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beccastareyesSo, I've reviewed Fuzzy Nation before, but I just reread it. Or thought I reviewed it before, but heck if I can actually find that entry, despite looking for two hours. (Whoops.)
Fuzzy Nation is what John Scalzi calls a 'reboot' of H Beam Piper's book, Little Fuzzy. Basically Scalzi took the initial premise of Piper's book and told it his way, and figured it would be more intellectually honest to ask Piper's estate if he could publish this rather than scrubbing the serial numbers off. I haven't read Little Fuzzy, so I'm working from what I think of Scalzi's writing.
So, Our Hero Jack Holloway, is a disbarred lawyer turned prospector and a Grade A Asshole. Jack was disbarred for punching his client because it caused a mistrial, and lied that his ex, the company biologist, was making up stories when she told company officials that he trained his dog to detonate explosives when he was brought under inquiry.
So, two things happen to Jack that make his life complicated: he discovers the motherlode of gemstones that will make him and ZaraCorp (the mining company that he's freelancing for) wealthy beyond avarice. He also discovers a very intelligent animal that no one has seen before that had broken into his house via the skylight. An intelligent animal that invites its family to move in. He shows his ex-the-biologist, thinking that she'd think it was pretty cool, and she starts making noise that 'shit, what if these critters are people?' after she sees their behavior. Legally she's required to report something like that. And that puts Jack in a bind, because if the planet they're on is a person's home, even if its a cute and fuzzy alien-type person, well, human law says that outside interests go bye-bye.
And, while Jack is a Grade A Asshole, he likes the Fuzzy family. Moreover, there are plenty of other Grade A Assholes in ZaraCorp who would like the problem of 'what if these 'fuzzies' are sentient' to go away, and don't mind taking steps to make sure that happens.
So, there are lots of things I like about this book, beside that Scalzi has a wonderful and hilarious style. A lot of it is that Scalzi takes an approach I don't think Hollywood would, even though the basic story is pretty simple: disaffected hero, ragtag band of friends and cute, primitive aliens versus soulless anti-environmental corporation. You might remember that this is the basic plot of Avatar, as well as plenty of other things I've read.
But two things happen. First, Jack does not get back together with his ex. They come to terms, but she happily marries her current boyfriend the lawyer, and Jack doesn't get a romance plot.
The second is a bit easier to explain. In Avatar Jake Sully basically out-Na'vi-s the Na'vi. Heck, I'm not entirely certain that the movie couldn't be told with one of the Na'vi taking a lot of Jake's role and the human science team providing technical assists. Which comes off as 'poor aliens needing a human to save them' despite the fact the human does so using methods they have access to.
Jack saves the fuzzies by being a lawyer and an asshole. And the fuzzies help save themselves: they pick Jack out by watching him with his dog and send one member in to get the lay of the land. When Jack looks safe, the member (Papa Fuzzy -- his real name can't even be heard by human ears, let alone pronounced) brings in his family as the next test. Jack doesn't meet the fuzzies beyond Papa's family until right before the climax, where they finally reveal the bit that lets Jack save the day and bring the bad guys to justice.
And here I'm going to spoil things mercilessly.
Jack mentions that a prospector that worked near him was rumored to learning software on his portable computer because he was functionally illiterate. That prospector got eaten by predators. At the reveal of the book, the fuzzies are discovered to have taken the portable computer. It was solar powered and the programming on the software was 'smart' enough to adapt to learning levels and also talked… and the fuzzies were smart enough to use it to learn to understand and read very basic English. Moreover, a few could speak low enough for humans to hear them. One of them (Papa Fuzzy) was chosen to investigate Jack and see if he was a good sort of person or a bad sort to help them deal with the mining in their home. So Papa was kind of playing Jack by pretending he couldn't understand what Jack was talking about, and only revealed himself after corporate goons killed his child and his child's future mate trying to set fire to Jack's house. Jack's understandable grief and anger at someone who would kill children, even alien children, was enough to convince Papa that it was time Jack knew everything.
And then Papa testified at the arson trial, which became a murder trial and proved that his people had a right to their own planet because they were people. It makes the story a lot more Erin Brockovich than Avatar because Jack's roles isn't Great Human Savior of Primitive Aliens but Legal Consultant. And it also gives the fuzzies a direct voice in what they want and what they feel. Which I appreciate.
Fuzzy Nation is what John Scalzi calls a 'reboot' of H Beam Piper's book, Little Fuzzy. Basically Scalzi took the initial premise of Piper's book and told it his way, and figured it would be more intellectually honest to ask Piper's estate if he could publish this rather than scrubbing the serial numbers off. I haven't read Little Fuzzy, so I'm working from what I think of Scalzi's writing.
So, Our Hero Jack Holloway, is a disbarred lawyer turned prospector and a Grade A Asshole. Jack was disbarred for punching his client because it caused a mistrial, and lied that his ex, the company biologist, was making up stories when she told company officials that he trained his dog to detonate explosives when he was brought under inquiry.
So, two things happen to Jack that make his life complicated: he discovers the motherlode of gemstones that will make him and ZaraCorp (the mining company that he's freelancing for) wealthy beyond avarice. He also discovers a very intelligent animal that no one has seen before that had broken into his house via the skylight. An intelligent animal that invites its family to move in. He shows his ex-the-biologist, thinking that she'd think it was pretty cool, and she starts making noise that 'shit, what if these critters are people?' after she sees their behavior. Legally she's required to report something like that. And that puts Jack in a bind, because if the planet they're on is a person's home, even if its a cute and fuzzy alien-type person, well, human law says that outside interests go bye-bye.
And, while Jack is a Grade A Asshole, he likes the Fuzzy family. Moreover, there are plenty of other Grade A Assholes in ZaraCorp who would like the problem of 'what if these 'fuzzies' are sentient' to go away, and don't mind taking steps to make sure that happens.
So, there are lots of things I like about this book, beside that Scalzi has a wonderful and hilarious style. A lot of it is that Scalzi takes an approach I don't think Hollywood would, even though the basic story is pretty simple: disaffected hero, ragtag band of friends and cute, primitive aliens versus soulless anti-environmental corporation. You might remember that this is the basic plot of Avatar, as well as plenty of other things I've read.
But two things happen. First, Jack does not get back together with his ex. They come to terms, but she happily marries her current boyfriend the lawyer, and Jack doesn't get a romance plot.
The second is a bit easier to explain. In Avatar Jake Sully basically out-Na'vi-s the Na'vi. Heck, I'm not entirely certain that the movie couldn't be told with one of the Na'vi taking a lot of Jake's role and the human science team providing technical assists. Which comes off as 'poor aliens needing a human to save them' despite the fact the human does so using methods they have access to.
Jack saves the fuzzies by being a lawyer and an asshole. And the fuzzies help save themselves: they pick Jack out by watching him with his dog and send one member in to get the lay of the land. When Jack looks safe, the member (Papa Fuzzy -- his real name can't even be heard by human ears, let alone pronounced) brings in his family as the next test. Jack doesn't meet the fuzzies beyond Papa's family until right before the climax, where they finally reveal the bit that lets Jack save the day and bring the bad guys to justice.
And here I'm going to spoil things mercilessly.
Jack mentions that a prospector that worked near him was rumored to learning software on his portable computer because he was functionally illiterate. That prospector got eaten by predators. At the reveal of the book, the fuzzies are discovered to have taken the portable computer. It was solar powered and the programming on the software was 'smart' enough to adapt to learning levels and also talked… and the fuzzies were smart enough to use it to learn to understand and read very basic English. Moreover, a few could speak low enough for humans to hear them. One of them (Papa Fuzzy) was chosen to investigate Jack and see if he was a good sort of person or a bad sort to help them deal with the mining in their home. So Papa was kind of playing Jack by pretending he couldn't understand what Jack was talking about, and only revealed himself after corporate goons killed his child and his child's future mate trying to set fire to Jack's house. Jack's understandable grief and anger at someone who would kill children, even alien children, was enough to convince Papa that it was time Jack knew everything.
And then Papa testified at the arson trial, which became a murder trial and proved that his people had a right to their own planet because they were people. It makes the story a lot more Erin Brockovich than Avatar because Jack's roles isn't Great Human Savior of Primitive Aliens but Legal Consultant. And it also gives the fuzzies a direct voice in what they want and what they feel. Which I appreciate.
