The Human Division Read-Along Begins!

I’ve known John Scalzi since the days when we were both kicking around USENET back in the 1990s, and it’s been really cool to see his career as a science fiction writer blossom over the last decade. He recently launched a new serial novel, The Human Division, which is being published by Tor Books in weekly digital “episodes,” and when the folks at Tor.com asked if I’d be interested in leading a read-along discussion, I jumped at the opportunity.

Well, the first installment just went online, to mark the early release of “The B-Team” to members of the Human Division mailing list. Here’s what I can tell you upfront: The story is set in the universe of Scalzi’s Old Man’s War and its sequels, with a storyline that builds off the implications of the ending to The Last Colony—but the way Scalzi’s framed this “pilot episode,” newcomers can pick up the relevant information as they go along. If you click through, you’ll see how Scalzi answered my own questions about how this serial brings back Harry Wilson, who first appeared in a short story at Tor.com back in 2008, and how Harry exemplifies a certain type of Golden Age science fiction hero…brought up to speed for contemporary audiences.

I’m looking forward to talking with Scalzi and his editor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, about The Human Division in the weeks ahead, and I hope you’ll join us.

8 January 2013 | read this |