REVIEW: A Very Scalzi Christmas by John Scalzi
Deck the halls with boughs of holly! ’Tis the season…for Santa’s lawyer to talk about the legal status of the workshop elves, for Christmas to arrive in an unexpected month, and for the innkeeper at the nativity to spill the beans about what really went down on that one night in Bethlehem.
It’s not just Christmas. It’s A Very Scalzi Christmas.
New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi gift-wraps fifteen short takes on the holiday season—interviews with holiday notables, “informational” articles about TV specials and Christmas carols, short stories and poems, and even a couple of nods to Thanksgiving and New Year’s—and puts them all into a stocking stuffer-sized package that makes the perfect gift for friends, family, or yourself.
With stories both funny and touching, A Very Scalzi Christmas also features three new stories exclusive to this collection: “Christmas in July,” “Jangle the Elf Grants Wishes” and “Resolutions For the New Year.”
A wonderful collection for the most wonderful time of the year.
CW/TW – preemie baby in medical danger
Dear Mr. Scalzi,
I’d actually read this book a few years ago but decided to get a copy because of a few of the stories I remember. Your usual snark is strong through most of the stories though there are a few that will hit hard once a reader stops and lets the story sink in. One story, started to go way dark
Spoiler: Show
The Science Fictional Thanksgiving Grace weaves standard SF scenarios into it as things the grace giver is glad have not happened – for which we thank you Lord. A Bitter November is a month I can see gets short changed as everyone gleefully rushes towards Christmas even though Nov still has a few days left, damn it.
Quite a few stories involve interviews – with Santa’s lawyer, with the Christmas Bunny, with the reindeer wrangler. There is humor as well as some ‘don’t go there interviewer’ moments. Santa has a shark for a lawyer. The Least Successful Holiday Specials as well as A Personal Top 10 That Are Not Titles and 8 Things You Didn’t Know are all entries that I can see are supposed to be funny in a ‘so bad they’re funny’ way that are actually just bad. I think the ‘writer’ of Resolutions for the New Year needs mental health therapy.
Jangle the Christmas Elf Grants Wishes is funny yet also slightly uncomfortable as it references the Monkey’s Paw. Jackie Jones and Melrose Mandy is a straight up delightful poem about overindulgence and having way too much given to you. Script Notes on the Birth of Jesus is a movie I hope never gets made just because Hollywood will screw anything up and the Interview with the Nativity Innkeeper is the one interview piece that had me smiling all the way through.
Christmas in July and Sarah’s Sister are both stories that are more serious and ought to make you slow down and think. They’re far deeper and a bit darker but also hopeful in the end. Overall, I still enjoyed the whole collection the second time around. B
~Jayne
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