The latest step in John "BaconCat" Scalzi's project of world domination (or, at least, domination of the SF corner of the literary world), The Android's Dream is set in an entirely different world than his Old Man's War and sequels. It's still very much a Scalzi book, though, insofar as the third published book by an author can really be said to fall into an established pattern. It's got a fast-moving plot, inventive aliens, and snappy dialogue galore.
After an opening chapter in which a disgruntled trade negotiator attempts to fart his way into a diplomatic incident, the book moves quickly into the main action. Tthe Nidu, a race of aliens a little bit above Earth on the galactic pecking order (488th to our 530th in the military rankings) are in a transition between governments, and require one crucial element for the coronation ritual: a sheep. But not just any sheep-- it needs to be a sheep of an artifical breed called the Android's Dream. And someone has been killing Android's Dream sheep on Earh and the colony worlds. It falls to Harris Creek of the State Department to find the last surviving Android's Dream sheep, and protect it long enough to keep the Nidu from vaporizing the Earth.
After that, things get complicated.
I'm afraid I did this book a great disservice by buying and reading it as soon as it was released, though.
The problem wasn't anything to do with the book, you understand-- it was all me. The Android's Dream hit the stores at a point when I was absolutely buried in work, so I got to read it in fifteen-minute chunks right before bed, while I was worried about other things. It's a rare book that can stand up to being read in those circumstances.
As a result, I suspect I didn't enjoy it as much as it deserves. It's a fun little book, with a nice mix of action and humor. There are all sorts of absurb elements, starting with the extended fart joke that is the first chapter, and including sentient computers, vain alien jurists, bungling but menacing goons, an alien thug ona religious pilgrimage, and a made-up religion that doesn't bear the slightest resemblence to a certain litigious faith popular with slightly unhinged actors.
Lots of people have compared it to Elmore Leonard. I haven't read much Leonard, so it reminds me of Carl Hiaasen, which is pretty close. The bad guys don't meet with (poetic) justice in quite as bloody a manner as in the typical Hiaasen, but the action and satire have the same sort of feel.
I definitely recommend it if you like fast-moving and slightly silly SF adventure (or as a gift for someone else who likes that sort of thing). Just try to save it for a time when you can sit down and read it in larger chunks.
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It sounds like the title (along with all this sheep talk) was inspired by: Do Androids Dream of Eletric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (which was made into the movie Bladerunner).
Completely coincidentally I finished the book last night.
The title is an (intentional) play on the P.K. Dick book.
I enjoyed it very much; rather more than the Old Man books, in fact. I find the Old Man books a little one-dimensional and stiff, but Android Sheep succeeds on a number of levels. The comparison to Hiaasen is apt, because it is both absurd, funny, and a good adventure tale. (In truth, I think it is a little stronger than most of Hiassen, which I find heavier on the absurd and lighter on the action.) On top of that, it has some very engaging characters in it, notably the protagonist.
On the other hand, if you don't like a good chunk of absurdity in your daily diet, I wouldn't bother.