Name: Ryan LaFerney's review of Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Item: Fuzzy Nation
Rating: 5
Author: Ryan LaFerney

John Scalzi

From New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner John Scalzi, an extraordinary retelling of the SF classic Little Fuzzy ZaraCorp holds the right to extract unlimited resources from the verdant planet Zarathustra—as long as the planet is certifiably free of native sentients. So when an outback prospector discovers a species of small, appealing bipeds who might well turn out to be intelligent, language-using beings, it's a race to stop the corporation from "eliminating the problem," which is to say, eliminating the Fuzzies—wide-eyed and ridiculously cute small, and furry—who are as much people as we are. 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 At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Fuzzy Nation

Zach Oglesby

Jack Holloway works alone, for reasons he doesn't care to talk about. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorp's headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporation's headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, that's not up for discussion. Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth. But there's another wrinkle to ZaraCorp's relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species. Then a small furry biped--trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute--shows up at Jack's outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp's claim to a planet's worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed...and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the "fuzzys" before their existence becomes more widely known.

Ryan LaFerney

Scalzi describes writing Fuzzy Nation as a “reboot” of the classic 1962 science fiction novel Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. This is a "reboot" in the way J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek films (known as the Kelvin Timeline) introduced a new generation to the franchise featuring Captain Kirk and Spock. Like the 60s and 70s Star Trek, Piper's novel is apparently quite dated. It appears Scalzi's desire was to bring this story to a new, younger group of readers in an updated fashion because although . Fuzzy Nation uses the original plot and characters to tell an original story in a different continuity. Having never read Little Fuzzy, I can't vouch as to whether or not Fuzzy Nation is indeed an improvement but I can say that I certainly enjoyed the heck out of Scalzi's book. 

Fuzzy Nation is a riveting estate-authorized reboot of H. Beam Piper's Hugo-nominated 1962 classic Little Fuzzy, Scalzi changes the hero from a grandfatherly miner to a handsome dude (think Chris Pratt) and updates the plot with new events while retaining the prescient focus on ecological concerns (giving a literary and philosophical nod to Ursula K. Le Guin and her 1976 novel The Word for World is Forest). Disbarred lawyer Jack Holloway (the Chris Pratt like dude), prospecting on Zara XXIII for ZaraCorp, finds an immensely valuable stream of sunstone. But this find pales beside the cuteness of a catlike native biped who shows up at Holloway's house the same day (note: this catlike native biped is, like, the cutest thing ever...and reminded me a lot of ewoks). Holloway forwards footage of the "fuzzies" to a biologist friend, who believes they are sentient—but if they are, Zara XXIII and its sunstone must be abandoned. Soon hired company thugs, murder, and arson happen and we are on course for a strange ecological murder mystery set on a planet in space. All the plot collides in a to a stunning courtroom showdown that felt like Law and Order in space (which was pretty damn awesome). 

Fuzzy Nation is a compassionate, thrilling, and funny science fiction novel. I really enjoyed it. Pick it up if you want a fast paced ecological science fiction novel with some intriguing court room drama.

Cams Campbell

A quick wee enjoyable read, covering some big topics such as racism and egotism. Might be a good one to read with my son (9) on the school run as Wil Wheaton reads it well and there is a lot of dialogue to drive the plot forward, not to mention some pretty decent humour. And who wouldn't love a dog that could set off explosives!

Fraser Simons

DNF’d at 31% of the audiobook. Don’t care about Jack. Don’t care about Isabelle. Don’t care about the weird creatures. Don’t care where this is going.

Ken Gagne

Holloway is a disbarred lawyer working as a freelance surveyor on a corporate-owned planet when he stumbles across two conflicting discoveries: an enormous mineral vein that could make its owner the richest man in the galaxy; and a previously undiscovered native animal that is unsettlingly intelligent.

I enjoyed seeing the layers peeled back from each of these pillars, as neither is what it seems. And watching our hero put the screws to the villains was fun. But Holloway never seemed to be caught off-guard by almost anything; no obstacle he encountered cause any real sense of urgency or distress.

My favorite character? Carl. Everyone loves Carl.

Les Reynolds

A fast, entertaining read, that also manages to challenge our assumptions about what makes someone a person. Midway through I thought I saw where he was going, but was pleasantly surprised.

Zach Oglesby &
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi

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Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi