter tone. Scalzi has fun with his competing agencies (modell...