Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup post! After the previous three weeks, where I was working my way through a brilliant, but extremely dark, trilogy, I decided to turn to something more lighthearted. My favourite science fiction with humour author is John Scalzi and this is the book that I chose:

Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi is actually a reworking of a much older book, by H Beam Piper, called Little Fuzzy. At some point I intend to read that as well and it will be interesting to compare the two. Anyway, getting back to the point of this post, here is the blurb for Fuzzy Nation:

“Jack Holloway works alone, for reasons he doesn’t care to talk about. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorp’s headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporation’s headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, that’s not up for discussion.

Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth.

But there’s another wrinkle to ZaraCorp’s relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species.

Then a small furry biped—trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute—shows up at Jack’s outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp’s claim to a planet’s worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed…and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the “fuzzys” before their existence becomes more widely known.”

I really enjoyed this book and it had a lovely uplifting effect on my mood! This is my four star review on Goodreads:

Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have probably written this many times before, but I really love John Scalzi’s writing. This is a quick and humorous read which also has a strong message for human beings. Just how would we behave if we could reach other planets? Would human nature rule with us exploiting every resource to make money? I’m sure most of us can answer questions like these.

This is apparently a reboot of a book written in the 1960s. I may try to find that to see what Scalzi added or subtracted from it – could be interesting!

Anyway, once again I will say that Scalzi’s work is well worth reading. Although simple, it is clever and funny and thoughtful. Great stuff!

View all my reviews

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After this book, I chose at random from the library’s ebook catalogue…

On Goodreads, The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel had pretty good ratings and reviews, so I thought that I would give it a go. Well, I got through the first fifty pages and gave up. I just couldn’t get into the plot at all. The only thing that I liked about the book was its cover. In my opinion, life is too short to persevere with a book that you aren’t enjoying!

I chose another book, which I am now half way through and enjoying immensely. What is it? Well, you will have to wait until next week. Or you could just check the sidebar of this blog!

Happy Reading to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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