The Human Division Extras

The Human Division #14

by John Scalzi

Contains:
- After the Coup (2008)
- Hafte Sorvalh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today (2013)

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Space, Aliens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera

ebook

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

John Scalzi, having declared his absolute boredom with biographies, disappeared in a puff of glitter and lilac scent.

(If you want to contact John, using the mail function here is a really bad way to do it. Go to his site and use the contact information you find there.)

Reviews

[Peter Tillman]

The real winner here is "Hafte Sorvalh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today." (2013). Hafte Sorvalh is a ten-foot-tall alien diplomat from Lalah (really). She likes churros -- who doesn't? -- and encounters Mrs. Everston's second-grade class on the Mall near the Lincoln Memorial. The children have many questions:
“Are you married?” asked another child.
“My people don’t get married,” Sorvalh said.
“Are you living in sin?” asked the same child. “Like the way my mother says my Aunt Linda is?”

John Scalzi doesn't write much short fiction, more's the pity. This might be my favorite of those. Well, there's "Automated Customer Service." Also free, see first comment below. OK, a tie!
Why I keep reading this stuff. Scalzi at his best is as good as it gets, in SF. IMNSHO.

Correct URL to download: https://www.tor.com/2013/05/28/john-s...

[Michael Hitchcock]

This was actually just After the Coup and Hafte Sorvallh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today. These are available as part of the mass paperback of The Human Division. I've already written about After the Coup twice, a great story, but much better after the Human Division than after Zoe's Tale- which is the release order.

As for Hafte Sorvallh, that was a beautiful little story that was really just about a cool character we know from some other stories eating churros and enjoying a beautiful day in the park. But it somehow also was about taking the long view of human diplomacy with other races. It was like an after dinner mint- just the right size and refreshing delicious palette cleanser.

[Karl Schaeffer]

The hard cover collection supposedly had these two short stories. But found this in Scalzi’s website. The first story is a prequel to the whole series. Set the stage so to speak. The second story centers on Sorvahl Hafte l’m a Hafte fanboy, so enjoyed this one very much. Love this universe . Hope Scalzi tells us more stories in this one, be it, the old man’s war, the human division or something new.

[Kevin]

A review of After the Coup I’ve done separately. The second story here is quite short about a diplomat visiting Washington DC. While walking the Mall, she is set upon by a class of eight year olds out for a field trip and has a question and answer session with them. Also part of her visit, as always, is to get her fix of cinnamon churros. Recommended

[David]

Nice short story. A diplomate from Lalu talks with a group of young school children on the Washington DC Mall. The diplomate try and for the most part answers all their questions.

[Michelle]

Sorvahl is definitely my favorite alien, she's awesome

[Darkhawk]

4.5

[Nicol]

Hafte Sorvalh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today--


Hafte Sorvalh, la consejera principal del General Tarsem Gau -del Conclave- merecía su propia historia? Claro que si. Es linda, decidida y carismática, así que Scalzi nos da una historia con churros y niños :)

—¿Estás casado? —preguntó otro niño.
—Mi gente no se casa —dijo Sorvalh.
—¿Viven en pecado? ¿Como dice mi madre que vive mi tía Linda?
—No sé nada de tu madre ni de tu tía Linda. Y no estoy seguro de qué significa «vivir en pecado» aquí. Mi gente no se casa porque no es nuestra costumbre. La mejor manera de describirlo es que tenemos muchos amigos y, a veces, entre amigos tenemos hijos.
—Como mi tía Linda —dijo el niño.
—Quizás —dijo Sorvalh, con la mayor diplomacia posible.

[Evgeni Kirilov]

The Harry/Hart story was pretty interesting. Hefte's too, but not as much - though it was still amusing. Neither bears any significance to the plot, though Hefte's does spoil much of the last episode of The Human Division. Harry/Hart is pretty much a standalone.

[Tim]

Two shorts featuring characters from the Human Division. Maybe just as the Human Division is like a SF TV series this is the material that ended up on the cutting room floor. OK, just don't expect too much.

[Grahm Eberhardt]

Browsing my Kindle this morning, looking for something quick to read, I stumbled upon this. I'd already read these stories individually but it had been long enough that revisiting them during breakfast was fun.

[Scott]

Meh

They were extras.
One I had already read. The other was just meh.
Not good, not bad. There's a reason they are called extras (they weren't good enough to make the book)

[Patrick]

Just my opinion, but in future collections of this overall story, please put these stories chronologically.

The beginning would have been catching and the finale would have been PERFECT.

[Richard]

Good series, read on Tor.

[Shannon Appelcline]

"Hafte" is a nice little optimistic finale to The Human Division that humanizes the alien.

[Suprio]

3.5

[Tammy]

Part of: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...