John Scalzi

Agent to the Stars is a gleeful mash-up of science fiction and Hollywood satire from acclaimed novelist John Scalzi (Old Man's War), a film critic since 1991 and author of The Rough Guide to Science Fiction Film. It's a whole new look at alien encounters -- and a view of Tinseltown you've never seen before.

Agent to the Stars

From New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner, John Scalzi, a gleeful mash-up of science fiction and Hollywood satire The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: They're hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish. So getting humanity's trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal. Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it's quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he's going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster. Other Tor Books The Android’s Dream Agent to the Stars Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded Fuzzy Nation Redshirts 1. Lock In 2. Head On The Interdepency Sequence 1. The Collapsing Empire 2. The Consuming Fire Old Man's War Series 1. Old Man’s War 2. The Ghost Brigades 3. The Last Colony 4. Zoe’s Tale 5. The Human Division 6. The End of All Things

Sarah Sammis

Sitting on the shelf above Shriek in the new science fiction books at my library was Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. What attracted me to it was the retro cover the Tor paperback edition has. What I didn't know is that I was picking up a book with an interesting pedigree. Like the Nancy Drew series, Agent to the Stars has been rewritten to modernize it. At least it was done by the original author and not entirely at the behest of the publisher.

Thomas Stein is mid level agent in Hollywood. He has the usual selection of TV stars and movie starlets, each one requiring special handling. He thinks he has everything under control until his boss calls him in with an extra special assignment: finding a way of selling the Yherajk to Earth.

The Yherajk are an intelligent, peaceful species but they look like newfu (Teen Titans, "Employee of the Month") and they smell like my husband's socks. They have created a half human / half Yherajk who is to work with Thomas Stein to come up with a way to introduce his species to the rest of humanity.

While all this intergalactic stuff is happening, Stein still has his regular clients. Things quickly get complicated.

The rewrites that Scalzi did were to update the jokes to bring the story from the 1990s to the late 2000s. What I enjoyed most was how he captured how the film and television industry works. Pop culture jokes or not, his basic understanding of the Hollywood culture is what makes the novel work.

Agent to the Stars was my introduction to John Scalzi. I have since subscribed to his blog, read a second book and bought a third to read.

Cindy Lieberman

A light comedy about a talent agent who takes on an unusual client (presenting as a smelly lump of goo) with the aim of introducing an alien species to the world, Hollywood style.

Robin M Cabana

This was a really fun book, with an equally fun audiobook performance by Will Wheaton. Early on, Hollywood agents discuss the kinds of aliens in movies - the friendly ones or the scary ones, and Tom Klein, the main character, says the scary ones make the best movies. The unusual, but friendly aliens seeking to befriend the human race in this story prove that theory might be wrong.

Barry Hess

I'm lazy and I like a good pulp science fiction book. Scalzi is my go-to guy for this genre. This was his first book, edited a bit from the original manuscript. I think it shows that it is his first book, but the wit and science (but not _too_ much science) is there. Ultimately each of his books feel like adaptations from a screenplay. It would really surprise me if a bevy of them are not eventually found onscreen.

Dani

I was not expecting to laugh so much, don't know why, though.
I really recommend this light comedy-SF one. :)

Hot Hollywood agent Thomas Stein advocates on behalf of the peace-seeking Yherajk race, but finds his considerable negotiating talents challenged by his efforts to win humanity's trust in the ugly, bad-smelling aliens.

Halsted Mencotti Bernard

The ebook was deeply discounted, and I had enjoyed Scalzi's writing before, so I got it. It was cute and funny, a quick distraction, and I enjoyed it.

Jessica Nottingham

Agent to the Stars was absolutely fabulous! Scalzi has been on my to-read list for ages, but I just never got around to it. So, when the audio of this book popped up on my Audible recommendations, I snagged it without a second thought. It wasn't until I sat to listen to it that I realized that Wil Wheaton was the narrator. WIL WHEATON! Let me tell you, he's the perfect choice for this story. Sarcastic, and brilliant. More on that in a second.
 
I think this was the perfect entry point to the world of Scalzi for me. This book is on the shorter side, but (at least according to my Scalzi addicted friends) still has his trademark sense of humor. I was wholly impressed at how easily he managed to mesh together more serious topics with a dry wit that just made me want to laugh out loud. The concept of aliens coming to Earth isn't anything new. However, the way that it's handled here is definitely outside of what we're used to. It was extremely well done, and hilarious to boot! I fell in love.
 
Now, as a narrator I truly think Wil Wheaton was an excellent choice. He mastered our main character, Tom Stein, immediately. Tom's trademarked dry wit, and no nonsense attitude, came to life in Wheaton's voice. While I admit that Wheaton isn't the best at female voices, he still managed to do justice to all the other supporting characters as well. By the time I reached the middle of this story, Tom WAS Wheaton. Wheaton was Tom. I enjoyed every minute of it.
 
This just makes me want to go hunt down more Scalzi! If you have some free time, give this audio a shot. It's worth your time.

Les Reynolds

Entertaining, a light, funny, and often absurd read.

Melissa Railey

Stefan Ladstätter-Thaa

Claudiu

Tim Pennington-Russell

Scordatura

Magnus Dahl

Ahmed Salem

Natasha Musa

Maggie Gordon

Terry Thomas

Alexander Neumann

Kilian Rüth

From New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner, John Scalzi, a trade paperback repackage of his gleeful mash-up of science fiction and Hollywood satire—now with a new cover and intro! The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: they're hideously ugly and smell like rotting fish. So getting humanity's trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal. Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it's quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he's going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster. Other Tor Books The Android’s Dream Agent to the Stars Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded Fuzzy Nation Redshirts 1. Lock In 2. Head On The Interdepency Sequence 1. The Collapsing Empire 2. The Consuming Fire Old Man's War Series 1. Old Man’s War 2. The Ghost Brigades 3. The Last Colony 4. Zoe’s Tale 5. The Human Division 6. The End of All Things

Agent to the Stars

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