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Agent to the Stars
Agent to the Stars
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!
Book Excerpt
're good, you're good.
Chapter Two
I came out of the bathroom with 30 seconds left on the ticker, and started walking briskly towards the conference room. Miranda was trotting immediately behind.
"What's the meeting about?" I asked, nodding to Drew Roberts as I passed his office.
"He didn't say," Miranda said.
"Do we know who else 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
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Seriously good sci-fi isn't meant to be funny!
But this tale breaks that stereotype wide open. Tho I can't help but envisage the lead in the film version being played by Will Smith!
Hat's off! A great tale and interesting angle on 'first contact'
But this tale breaks that stereotype wide open. Tho I can't help but envisage the lead in the film version being played by Will Smith!
Hat's off! A great tale and interesting angle on 'first contact'
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Loved it! This is a great fun read and a new take on the "first contact" theme. Will definitely look out other books by the same author.
04/11/2010
Such an enjoyable book. I loved the author's imagination, his characters, his writing style and his sense of fun. I hope to see another book from him in the future. Well done.
03/27/2010
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.
Many yuks at this very bright and light hearted story of first contact. Great fun. Thanks John Scalzi.
05/06/2009
I really enjoyed this. It's fast, fun, very well-written and turns all the known sci-fi cliches about aliens on their heads.
02/19/2009
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.
12/29/2008
Surprisingly funny with some seriously thought provoking moments. I was totally, but positively, surprised
12/17/2008
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!!
10/05/2008
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.
07/29/2008
I found this to be a very entertaining title.
07/04/2008