John Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire is the first book in a brand new series from the author of Old Man’s War. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Scalzi’s writing. I really like most of his Old Man’s War series, but am not a big fan of almost everything else he’s done. He’s a really good writer who knows how to keep you turning the page, but after you’re done, you realize it’s pretty forgettable. And that’s the problem I had with The Collapsing Empire.

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John Scalzi’s new book The Human Division was an experiment of sorts and it shows. The book was released as a weekly series of episodes that were semi-related (same characters and related plot developments), but could sit alone without any problem. However, the experimental release format makes the novel not really hold together well, as it reads more like a collection of stories, than a coherent narrative. I don’t want to give the impression that it’s bad, because I did enjoy it. Let’s check it out.

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The Internet has been going crazy the last few weeks for the latest John Scalzi book Redshirts. Set in a fictional Star Trek universe, the book explores the the flipside of the TV show and shows what life is like when you’re wearing the deadly red shirt. While many other reviewers have found it side-splittingly hilarious, I found it decent with a few chuckles and the best part was the last of the three codas. Let’s see what happens when you’re given a red shirt.

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I enjoy reading John Scalzi. I loved his Old Man’s War series, I follow (and occasionally comment) on his blog Whatever and look forward to his new books. That’s why I’m somewhat mystified why I haven’t liked his non-Old Man’s War books that much. The God Engines was decent but unsatisfying and then we come to his new book, Fuzzy Nation. The book is an homage (reimagining, reboot, etc.) of Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper. Not having read the original, I decided to wait until I read Scalzi’s book so that I could approach it without any reservations. And I have to say that I was fairly disappointed. So, let’s go see what’s wrong with Fuzzy Nation.

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The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi is a novella set in the Old Man’s War universe. It has an interesting history, which Scalzi documents in the introduction. Orderwise, this book sits between The Ghost Brigadesand The Last Colony. It is significantly different than any of Scalzi’s other book in style and tone. Is it worth tracking down?
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The Android’s Dream by John Scalzi is Scalzi’s first non Old Man’s War universe book. The setting and characters are different, but you can still tell it’s a Scalzi book by the writing and the tone. It’s a fun science fiction, political thriller that starts off with a fart and ends with a sheep.

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The Last Colonyand Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi are sequels to his first two books (Old Man’s Warand The Ghost Brigades). They are the same story from different points of view. The Last Colony is from John Perry and his wife’s POV and Zoe’s Tale is from their daughter Zoe’s POV. The setting and basic plot are the same, except for the sequence when Zoe goes off-planet. The other main difference is that Zoe’s Tale is a YA book.

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The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi is a sequel (of sorts) to Old Man’s War. The book focuses on a new character, but a couple of the characters from the first book appear. Scalzi uses the same settings to tell a different story and does a decent job with it.

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