Mini Book Review – The Kaiju Preservation Society

Recently I have been reading The Kaiju Preservation Society; and it was pretty good! Written by John Scalzi, and published by by Tor Books; The Kaiju Preservation Society is a science fiction book, about a delivery driver who gets a new job, working in an alternate dimension, with some really big creatures! The Kaiju Preservation Society sounds like a large scale book, but it’s actually pretty thin and small. The book does take time to get to the Kaiju, but it all begins with what is quite possibly the most depressing opening chapter ever written! You really do feel bad for the lead character. It’s quite nice early on when you are blockaded by a long list of Monster Movie references, with particular mentions to both Godzilla, and Mothra. Despite the books size though, it can feel like a long read, given the incredibly grotesque visuals. If you are put off by such visual descriptions, you can’t really do a binge read, as you need time to take a break from them all. And even though the books own title refers to ‘Kaiju’s’, the details about them is so surprisingly sparse, requiring a lot of imagination from the reader to create even a simple image of one. It does feel odd calling the book ‘The Kaiju Preservation Society’, especially given the constant parasite talk, it does make you wonder if it really should have been called ‘The Parasite Appreciation Society’ instead? It is a very visually descriptive book, but for the most part, it doesn’t feel like there’s a story, more just a list of things that simply happen, with no real narrative. Yes it builds a world, and populates it with disgusting nightmares, but for quite a while, it doesn’t feel like its actually going anywhere, and as a result, that ending does seem a bit rushed. But, it is a visual treat, and it is more about the visuals than the narrative. So, if you are wanting a grotesque read with lots of Parasite talk, then you can’t go wrong with this one!