John Scalzi Books in Order

Daniel Garvey returns to his hometown of Richland, Ohio, and finds a place fraying at the edges, economically and emotionally. As strange events and local tensions build, Daniel gets pulled into a mystery that hints at something truly monstrous under the surface.

One day the Moon turns into cheese, and the world has to deal with it. Through a set of linked viewpoints, Scalzi follows ordinary people, scientists, and opportunists as they react to the impossible, and discover how fast reality can change.

Ten years after the last big conflict, a fragile peace in the Old Man's War universe is threatened by a civil war among the powerful Consu. Gretchen Trujillo joins a mixed team sent to prevent catastrophe, and discovers the stakes are bigger than anyone admits.

A time travel technician supports high-end tourists who want to visit the past without changing it, but the job comes with moral pressure. When a trip goes wrong, the technician has to choose between company rules and doing what feels right.

Ashley gets a new job working the complaint desk for a city district packed with alien residents, and no one prepared her for the requests. This funny, fast novella turns municipal service into sci-fi, as Ashley learns how to solve problems across species lines.

Charlie Fitzer is broke and out of options when he inherits his uncle's business, which turns out to be a full-fledged supervillain operation complete with an island lair. With talking cats, unionized dolphins, and rivals circling, Charlie has to decide who he wants to be.

A reflective short story told from the point of view of an artificial intelligence sent on a star-spanning mission. Tasked with finding a habitable world and carrying humanity forward, the AI wrestles with purpose, loneliness, and what it means to hope for someone else.

Dispatcher Tony Valdez is called to a Chicago emergency room by an old friend and gets dragged into a whirlpool of schemes and corruption. With big money and hidden motives in play, Tony must protect his friend while figuring out who is setting him up.

During the pandemic, struggling substitute teacher Jamie Gray takes a mysterious job that turns into an assignment in an alternate dimension. There, a secret group protects giant kaiju from exploitation, and Jamie learns that saving monsters can be a day job.

In the world where most murder victims return to life, dispatcher Tony Valdez is hired to look into a case that should not exist. Following the trail pulls him into corruption and favors, where the right choice is never the easy one.

As the Flow collapses, the Interdependency races to move populations and resources before star systems are cut off forever. Grayland II and her allies battle sabotage and entrenched elites, knowing that saving lives may require breaking the empire they inherited.

A small, seasonal nonfiction collection that gathers Scalzi's holiday-themed pieces, from silly observations to genuine warmth. It is light, quick to read, and designed for people who like their December stories with a little sarcasm and a little heart.

A nonfiction collection drawn from Scalzi's online writing, focused on internet culture, politics, and the way people argue in public. The tone is candid and sometimes sharp, with plenty of practical perspective on how to stay sane while the discourse burns.

The Flow crisis worsens and the Interdependency's politics turn vicious. Grayland II fights to hold an empire together, Kiva Lagos tries to keep her family business alive, and old power players gamble on chaos, even as entire worlds face isolation.

FBI agent Chris Shane takes on a case that begins with a death during a Hilketa match, a violent sport played through robotic bodies. The investigation digs into money, celebrity, and the uneasy line between a person and the hardware they move through.

An interstellar empire depends on the Flow, the network that makes space travel possible, until the Flow begins to collapse. As catastrophe looms, Emperox Grayland II, merchant Kiva Lagos, and strategist Marce Claremont scramble to save what can be saved.

A wide-ranging collection of essays and blog posts that circle around writing, work, and public life. Scalzi offers blunt advice, personal stories, and thoughtful rants, grouped so you can read it like a guide or just dip in when you need a boost.

In a world where most murder victims return to life, Tony Valdez works as a licensed dispatcher, killing people about to die in accidents so they get a second chance. A routine call pulls him into a conspiracy that makes him question what the rules really mean.

A collection of very short fiction, spanning decades of Scalzi's career, that delivers science fiction ideas in miniature. The pieces are quick, often funny, and built around a single twist or premise, making it perfect for reading a few pages at a time.

In a future shaped by ecological damage, teenager Benjamin Washington becomes a high-tech pig farmer in an eco city-state built on strict sustainability. The job looks safe, until politics and ambition turn food production into a high-stakes fight for control.

The concluding installment of The End of All Things brings several storylines to a head as the Old Man's War universe reels. The characters have to decide what they will stand for when institutions fail, and the future depends on actions that cannot be undone.

Part two of The End of All Things shifts perspective again, showing the same expanding crisis from a different corner of the Old Man's War universe. Alliances strain, plans collide, and a single bad call can cascade into consequences no one can contain.

The opening installment of The End of All Things, told from a fresh viewpoint inside the Old Man's War universe. As political tension spikes, the narrator is pulled into a crisis where information, loyalty, and survival are tightly knotted together.

A four-part continuation of the Old Man's War universe that follows multiple narrators through a period of escalating political breakdown. As alliances strain and institutions crack, the characters fight to keep people alive, and to stop a bad situation from becoming the end.

The End of All Things turns toward the field in this installment, following people who have to act while governments argue. It is a tight mission story with larger stakes behind it, where the characters are forced to choose between orders and outcomes.

A prequel to the Lock In novels that traces the early days of Haden's Syndrome, the illness that leaves patients awake but unable to move. It shows how new tech and policy led to the rise of threep bodies.

In a near future reshaped by Haden's Syndrome, FBI agent Chris Shane investigates a suspicious death tied to a powerful family and a new kind of sport. The case forces Shane to navigate technology, politics, and a community fighting to be treated as real.

Told in a script-like format, this Human Division installment focuses on fast decisions and competing agendas. The Diplomatic Corps and its security team try to contain a volatile situation, while every faction involved insists their version of events is the only truth.

A Human Division episode that follows the fallout from a hijacked cargo ship and a wildcat colony with secrets. Wilson's team must sort out what happened, who is lying, and how to keep a local crisis from turning into a much larger conflict.

A Human Division episode about arrivals and reckonings, when a place that should feel safe turns out not to be. The team has to negotiate trust in the middle of uncertainty, knowing that home is sometimes just another contested piece of territory.

In this Human Division episode, pressure from below turns into open resistance, and the Diplomatic Corps has to respond. It is a short, tense story about how rebellions start, and how hard it is to stop them once people decide they have nothing left to lose.

A Human Division installment that deals with watching, being watched, and what that does to decision-making. Wilson and his allies try to do their jobs while unseen forces gather evidence, shift narratives, and decide who gets blamed when things go wrong.

A collection of blog writing that blends craft talk, industry commentary, and everyday observations, all in Scalzi's direct voice. It is the kind of nonfiction you can read straight through or sample by topic, with plenty of practical takeaways.

A linked set of episodic missions in the Old Man's War universe, following the Colonial Union's Diplomatic Corps as it tries to keep human space from fracturing. Lieutenant Harry Wilson and his team handle crises where negotiation can be as lethal as war.

A Human Division installment that highlights the unglamorous side of keeping peace: intimidation, leverage, and making sure the wrong people do not feel too comfortable. Wilson's team walks the line between force and diplomacy, hoping it holds long enough to matter.

A Human Division mission that drops the team into a new cultural and political tangle, where the Colonial Union is not in charge, even if it wishes it were. The tension comes from mistrust, bad assumptions, and the risk of one wrong move.

The Conclave has its own interests, and this Human Division episode shows how back-channel contact can change a negotiation. As different powers jockey for leverage, the characters learn that the real battle is often over information, not weapons.

Lieutenant Harry Wilson is reassigned to the Colonial Union's Diplomatic Corps and meets the team that will become his new unit. This Human Division installment sets the tone: messy politics, awkward missions, and the realization that diplomacy can be just as dangerous as combat.

In this Human Division installment, a seemingly routine stop at a station called the Clarke turns into a problem the Diplomatic Corps cannot ignore. It is a compact mission story about how small disputes can expose bigger fractures in the Colonial Union.

Mathematician Ben Patton gets an offer he cannot refuse: a muse named Hestia will help him solve an impossible problem, but the bargain comes with consequences. This short story blends inspiration, obsession, and the uneasy line between help and control.

The Human Division arc continues with a mission that brings the characters face to face with the cost of colonization. As they try to secure an outcome everyone can live with, they discover that the ground truth on a planet rarely matches the story told from orbit.

Another Human Division episode set on the edges of human space, where the Colonial Union's plans never quite survive contact with reality. Wilson and his teammates are sent into uncertainty, trying to keep people alive while politics and fear take over.

In this Human Division story, a small imbalance threatens to become an international incident. The Diplomatic Corps learns that in a fragile political climate, even minor disputes can turn deadly, and solving the problem means understanding what everyone thinks they deserve.

Low-level crewmembers on a starship realize that people like them keep dying on away missions, in ways that look suspiciously like bad TV writing. They team up to change their fate, and end up confronting the story that seems to control their world.

A collection of Scalzi's nonfiction writing about science fiction films, mixing reviews, context, and personal commentary. It is a snapshot of how genre movies evolve, and why certain tropes, monsters, and spaceships keep coming back in new forms.

A fast, tongue-in-cheek fantasy adventure that leans into ominous prophecies, dark villains, and melodramatic titles. It plays with familiar epic fantasy beats while still delivering a brisk quest story that reads in a single sitting.

On the remote planet Zarathustra, hard-luck contractor Jack Holloway stumbles on a small, fuzzy new species that may be fully sentient. Proving it could wreck a mining deal, and put Jack in the middle of a legal and corporate brawl.

A satirical political romp in which a staffer discovers the President's brain is literally missing, and the country is still expected to function. Trying to fix the mess leads to conspiracies, absurd cover-ups, and the kind of chaos only a Scalzi comedy can sustain.

David Sawyer runs for office in a district that includes a large alien population, and he has to learn fast how politics changes when your voters are not all human. It is a quick, funny look at campaigns, compromise, and what representation really means.

In a tense space engagement, Captain Michael Obwije hunts an enemy vessel that refuses to behave like a normal ship. This short story delivers a tight cat-and-mouse chase, then pivots into a twisty look at control, loyalty, and what a weapon really is.

A dark science fantasy novella about a starship powered by a captive god and a captain ordered on a brutal mission. As faith and force collide, the crew must confront what their empire is built on, and what it costs to keep the engines running.

Judge Nugan Bufan Sn just wants to play a round of golf, but in his line of work that is not simple. Set in the Android's Dream universe, this short story mixes far-future politics with slapstick danger and a steady stream of bad surprises.

A parallel telling of The Last Colony through the eyes of Zoe, a teenager growing up inside the Colonial Union's strange new home. She faces danger, first contact, and hard moral choices, while trying to figure out what kind of person she wants to be.

A curated decade of posts from Scalzi's long-running blog, covering writing, pop culture, and life online. The pieces range from practical to personal, and the throughline is a clear, funny voice that does not shy away from an argument.

A shared-world audiobook anthology imagining a near-future city where technology, climate, and corporate power reshape everyday life. Edited by Scalzi, it collects multiple authors' stories that connect through the setting while exploring very different corners of it.

After a political coup on an alien world, a Colonial Union envoy is left to negotiate in the uneasy aftermath. It is a short Old Man's War universe story about diplomacy under pressure, and the compromises that come with trying to keep a peace.

A collection of nonfiction pieces about writing, publishing, and the daily reality of being a working author in a wired world. Scalzi moves from practical advice to sharp observations, often with humor, and without pretending the job is glamorous.

A set of diary entries from Jane Sagan, offering a personal window into the Old Man's War universe between major events. It blends battlefield moments with quieter reflections on loyalty, loss, and how a soldier stays human while doing inhuman work.

John Perry and Jane Sagan are pulled from the battlefield and tasked with leading a new colony, a job with more politics than bullets. On an unfamiliar world, they must protect their people while navigating forces that would rather see the colony fail.

Special Forces soldiers called the Ghost Brigades are grown from human DNA and sent on missions regular troops cannot touch. A new recruit must hunt down a traitor whose secrets could doom humanity, while figuring out who he really is.

A diplomatic mess erupts when an alien ambassador sparks a serious cultural insult, and State Department fixer Harry Creek gets the problem. To stop a war, he must track down a very specific sheep, while dodging political and corporate sabotage.

A humorous short story that begins with a journalist taking an assignment that seems harmless: go on dates with aliens and write it up. The plan goes sideways fast, and the awkwardness turns into something stranger, and riskier, than anyone expected.

A friendly, opinionated guide to science fiction cinema that mixes history, context, and recommendations. Scalzi surveys key films and themes, pointing out why certain movies matter and how the genre keeps reinventing itself on screen.

A short Old Man's War universe piece that frames John Perry's experience as a public Q and A. The format is playful, but it also highlights what soldiers can say, what they cannot, and what gets lost when war becomes a media story.

When 75-year-old John Perry enlists in the Colonial Defense Forces, he leaves Earth behind for a war he does not understand. Given a new body and a new life, he is thrown into brutal alien conflict and hard questions about identity and sacrifice.

More bite-size stories of bad decisions and baffling blunders, building on the format of the first Book of the Dumb. It is built for dipping in and out, with quick anecdotes that mix trivia, history, and a straight-faced sense of disbelief.

Hollywood agent Tom Stein is hired to represent a group of aliens making first contact, but there is a catch: they smell so bad they make humans vomit. Tom must turn that problem into a public relations win before the deal falls apart.

A humor-and-trivia collection that spotlights spectacularly dumb ideas, mistakes, and misjudgments from history and everyday life. The entries are short, punchy, and designed for browsing, with a tone that leans more incredulous than mean.

An easygoing tour of the cosmos that explains the solar system, stars, and galaxies without talking down to you. It also includes observing tips and star charts, aimed at curious readers who want a better grip on what they are seeing in the night sky.

A practical guide to handling money on the internet, from basic online banking and bill paying to shopping, security, and avoiding scams. Written in a clear, no-nonsense voice that assumes readers want real-world steps, not jargon.