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Head On by John Scalzi

Head On by John Scalzi, Book #2 of the Lock In Series

Introduction

Chris Shane witnesses the death of Duane Chapman, the first player killed in the new future violent sport of Hilketa. Years ago, in our future, an epidemic called Haden’s Syndrome affected millions of people who are now unable to control their own bodies. They interact with the outside world by using autonomous robots, called threeps, which are remotely connected to their brains. Chris and Duane have Haden’s Syndrome.

Duane plays in a team sport where the threeps battle on a sports field. The object of the game is to rip the head off the designated opponent’s threep and score a goal with it. Duane’s threep was destroyed and his body should not have died but it has. Chris is an FBI agent who must find out how and why Duane died. The case goes down unexpected paths and Chris must put together the clues to find the truth or risk Chris’s own life.

Summary

Chris is non-gender specific in the novel. Chris is at the Hilketa game because Chris’s father is interested in purchasing an expansion team based in Washington, D. C. Chris’s father is a famous championship-winning former basketball player and a real estate billionaire. Chris was the poster child for Haden’s rights but now wants to just solve cases for the FBI in relative anonymity. Chris’s partner in the FBI is Leslie Vann. She is the senior partner and helps Chris investigate the case. People keep dying in the novel as Chris gets closer to the truth. The criminals destroy Chris’s threeps and eventually threaten Chris’s life.

Recommendation

I enjoyed this novel very much. It is not necessary to read the first novel first though it helps with the background material. This novel reads fast, the action does not stop, and the revelations are valid. The police procedural part of the novel holds up well. The part of the novel dealing with Chris’s self-identity and struggle with being famous is the most interesting and the most frustrating. Keeping Chris gender-neutral has eliminated any romantic relationships. Duane is a Haden married to a non-Haden, Marla. Though that relationship does not end well, I wanted to see Chris struggle with a relationship in this novel. I think this might be what the author is building toward if there is a third novel in the series. I look forward to reading more about Chris Shane if there are more novels in the series.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Head On by John Scalzi.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35018901-head-on

This is a link to my review of Lock In by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Lock In Series. FBI agent Chris Shane cannot physically examine a murder scene because Chris has Haden’s Syndrome. Chris interacts with the world with an android.

Lock In by John Scalzi

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Old Man’s War series

Introduction

In Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, two things have happened to John Perry recently. His wife had unexpectedly passed away and he decided to join the army. It’s not just any army. The Colonial Defense Forces will only take recruits on their seventy-fifth birthday. All recruits are taken off of the earth and are never heard from again. The novel opens on his seventy-fifth birthday at the gravesite of his beloved wife. He says goodbye to her and heads to the CDF recruitment office. He has no idea what will happen to him next, but he has nothing left to keep him on the earth and so he enlists.

Summary

John Perry changes as part of the enlistment process. He must succeed to graduate boot camp. The recruits serve a term of ten years, but the survival rate is less than 30 percent. He is very practical and advances in the CDF by using his wits and a lot of luck. At the end of their term, the recruits can become colonists on a new planet or re-enlist in the CDF. The CDF protects the colonies. This novel follows John Perry at the beginning of his term of service.

Recommendation

To me, this novel is a mixture of many military science fiction novels of the past mixed up with new ideas making a great new novel. It takes the themes of pro-militarism and the boot camp to soldier coming of age from Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, But, there is also a sense of loss of humanity by the protagonist and the conflict of fighting the other from The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. I was also reminded of Deathworld by Harry Harrison for the “anything can kill you” mantra of the CDF members. I highly recommend this novel and intend to read the many sequels.

Links

I received this novel from a Tor.com newsletter. Tor sends one free e-book every month to newsletter subscribers. I have copies of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and A Fire on the Deep by Vernor Vinge.

The Tor.com newsletter is at http://read.macmillan.com/tordotcom/newsletter-signup/

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36510196-old-man-s-war

This is the link to my review of Lock In by John Scalzi. FBI agent Chris Shane has Haden’s Syndrome and interacts with the world through an android. Chris must solve a murder caused by an android.

Lock In by John Scalzi

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, Book #1 of The Interdependency.

Introduction

Cardenia’s father is dying. Once he passes on, she will become the emperox of the Interdependency. She is not ready and there are tremendous complications facing her immediately. Can she guide her interstellar empire through these problems or will her empire fall?

Summary

Humans have expanded to the stars by using a medium through space called the flow. The flow only travels to certain star systems, but the flow can move and star systems can be lost. One thousand years before this story the Earth is lost to her colonies. The colonies form an empire called the Interdependency. Families are grouped in Houses and each House has a monopoly on one trade good or one technology. The flow is changing. There are three main POV characters in this novel; Cardenia (the future Emperox Grayland II), Kiva Lagos (heir to the House of Lagos), and Marce Claremont (the physicist son of the physicist who first discovered the Flow’s change). Cardenia’s first problem is that the flow is changing and how it changes will determine how she will respond.

Recommendation

This was a fun novel to read. The dialogue was humorous and witty. I liked reading each of the three main POV characters. The novel’s ending featuring Nadashe Nohamapetan’s comeuppance was appropriate. It feels like the first novel in a series, it is, and I’m ready for the next novel.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page for The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30078567-the-collapsing-empire

This is a link to my book review Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, the first book in The Expanse series. This book is a space opera set entirely within the solar system and is similar to The Collapsing Empire.

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Lock In by John Scalzi

Lock In by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Lock In Series

Introduction

Twenty-five years after a global pandemic virus, Chris Shane’s second day on the job as an FBI agent includes a complicated murder as the first order of business. The thing is, Chris cannot physically examine the murder scene. Chris has Haden’s Syndrome. It is a disease that has a slim chance that the person affected cannot physically move their body anymore and become what is known as locked in. The person affected can, however, have their brain fitted with a neural net that lets them either manipulate a specially attuned person called an Integrator or an automaton called a threep. Chris uses a threep and the murder appears to be Haden related. Chris must discover the perpetrator or everyone that has Haden’s Syndrome will be in jeopardy.

Summary

The novel is an interesting mix of a sci-fi thriller and a police procedural. The best part is the world-building on the effect that Haden’s Syndrome could have on society. It felt like it could have been a multi-episode arc of NCIS. If that is the story that you like to read, then this novel hits that spot.

Recommendation

I think that Scalzi was trying to play with two things with this novel; developing the ramifications of Haden’s Syndrome and to play around with writing gender and race. The world-building worked for me. It is never specified whether Chris is a male or a female. I have my opinion, but nothing written has changed that opinion. Chris’s race is not specified until later in the novel, so thinking about that revelation is thought-provoking.

Chris’s FBI partner Leslie Vann appears to think like a man, but I took it as a woman surrounded by males in law enforcement and taking their phrases as her own. I appreciated that Scalzi chose to explore these subjects, even though it might not have been totally successful because at times the writing felt forced. I am glad that the novel promotes discussion about gender and race. That does mean something. I would recommend this book if only for that.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Lock In by John Scalzi.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21418013-lock-in

This is the link to my review of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is also a near-future science fiction novel.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson