The Dispatcher

Love the concept.
Scalzi made another masterpiece of a world.
And Zachary Quinto is amazing. Who knew he would be so awesome at narration.
As I said, I want more.

IT'S JUST TAX MONEY
1. Those who love Scalzi's sense of humor, need to know that this has none of that.
2. This is dark and serious
3.This has none of the he said, she said, that seems to upset some people.
4. There is not an iota of science in this.
5. This is more of a paranormal, and seems to be a set up for a series similar to Harry Dresden.
5. Nothing is ever explained as far as the phenomenon that leads to dispatchers. Dispatchers kill people just before they die of other causes. This makes them come back alive 999 times out of 1000.
6. It is entertaining and worth your time.
7. narrator is top notch

This is my first outing for this author as sci-fi is a genre I visit only occasionally. This freebie from Audible was a very welcome surprise. The idea of the dead returning to life if their deaths were inflicted by another person is unique and just a bit mind blowing. The first scene in the hospital operating room was gripping, leading seamlessly into the primary action to come. Scalzi also shows that he has put a lot of thought into the social, psychological, ethical and religious ramifications of his concept, and where exploitation of the process can be used to illegally profitable purposes. The writing is crisp, the action moves quickly and the characters are vividly drawn. If this becomes a series I just hope Scalzi can maintain the freshness of his idea and his characters in a format longer than this short story gem.

This written for audio novella is superb. Only one with the imagination of John Scalzi could write such a book. The narration by Zachary Quinto is as good as the content of the novella.

This book was incredible! For a free book and a 2 hour ride this surely will fit perfectly for the part!! Only down side is there wasn't more!!!

Finally a good performance of female characters by a male performer. Almost every male performer gives females the most ridiculous falsetto and intonation. Quinto is calm and sounds like the voice in my head without the strain of most male actors. Plus it was a super fun story, although without Quinto I suspect it would have sucked.

This review will be spoiler free, so I won't mention details (the book is just too short). The "phenomenon" was just plain intriguing. The setup of the story is what got me hooked. Just like it was in the other 4 Scalzi books I've listened to so far (think for example Lock In). The man really knows how to create interesting hooks and build a world and society around it.

This is a serious story, light on the science and thankfully without over the top comic relief (which personally I am not a fan of).

This book is short, and leaves many questions open - but thankfully none about the main plot. It just leaves you wanting to hear more stories from this particular setup, and maybe discover more about the phenomenon.

If you have finished this and liked the general style, give Lock In a try. The setup is obviously a different one, but it comes close in many other aspects.

The only Scalzi I've read is Redshirts, which is a comedy. So this is the first "serious" book of his I've read (heard).

Really clever premise, solidly followed through on. The story starts with one small idea and then wraps a tight mystery plot around it. I really enjoyed the entire ride, and I'm going to be keeping my eye out for such short mystery thrillers.

Zachary Quinto is very good. His dialogue delivery is very engaging. My only quibble is that his voice for the two main characters isn't different enough. So I occasionally lose the thread in a long back and forth dialogue sequence. It's not a big issue, because his accent for them is distinct, but it did make me trip up a couple of times when one character replies with just a single word before the other continues.

Quinto killed it. I am mostly writing this to suggest he gets more narration work.

This was a free download, and I am so glad I actually listened! The story was well written and Zachary Quinto did an amazing job reading it. The only complaint I have is that it was only a couple of hours. I would definitely listen to more and follow the two main characters if it were a series (hint, hint Mr. Scalzi!!).