The ultimate guide to the all-time best science fiction novels.

These novels won both Hugo and Nebula Awards.

This book is included in 20 good nonfiction books about the future (plus lots of science fiction). For related readingįor a more convincing near future sci-fi novel about the aftermath of a pandemic, see my review of Dead on Arrival by Matt Richtel, Neurology meets high-tech in this gripping science fiction novel. Fat chance! I don’t plan to read the novel’s sequel. To compound the problem, scientists have unaccountably managed to invent brain implants that permit those most affected by the pandemic to communicate telepathically with one another. Scalzi would have us believe that a pandemic in the not-too-distant future would somehow restructure the brains of a small proportion of those who contract the disease. The problem is that the premise is absurd. The dialogue is crisp and sometimes witty, the characters aren’t too far-fetched, and the plot moves along smoothly. As usual, Scalzi proves he can write fluently. Lock In: A Novel of the Near Future by John Scalzi (2014) 337 pages ★★★☆☆½ (Perhaps that’s because I’m an old man and resented being reminded of it!) And now I find myself ambivalent about Lock In. But I found Old Man’s War, the first volume in the series of the same name, to be unreadable. I greatly enjoyed The Collapsing Empire, the inaugural book about the Interdependency. I’ve found Scalzi’s work to be uneven, which shouldn’t be such a surprise from such a prolific writer.

And somehow Scalzi finds time to write a blog as well.

His near future sci-fi novel, Lock In, launched another series in 2014. There is just one novel to date in his far-future Interdependency series, with two more forthcoming in 2018. More recently, he has been at work on two other series. He’s best known for his Old Man’s War series (six novels and three novellas published between 20). His output has included 17 science fiction novels to date plus nine nonfiction books as well as a slew of short fiction. John Scalzi has been writing books at a furious pace since 1999.

John scalzi lock in series