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The Kaiju Preservation Society

Questions About The Kaiju Preservation Society

by John Scalzi (Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Author)

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Answered Questions (10)

Is there any LGBTQ+ representation in this book?
Sarah One major nonbinary character and two minor characters (one of whom is trans) in a M/M relationship. It's not that the other characters are explicitly…m´Ç°ù±ðOne major nonbinary character and two minor characters (one of whom is trans) in a M/M relationship. It's not that the other characters are explicitly straight either; everyone is too busy doing science to contemplate romance.(less)
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Did Scalzi leave the protagonist's gender up to the reader again? Because I never got a clear read on Jamie.
Mark Whybird Scalzi said at (written in pseudo-conversation form)

*Can you talk about the thing you did with your protagoni…m´Ç°ù±ðScalzi said at (written in pseudo-conversation form)

*Can you talk about the thing you did with your protagonist?* What thing?

*You know, the thing.* I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.

*(Exasperated sigh) Jamie doesn’t have an obvious gender!* I mean, sometimes people don’t have obvious genders.

*But you know, right?* I don’t! Also, I think it’s fine for people to decide for themselves what gender if any Jaime is; what they decide brings an interesting and personal spin to the book, and I like that. It’s also fun for people to interrogate their own defaults and what they mean for them as a reader and human. As a caveat, I’ll note that since the audiobook is read by Wil Wheaton, people encountering the book in audio may assume Jaime is the same gender as Wil; I would only remind them that Wil also narrated my Interdependency series of audiobooks, where two of the three main characters were women (as was the primary antagonist). Audible pairs Wil with me because, from a sales point of view, people seem to like the match; it’s not a hand tip to the character’s gender.

*You also have clearly trans and/or non-binary characters in Kaiju.* Yup, because I know trans and non-binary people, so I’m reflecting the world I know. Also, given the context of the characters � theater folks, academics, scientists � it makes sense to me for there to be trans and non-binary folks in the story, and for the cis people they know and work with to consider their presence non-controversial and commonplace.

*Not everyone is cool with trans and/or non-binary folks.* They wouldn’t last long in the Kaiju Preservation Society, then. Nor would any other type of obvious bigot, as KPS is clearly a diverse, international organization with no time for that sort of bullshit. It’s my world, I get to write it the way I want it.(less)
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Would this be inappropriate for a 10-year-old reader? I have a son who's a little bit of a reluctant reader, but loves animals of all kinds, even Kaiju.
Richard L.
This answer contains spoilers� (view spoiler)
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"They're the universe's largest and most dangerous panda and they're in trouble." Why is the word panda used in the description, is it used as a term in the book?
Nalice It indeed was a description used in the story. They have something in common that is a big part of the plot.
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Do I have to know anything about Kaiju media to understand this book? I have never seen a Godzilla movie or anything. Does it explain things? Thanks in advance!
Mark Whybird You don’t need to know anything about Godzilla or Kaiju in general. It’s all in the book.

Having said that, here are two extremely broad points to con…m´Ç°ù±ðYou don’t need to know anything about Godzilla or Kaiju in general. It’s all in the book.

Having said that, here are two extremely broad points to contemplate about Kaiju that you probably already knew at some level:

1. They are very, very big animals, about skyscraper sized. This size is physically impossible according to any biology that you or I have ever encountered.
2. The first depictions of them appeared in Japan a bit after World War 2 ended with the first atomic bombs dropped on two Japanese cities. (less)
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