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Agent to the Stars Paperback – May 28, 2019

by John Scalzi (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,029 ratings
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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!

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

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Tor Books
  4. Publication date
    May 28, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    5.72 x 0.82 x 8.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1250176514
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1250176516
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Agent to the Stars

"A remarkably intelligent first-contact yarn, this book is absurd, funny, and satirically perceptive." ―Booklist

"Thoughtful and down-to-Earth, Agent to the Stars is a thoroughly enjoyable work, reminiscent of Robert A. Heinlein or Spider Robinson, and a nice change of pace from the less optimistic SF out there." ―SFSite.com

"A humorous read and, because of it’s personable writing style, a book I’d recommend to someone usually intimidated by reading Science Fiction." ―SF Signal

Praise for John Scalzi

"Provocative and unexpected." ―The Wall Street Journal on The Collapsing Empire

"Scalzi continues to be almost insufferably good at his brand of fun but think-y sci-fi adventure." ―Kirkus Reviews on The Collapsing Empire

“John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today.” –Joe Hill

"If anyone stands at the core of the American science fiction tradition at the moment, it is Scalzi."
―The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Third Edition

"Scalzi is a master at creating appealing commercial fiction."
―Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on Lock In

About the Author

JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular SF authors of his generation. His debut, Old Man's War, won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Redshirts (which won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel), The Last Emperox, and 2022's The Kaiju Preservation Society. Material from his blog, Whatever, has earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books; 2nd edition (May 28, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250176514
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250176516
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.72 x 0.82 x 8.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,029 ratings

About the author

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John Scalzi

John Scalzi

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John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you're reading this, makes perfect sense. He's best known for writing science fiction, including the New York Times bestseller "Redshirts," which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word "Whatever" into Google. No, seriously, try it.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
2,029 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Roger
5.0 out of 5 stars His first and best
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2024
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I’ve read a number of his books. Old Man’s War series is very good as is his Locked In books. But without a doubt this is one of his best works. It is fun and the plot moves along well. You will love the main characters and the aliens. Highly recommended.
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Peter Venetoklis
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but could have been better.
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2010
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Agent to the Stars is a fun farce about first contact with an alien race. We start out meeting a junior agent at a powerful talent agency in Los Angeles. He has a handful of B, C and D list clients, one major star, and a very capable assistant. We quickly find out that his boss has been approached by an alien race to manage their "first contact" with humanity, and his boss drops the job on him. The problem, he quickly discovers, is that, while the aliens are friendly, incredibly intelligent, and very evolved morally, they are blobs of goo that communicate via smells, which means they reek. No warm-fuzzy Ewoks or E.T. phone home here. The aliens do, however, speak perfect vernacular English, a result of absorbing all our television and radio transmissions for decades.

The book is great fun, very engaging and a lively read. It is loaded with snarky humor and jokes (some of which work better than others - the humor is a bit uneven), and the plot moves along nicely. The characters are rather one-dimensional, however, and they all have the same sarcastic sense of humor, including the alien liaison to the humans. This wore a bit hollow as I progressed through the book. The aliens also have moral standards that are portrayed as a fundamental outcome of their alien-ness, but come across as very "perfect human." This, too, makes them feel a bit less developed than I might hope. On the other hand, just as I was starting to despair that the conclusion was going to be a contrived let-down, the author surprised me with a final chapter that worked very well.

Obviously, the book is intended as humor/satire, and it succeeds well in that aspect. As a fun read, I highly recommend it. However, I think that there was potential for better, and that more than anything else left me a bit disappointed. Some might call me a bit overly critical of a fun romp of a book, but I see a missed opportunity for something even better.
4 people found this helpful
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Mark E. Shetley
5.0 out of 5 stars Scalzi books are amazing
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2024
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John Scalzi books are funny, thought provoking, sad and absolutely my favorite reads. I try to not read them as fast as I can, but I can't help myself. Agent to the Stars, Redshirt, the Old Man series. All are incredibly fun.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024
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John Scalzi has written another fascinating story. His imagination is incredible but even better is his ability to transfer those thoughts and images to his readers. I could say more but I need to find another of his books to read.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun story
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2022
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I told myself I needed to finish one of my currently reading books before I started another one and Scalzi won the sweeps. It's a popcorn book, with everything and the kitchen sink flying by in the plot, but you don't care because it's clever and fun and secretly meaningful. Cheers, John Scalzi, again.

I started with the audio book with Wil Wheaton, which is excellent, but Scalzi audio books rarely work for my brain, so I had to switch to ebook. But I still heard Wil's voice in my head. He is an excellent narrator.
2 people found this helpful
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Jonathan Laden
3.0 out of 5 stars So easy to read
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2022
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Scalzi makes words flow. The conceit is silly.. The characters could, for the most part, all be the same character, with interchangeable dialogue and snark. But the story’s fun, the action moves, the concept is (very) remotely plausible. It’s worth your time, and great if you’ve been struggling to read weightier tomes.
No, it is never explained what Marlee Maitlin might want corneas for.
One person found this helpful
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Steven M. (AKA Bobby Goliath, comedian)
5.0 out of 5 stars You can't make this... stuff up. Wait, you just did.
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2023
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My reviews are only and always for the authors eyes if they ever read them - and why would they - because other book lovers can see my review thoughts by the tacky yellow stars. Thanks, Mr. Scalzi for another fun ride on such serious genre as Sci-Fi. Not everything in outer space needs a particle beam and another black hole. So, what star system were they from anyways? We should be able to smell it from here.

Write on. Dude!
One person found this helpful
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Oh My Gosh!
5.0 out of 5 stars ... to the Stars (2005) by John Scalzi is a good read. The story is told first person past ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2017
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Agent to the Stars (2005) by John Scalzi is a good read. The story is told first person past tense from Tom Stein’s POV. It reminded me of The Space Merchants (1953) by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, which is told first person past tense from Mitch Courtenay’s POV. The Space Merchants is an environmental satire against consumerism.

Scalzi’s Agent to the Stars is a fast read with a happy ending. Most of the story takes place in L.A, with a few side trips to the alien ship and Arizona. Most of The Space Merchants takes place on earth and the moon.

I’ve read a handful of Scalzi’s other books like Fuzzy Nation (2011), Redshirts (2012), The Human Division (2013), Lock In (2014) and The End of All Things (2015). All of them were good, entertaining.

If you’re going to read one story by John Scalzi, I recommend you read Old Man’s War (2005). It’s one of my top five favorite military science fiction adventure stories. The story is told first person, past tense, from protagonist John Perry’s point of view.

Starship Troopers (1959) (not like the movie) by Robert A. Heinlein is the book that got me started in sci-fi adventures, and has remained one of my top five favorite military science fiction adventure stories for decades. The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman, Armor (1984) by John Steakley, and Ender’s Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card, round out my top five military sci-fi adventure stories.

If you like any of the above you might also like Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series, Taylor Anderson’s Destroyermen series, Andre Norton’s Star Soldiers, Andy Weir’s The Martian, or Frank Herbert’s Dune. Other sci-fi and fantasy authors I like include Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Paolo Bacigalupi, Arthur C. Clarke, Earnest Cline, Suzanne Collins, Abe Evergreen, Terry Goodkind, Hugh Howey, Robert Jordan, George Martin, Larry Niven, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson and J.R.R. Tolkien.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

P J Wheatly-Crowe
5.0 out of 5 stars Agent to the Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 29, 2024
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The variety of concepts and plots the JS comes up with are truly outstanding and amazing. How he comes up with such intriguing, diverse plots is mind boggling.
Such an enjoyable read - I'm devouring JSs books exponentially but am worried that I will soon finish his back catalogue!
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Bug
5.0 out of 5 stars John scalzi never disappoints
Reviewed in Germany on November 14, 2023
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Smart plot idea, wicked sense of humor, excellent writing and, as usual with John Scalzi, the most satisfying finale.
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Gijs van Hesteren
4.0 out of 5 stars A sciencefiction comedy
Reviewed in the Netherlands on June 14, 2023
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This may be the first sf book mr. Scalzi has written, it certainly is a good read. The story is more than unrealistic and inconsistent, but I don't care, I enjoyed it.
Read it if you like hardboiled Californian dialogues, read it if you like comedy, read it if you like the entertainment business, read it to learn about the Holocaust.
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Holly B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
Reviewed in Australia on March 26, 2023
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Smart, funny and a total delight. I love all John Scalzi's books and hope he keeps writing for years to come.
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Judith
5.0 out of 5 stars Read and enjoy - and laugh
Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2015
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Whenever I am depressed with all the grim future sci fi novels out there, I reread Agent to the Stars - it is a complete delight - full of humorous twists (dog lovers especially may get one of them) - and a happy ending. READ IT - and ask Scalzi to write some more happy, positive sci fi - really enjoy all his novels - but would also like a few more in this vein.
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