I've read all of Scalzi's old man's war series, which are incredible, fantastic books. I wanted to read more of his work so I downloaded and read everything else available. It was all very good. I was hesitant about this one as it seemed kind of out there. But, I ran out of other options as I finished everything else available. So, I gave it a shot. It's a good thing I did! This is an incredibly enjoyable read. Some of the funniest writing I have ever read... I couldn't help laughing out loud (really, not just in the email shortcut sense) even when I was trying to be quiet. Along with the great humor, the book is also packed with characters you come to care about and the story, while initially sounding completely ludicrous (which, it turns out, is part of its charm), takes hold of you and doesn't let go until the very end. Can't recommend this highly enough. And to think he wrote this one to see if he could write... I think the answer is yes...

Scalzi manages that difficult trick of never letting the humor in his books outrun their heart.