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Agent to the Stars
97,107 words (273 pages)
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The space-faring Yherajk people have come to Earth to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: They're hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish. Gaining humanity's trust isn't easy when you look like a B-movie terror, and Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal.
Thomas Stein knows all about closing deals -- he's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents, but he's about to learn it's one thing to sell your client when she's a hot young starlet and another thing entirely when your client is an alien species!
Excerpt
is in the meeting?"
"He didn't say," Miranda said.
The second-floor conference room sits adjacent to Carl's office, which is at the smaller end of our agency's vaguely egg-shaped building. The building itself has been written up in Architectural Digest, which described it as a "Four-way collision between Frank Gehry, Le Corbousier, Jay Ward and the salmonella bacteria." It's unfair to the salmonella bacteria. My office is stacked on the larger arc of the egg on the first floor, along with the offices of all the other junior agents. After today, a second-floor, little-arc office was looking somewhat more probable in the future. I was humming the theme to "The Jeffersons" as Miranda and I got to the door of the conference room and walked through.
In the conference room sat Carl, an aquarium, and a lot of empty chairs.
"Tom," said Carl. "Good of you to come."
"Thanks, Carl," I said, "Good of you to have the meeting." I then turned to the table to consider probably the most impo
So you are an alien who is in the form of a gelatenous cube with pseudopods, and communicate by smells that turn the stomach of humans. You want to make friendly contact with the human race. How do you do it? Why hire a Hollywood agent to represent you of course. The harried agent takes the job to be the first to introduce the Yherajk to humans and needs to come up with a really good plan of presentation. The story then takes the reader for a really hilarious ride through scenarios such as the alien befriending and finally inhabiting the agent's neighbor's old dog when it gets a heart attack. And then it gets hired out to be a trained movie dog!
Many yuks at this very bright and light hearted story of first contact. Great fun. Thanks John Scalzi.
I really enjoyed this. It's fast, fun, very well-written and turns all the known sci-fi cliches about aliens on their heads.
I'm always hesitant to explore unknowns like this: an author's first work, self-published, and freely distributed? Sounds a little risky to me. Actually, don't let that push you away. This is a fun book to read, very much worth the time.
Surprisingly funny with some seriously thought provoking moments. I was totally, but positively, surprised
Sorta like a funny science fiction. Well worth reading, especially if you can look at your science fiction as sorta tongue in cheek. I am not a sci-fi fan but I enjoyed the book alot. Recommend it highly!!
In an E-Book-No-Man's-Land like Germany books like Jgrund genugohn Scalzis Agent to the Stars are nearly the only possibility to read contemporary e-books. But fortunately this book isn't only a rare but a excellent way out off the readers desert. Funny, exciting and a lot of words to think about. Sufficient to keep my Sony Reader.
I found this to be a very entertaining title.
A quick read. Good but not great.
I found this book purely by accident; just a random choice.
What amazing fortune! I love Sci Fi, and I thought this book excellent. I haven't laughed at a book, any book, so much for a long time!
There is so much good about it, I could not list, but the slant it takes with First Contact situations was unusual and brilliant.
I was 100% gutted when I got to the last page, could have read on for hours.
Only thing is now, will my luck hold out for the second choice!
Enjoy!
Worth reading, fun and all that.
Besides, it makes a point in a difficult debate: when to stop the intensive care machines? Scalzi's answer is: when you know exactly that the patient does not want to live. We just don't know, at the moment, how to get that answer (not even if the patient is awake, I might add).
This novel is just plain fun. It's not hard sci fi, but who cares? Reminds me of some of Donald Westlake's comedic early novels (e.g., God Save The Mark).
A witty and often hilarious take on First Contact, in which a theatrical agent is given the task of introducing the first representative of a friendly alien species from outer space to the world without setting of a planet-wide panic. Good stuff!
hilarious and thoughtful at times , this book is a great read for lazy summer afternoons.
A quick, amusing read. Fun, but not completely without depth.
Well written entertainment - witty and engaging.
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