John Scalzi
Hugo Award-Winning Science Fiction Author


John Scalzi is a New York Times bestselling science fiction author. His novel Redshirts, an intergalactic sci-fi adventure, won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel. His other works include the popular Old Man’s War series (three novels of which have also been nominated for Hugo Awards), The Android’s Dream, Agent to the Stars, and Lock In. In addition to the Hugo, John is also the recipient of awards including the Locus, the Seiun, the Kurd Lasswitz, and the Geffen.

 

John is the former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and he served as a creative consultant for the television series Stargate Universe. His blog Whatever is a forum for all things sci-fi and even includes writing on topics such as finance, film, and video games. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2008 based predominantly on that blog, which he has also used for several charity drives.

 

John Scalzi is also a writer for the video game Midnight Star and executive producer for Old Man’s War and The Collapsing Empire, both currently in development for television. Though best known for his science fiction works, John Scalzi has also written several nonfiction books, including The Rough Guide to Money Online The Rough Guide to the Universe, and The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies. He writes the “Book of the Dumb” series of books from Portable Press, which chronicle people doing stupid things. He adapted blog entries into the craft book You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing, then into the volume Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever 1998–2008, which won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book in 2009. The third and fourth collections of blog content are The Mallet of Loving Correction (2013) and Don’t Live For Your Obituary (2017).

 

Born and raised in California, John Scalzi studied at the University of Chicago before settling in Ohio with his wife, daughter, and several pets. You can follow John on Twitter and Facebook.

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Hardcover
Tor Books

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.


Trade Paperback
Tor Books

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.


Paperback
Tor Books

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. 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.


Hardcover
Tor Books

The Last Emperox is the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling Interdependency series, an epic space opera adventure from Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi.

Paperback
The Consuming Fire The Interdependency (Volume 2)
Tor Books Science Fiction

The Consuming Fire—the sequel to the 2018 Hugo Award Best Novel finalist and 2018 Locus Award-winning The Collapsing Empire—an epic space-opera novel in the bestselling Interdependency series, from New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi


Trade Paperback
Tor Science Fiction

From New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner John Scalzi, a trade paperback repackage of his wild-and-woolly caper novel of interstellar diplomacy—now with a new cover!
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.

Trade Paperback
Tor Books

From New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner, John Scalzi, a trade paperback repackage of his gleeful mash-up of science fiction and Hollywood satire—now with a new cover!


Trade Paperback
Tor Books

From New York Times bestseller and Hugo Award-winner John Scalzi, a trade paperback repackage of his extraordinary retelling of the SF classic Little Fuzzy—now with a new cover!


Paperback
The Collapsing Empire The Interdependency (Volume 1)
Tor Science Fiction

*2018 LOCUS AWARD WINNER OF BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL*
*2018 HUGO AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NOVEL*
Our universe is ruled by physics. Faster than light travel is impossible—until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field available at certain points in space-time, which can take us to other planets around other stars.


Trade Paperback
Unlocked An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome
Tordotcom

Discover the history of Haden's Syndrome, the virus that created the world of John Scalzi's inventive near-future thrillers Lock In and Head On, in the prequel novella Unlocked.


Paperback
The End of All Things Old Man's War (Volume 6)
Tor Science Fiction

Hugo-award winning author, John Scalzi returns to his best-selling Old Man's War universe with The End of All Things, the direct sequel to 2013's The Human Division


Paperback
Lock InA Novel of the Near Future
Tor Science Fiction

Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.

Paperback
Head OnA Novel of the Near Future
Tor Books

Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, Head On brings Scalzi's trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports.

Paperback
The Human Division Old Man's War (Volume 5)
Tor Science Fiction

The people of Earth now know that the human Colonial Union has kept them ignorant of the dangerous universe around them. For generations the CU had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now the CU's secrets are known to all. Other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance—an alliance against the Colonial Union. And they've invited the people of Earth to join them. For a shaken and betrayed Earth, the choice isn't obvious or easy.


Live Long and Prosper Drawing on his experience as a science fiction author, Scalzi discusses sci-fi in the modern era, his own writing process, and living with his head in the stars.





Starter Villain by John Scalzi is a 2024 Hugo Award finalist for Best Novel.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi is a 2024 Alex Award winner. The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. For more info on the award, visit here.

John Scalzi’s Starter Villain is one of the projects in the works from Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Productions in a deal with Paramount Pictures. More details at Deadline and Variety.

On THE TODAY SHOW on November 1, 2023, author Jeff Kinney recommended John Scalzi’s Starter Villain as the Best Funny Read.

Starter Villain featured on Barnes and Noble’s The Best Science Fiction of 2023 list.

Listen to a review of Head on on Genre Junkies

Check out these reviews of Head on on Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus

Visit Cooking the Books for an interview with John Scalzi

The New York Times and the Washington Post on Scalzi’s recent book deal with Tor.

Scalzi’s own take on his Tor book deal.

Scalzi wins 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel for Redshirts.

Follow John Scalzi on Twitter

"John was absolutely fantastic! He was engaging, witty and thoughtful speaker who held the attention of more than 600 attendees. The feedback from our attendees was great and working with him was a personal and professional pleasure."
- National Council on Problem Gambling

Praise for Redshirts

"John Scalzi sets his imagination to STUN and scores a direct hit. Read on and prosper.”
― Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box

“I can honestly say I can't think of another book that ever made me laugh this much. Ever.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind

“Scalzi takes apart the whole Star Trek universe and puts it back together far more plausibly--and a lot funnier too.”
― Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians

“A real joy to read… It's hard to imagine a reader who wouldn't enjoy this one.”
Booklist, starred review

Praise for The Old Man's War

“Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalzi's astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master...This virtuoso debut pays tribute to SF's past while showing that well-worn tropes still can have real zip when they're approached with ingenuity.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Solid…[Scalzi] sidesteps most of the cliches of military science fiction, delivers fast-paced scenes of combat and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise.”
San Francisco Chronicle

“Thought-provoking!”
Entertainment Weekly