John Scalzi is the Brandon Sanderson of science fiction. He’s prolific, can keep multiple series going simultaneously, and everything he writes is interesting and distinct. This is the second book in his Lock In series (I read the first one two years ago, and liked it a lot). I didn’t really do anything to refresh my memory of the series, but I never felt lost or in need of any reminders. I jumped right back into this world without issue. One percent of the world’s […]
Scalzi Gon’ Scalzi: Funny, Thought-Provoking, Occasionally Profound
In last year’s CBR I reviewed Old Man’s War, the first book in an NYT best-selling sci-fi series by John Scalzi. The gist of the first book was that when you reached a certain AARP-like age on Earth, you could enlist in the space marines to protect humanity from…something. You’d take an elevator up to space, and then you weren’t quite sure what came next. You were legally dead on Earth. That’s kind of all you as a space marine cadet knew. Without spoiling the first […]
A candy bar of a book
My husband, when I was reading The Martian, said he had liked the book but his one complaint was that it read like it was being pitched as a screenplay already. I didn’t feel that way, but also didn’t see why that would be a negative even if I had. I get it now. Which is not to say I disliked this book, quite the contrary. A science fiction thriller that uses a murder mystery as a plot to support the world building the writer […]
What Does Humanity Mean?
You can pick up any reasonably well written book and make a case for it being an exploration of what it means to be human, the state of humanity, or the universal truth of the human condition. Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series is very definitely asking what defines humanity. In the universe of the Old Man’s War series, Scalzi pushes the envelope of humanity. Colonial Defense Force soldiers are created when In The Last Colony, we return to the protagonist of Old Man’s War, John […]
Fucking Humans
John Scalzi has created a fascinating sci-fi universe in his Old Man’s War series. The Ghost Brigades is as much a horror story as a sci-fi adventure. Scalzi references Frankenstein repeatedly as he plants questions about the boundaries of being human, the ethics of creating life, corporate control, and who we consider monsters. Scalzi presents some interesting and deep questions, but ultimately sidesteps the more problematic answers by wrapping up his stories with happyish endings. Which is fine. These days I’m reading for neater resolutions and happier endings. […]
In the Future, Humans Are Still A-Holes
When I posted my review of The Collapsing Empire, Narfna told me I had to read Fuzzy Nation. I can’t remember where that conversation happened, but while I was waiting for my next Audible credit, I would remind myself not to get distracted. Fuzzy Nation was my mission. Other than Narfna’s recommendation and the cover, I had no idea what the book would be about. Fuzzy Nation is an eco-legal thriller in space. Humans still live on Earth, but they have expanded resource gathering to other planets. […]
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