John Scalzi is my favourite current American science fiction author. He’s well known for his thoroughly engaging storytelling, sharp wit, and ability to blend humor with speculative fiction. Scalzi initially gained popularity for his Old Man’s War series, which explores themes of war, identity, and the consequences of advanced technology. His writing is characterised by a conversational style that draws readers into his imagined worlds. In addition to his success as a novelist, Scalzi is an influential figure in the science fiction community, contributing to the genre through his blog, Whatever, and serving as the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) between 2010 and 2013.
I also really just love his work. I’m therefore very keen to highlight this bundle for you. A mere £14.74 will get you a stack of Scalzi books:
So, there are a ton of highlights here. The obvious one is the Old Man’s War series. I really like these books. The first one is an absolute classic, and the series as a whole is really good. They’re not my favourites though, and I actually prefer much of Scalzi’s other work.
Redshirts is another popular one, examining and playing with the tropes of sci-fi shows like Star Trek. It’s a nice commentary on both sci-fi and storytelling itself. This kind of metafiction is something I really like, as I’ve said before when discussing the work of other authors such as Jasper Fforde.
Lock In and Head On are both fantastic novels about a world that has survived a pandemic that left many people locked in their bodies in a permanent vegetative state. This was pre-Covid, by the way. With do many people affected, massive research was done into ways for these people to be able to interact with the outside world via technology. We follow one such locked-in person as he embarks on a career as an FBI agent. The mysteries are fantastic, as is the speculative fiction.
My favourite Scalzi novels, however, comprise the Interdependency series. These are The Collapsing Empire, The Consuming Fire, and The Last Emperox. I just adore this series. It’s a great example of effective worldbuilding, compelling storytelling, great character development, and natural, unforced humour. It’s a sweeping story that you just want to go on and on. My biggest complaint is that it ends.
Can you tell that I heartily recomment this bundle?
If you’re not sure, I do.
You can click here to visit the bundle page over at Humble Bundle.
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