I absolutely loved Constituent Service by John Scalzi. It was an irresistibly fun, fast-paced sci-fi novella that had me grinning the entire time. In this audio-exclusive novella, we follow Ashley Perrin, a recent college grad who’s just started her job as a community liaison in the Third District—the only part of the city where aliens outnumber humans. Her first week is total chaos: noise complaints from Lupidian parades, alien hornets threatening public safety, a lawsuit involving a chicken, and the looming horror of office karaoke night. Oh, and there’s the minor matter of saving the city from interspecies disaster.
The narration and the story are both completely entertaining. I only wish it had been longer. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Ashley, the aliens, or Scalzi’s razor-sharp wit. Now I have to listen to An Election because I need more of this absurd, hilarious world. Scalzi is officially one of my auto-buy authors. His fresh, offbeat ideas always shake me out of a reading rut, and Constituent Service was no exception. Think Parks and Rec meets The Orville, and then crank the fun up to eleven.
Constituent Service is out now. Huge thank you to Tor for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
