The Android's Dream

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2006 John Scalzi (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"With plenty of alien gore to satisfy fans of military SF and inventive jabs at pretend patriotism and self-serving civil service, Scalzi delivers an effervescent but intelligent romp." ( Publishers Weekly)

Very enjoyable

i bought this audiobook because i absolutely enjoyed "Agent to the Stars" by same author and narrator and i did not regret that decision for a moment.

It's like if Vonnegut, Gaiman and Pratchett had a child and dropped him on his head a few times, not forceful enough to cause any major damage, but just enough to make even fart jokes compelling and fitting, and i'm really not a huge fan of lowbrow humor.

The novel is delightfully entertaining, plot is well woven, fast paced and action-packed and full of sharp laugh-out-loud humor.

Just like in "Agent to the Stars", Wil Wheaton does a wonderful job reading "The Android's Dream". He makes the characters come alive as you would expect them to be.

Pure Entertainment

Since listening to Agent to the Stars and Fuzzy Nation I have become addicted to Scalzi's humorous and fast paced style. The scenarios are pretty outlandish but he makes them all work. It is science fiction, in the end, and the there are no rules. Wil Wheaton reader and John Scalzi writer are a perfect duo. The Android's Dream and the others I've listened to are pure entertainment. I fully intend to listen to every book John Scalzi writes.

Refresing

Where does The Android's Dream rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

For lighthearted scifi this ranks in the upper 10%

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Android's Dream?

The book has an intelligent plot, with some twists and turns.

Which character – as performed by Wil Wheaton – was your favorite?

The aliens were classic.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh!

Any additional comments?

This is a refreshing light hearted Scifi novel.

How does this guy think this stuff up!!!?

Any additional comments?

This is sci-fi meets political thriller meets satire meets action. Its hard to classifiy this book since there is so much going on. Seriously it would take 4 paragraphs to summarize the plot but here goes my attempt in about 4 sentences. There is a political snafu (a pretty funny one actually) between earth and an interstellar ally (more like "frenemies" than allies here). To make up for this Earth must supply this ally with a sheep - yes a sheep. They need it for their coronation ceremony. If they don't get it then the kingship is up for grabs. Needless to say this rare sheep keeps getting more rare because rivals are killing it faster than anyone can collect one. It turns out the DNA is all that matters and this is where things get wierd - no spoilers but it turns out we CAN find the DNA of one. The difficult part is keeping all the various groups struggling for this DNA from getting their hands on it before the hero can save Earth. Everyone from the interstellar ally rival factions to a religious cult based on this sheep is after it.

This is a pretty fast paced book and I was never board. I was amazed that Scalzi was able to weave so many threads together so tightly and expertly.

Freaky Fun in Outerspace

Wil Wheaton is fantastic as a narrator - his performance alone brings the overall score of this book up to 4 stars. He is the perfect match to John Scalzi's cleverly written comedic action-adventure. This is the kind of book that plays in your brain like a movie - I could easily see this being turned into a script and put on the big screen. The story moves fast and the characters are easy to like - snarky, intelligent, and just plain fun. I really like this lighter version of sci-fi that doesn't require one to have a degree from MIT to follow - I'm sure it breaks a million scientific laws but to me it sounds all perfectly plausible and gets me excited for a future where I could have a monster sidekick to pal around with and to eat annoying people for me. This one is Spaceballs on crack - enjoy!

FUN!!!

If you could sum up The Android's Dream in three words, what would they be?

Starts queer and just gets strangely believable.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Android's Dream?

About the three quarters through when somebody decides to eat their new best friend!!

Which character – as performed by Wil Wheaton – was your favorite?

I like Brian.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Absolutely laugh!!!

Any additional comments?

I just plain enjoyed the feeling of a well told story, well explained and coherent whilst being outrageous, kind of the same feeling seen in The Fifth Element.

surprisingly good

the start was a bit scary and not what I expected, but the longer I listened the better the book got.

A lot of fun to listen too

I really enjoyed this story. It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but it kept a smile on my face as I listened to the story. Scalzi write a fun story and Will Wheaten did a great job giving voice to the characters and some other random accents thrown in for fun. Good science fiction plot, good writing, and good performance.

Really fun book!

As usual Will Wheaton makes this book shine. Fun, good adventure and funny. Easy listening for corona-times.

Witty. Smart. Dynamic. Well performed.

This must be my favorite book by John Scalzi to date (and I have all of them currently available on Audible). It has pretty much every element I was looking for in a sci-fi novel: action, starships, aliens, battles, romance, futuristic technologies, twisted plots, political intrigue, not to mention good humor, and a healthy dose of irony and sarcasm. Wil Wheaton's performance adds an extra dimension to an already great piece of work, elevating it well into the "Awesome!" tier.