Sci-Fi Books by John Scalzi Author of New York Times bestseller Redshirts

Sci-Fi Books by John Scalzi Author of New York Times bestseller Redshirts

Books in list (19)


Title: Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on "Away Missions" alongside the starship’s famous senior officers.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to realize that 1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, 2) the ship’s senior officers always survive these confrontations, and 3) sadly, at least one low-ranking crew member is invariably killed. Unsurprisingly, the savvier crew members belowdecks avoid Away Missions at all costs.

Then Andrew stumbles on information that transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765334794
Pages: 320
This book is in (4) other book lists, learn more.

Title: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008

On September 13, 1998, John Scalzi sat down in front of his computer to write the first entry in his blog Whatever—and changed the history of the Internet as we know it today.

What, you're not swallowing that one? Okay, fine: He started writing Whatever and amused about 15 people that first day. If that many. But he kept at it, for ten years and running. Now 40,000 people drop by on a daily basis to see what he's got to say.

About what? Well, about whatever: Politics, writing, family, war, popular culture and cats (especially with bacon on them). Sometimes he's funny. Sometimes he's serious (mostly he's sarcastic). Sometimes people agree with him. Sometimes they send him hate mail, which he grades on originality and sends back. Along the way, Scalzi's become a best-selling, award-winning author, a father, and a geek celebrity. But no matter what, there's always another Whatever post to amuse and/or enrage his readers.

Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded collects some of the best and most popular Whatever entries from the first ten years of the blog – a decade of Whatever, presented in delightfully random form, just as it should be.

* Winner of the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book

* Introduction by Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton

2009 Hugo Award Winner for Best Related Book

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765327116
Pages: 368

Title: Agent to the Stars

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765357007

Title: Uncle John's Presents, The Book of the Dumb

In every field of human endeavor, there are people, things, and ideas that rank among the best mankind has ever produced—the Book of the Dumb isn't about any of that. This volume from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader teaches us one valuable lesson: Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.

Since 1987, the Bathroom Readers’ Institute has led the movement to stand up for those who sit down and read in the bathroom (and everywhere else for that matter). With more than 11 million books in print, the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series is the longest-running, most popular series of its kind in the world. Where else would you find so many examples of the worst ideas, most regrettable utterances, and biggest crackpot theories in the fields of art, science, politics, sports, entertainment, and more? Uncle John rules the world of humor and all things ridiculous, so get ready to be thoroughly entertained. Read all about?

Crashes?on Mars Vegetable-flavored Jell-O Land wars fought during the winter?in Russia And much more!

Author(s): Bathroom Readers
ISBN 13: 9781592231492
Pages: 320

Title: The Rough Guide to Sci-fi Movies

The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies is a comprehensive guide to the ''final frontier'' of film. It explores our fascination with space exploration, time travel, fantastical worlds and alternative futures. This guide explains how everything from the philosophy of Plato to classic Victorian tales and cult comic books have helped to create one of cinema''s most engaging genres. Discover the classics from Mexico, Russia and Japan, not forgetting the Anime science fiction tradition, along with everything else you need to know from Metropolis to Star Wars, via Blade Runner, 2001 and Alien. The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies is your essential guide to a galaxy of film unbounded by time or space.

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9781843535201
Pages: 336

Title: Metatropolis

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765335104

Title: The Rough Guide to the Universe

Whether you’re a novice or a more experienced astronomer, The Rough Guide to The Universe is indispensable. The truth may or may not be out there, but space is the place to look, and the Rough Guide to the Universe takes it all in, from our own moon to the furthest frontiers of the known universe - and then speculates about what lies beyond. This fascinating guide is not meant to delve too deeply; instead it gives the reader the grounding needed to appreciate the night sky. Clue- up on the basics with concise information on every planet in the solar system, and practical advice on observing the planets and stars with binoculars, telescopes and the naked eye. You’ll find the latest theories about how the universe came to exist, incisive explanations of the formation of galaxies and weird concepts such a dark matter, wormholes and superstrings. The guide also provides travel-based information on planetariums, observatories and ''deep sky'' sites as well as listings of star clubs, space news sources and other Internet resources. With dozens of photographs and star charts of every constellation, The Rough Guide to the Universe is The Stargazer’s essential handbook

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9781843538004
Pages: 416

Title: Android's Dream

A human diplomat creates an interstellar incident when he kills an alien diplomat in a most…unusual…way. To avoid war, Earth’s government must find an equally unusual object: A type of sheep ("The Android's Dream"), used in the alien race's coronation ceremony.

 

To find the sheep, the government turns to Harry Creek, ex-cop, war hero and hacker extraordinaire, who with the help of Brian Javna, a childhood friend turned artificial intelligence, scours the earth looking for the rare creature. And they find it, in the unknowing form of Robin Baker, pet store owner, whose genes contain traces of the sheep DNA.

 

But there are others with plans for the sheep as well: Mercenaries employed by the military. Adherents of a secret religion based on the writings of a 21st century science fiction author. And alien races, eager to start a revolution on their home world and a war on Earth.

 

To keep our planet from being enslaved, Harry will have to pull off the greatest diplomatic coup in history, a grand gambit that will take him from the halls of power to the lava-strewn battlefields of alien worlds. There's only one chance to get it right, to save the life of Robin Baker — and to protect the future of humanity.

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765348289
Pages: 400

Title: Fuzzy Nation

Jack Holloway works alone. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorp’s headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporation’s headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor. As for his past, that’s not up for discussion.

Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth.

But there’s another wrinkle to ZaraCorp’s relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species.

Then a small furry biped—trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute—shows up at Jack’s outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp’s claim to a planet’s worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed…and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the “fuzzys” before their existence becomes more widely known.

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765367037
Pages: 368

Title: Ghost Brigades

The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. They're young, they're fast and strong, and they're totally without normal human qualms.

The universe is a dangerous place for humanity—and it's about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.

Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers — a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin's DNA, Jared's brain should be able to access Boutin's electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.

At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutin's memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason's for Boutin's betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his "father," he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanity's mere military defeat…

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765354068
Pages: 384
This book is in (3) other book lists, learn more.

Title: Zoe's Tale

How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history?

I ask because it's what I have to do. I'm Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old.

Everyone on Earth knows the tale I am part of. But you don't know my tale: How I did what I did — how I did what I had to do — not just to stay alive but to keep you alive, too. All of you. I'm going to tell it to you now, the only way I know how: not straight but true, the whole thing, to try to make you feel what I felt: the joy and terror and uncertainty, panic and wonder, despair and hope. Everything that happened, bringing us to Earth, and Earth out of its captivity. All through my eyes.

It's a story you know. But you don't know it all.

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765356192
Pages: 416

Title: Last Colony

Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.

That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.

Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765356185
Pages: 336
This book is in (3) other book lists, learn more.

Title: Old Man's War

"John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce - and aliens willing to fight for them are common. The universe, it turns out, is a hostile place. So: we fight. To defend Earth (a target for our new enemies, should we let them get close enough) and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has gone on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding." "Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force, which shields the home planet from too much knowledge of the situation. What's known to everybody is that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve your time at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets." John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine - and what he will become is far stranger.
Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765348272
Pages: 368
This book is in (5) other book lists, learn more.

Title: The End of All Things

In this collapsing universe, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson and the Colonial Union diplomats race against the clock to discover who is behind attacks, and keep humanity's union intact... or else risk the end of all things.
Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765376107
Pages: 400
This book is in (3) other book lists, learn more.

Title: Uncle John's Presents Book of the Dumb 2

Author(s): John Michael Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9781592232697

Title: The Human Division

Following the events of The Last Colony, John Scalzi tells the story of the fight to maintain the unity of the human race.
Author(s): John Scalzi
ISBN 13: 9780765369550
Pages: 512

Title: Universe

Author(s): John Scalzi, Rough Guides Staff
ISBN 13: 9781858289397

Title: Questions for a Soldier

Author(s): Scalzi, John , Eggleton, Bob
ISBN 13: 9781596060487

 


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