The Last Colony is Out
Posted on April 17, 2007 Posted by John Scalzi 24 Comments
Today is the official release of The Last Colony — if you go to your bookstores today, there it will be, in the science fiction section, all winsome and pretty, begging you to take it home, open its pages, and see what the heck happens next to John Perry and Jane Sagan. You can also get it online, of course: Here’s the link for the Tower.com site, which has the correct release date listed, and here’s Amazon, which says it’s available on 4/27 (Powell’s has the same date), and here’s Barnes & Noble’s site, which says it’s available in May, and yet assures shipping in 24 hours. I’m pretty sure that all of them have the book in stock regardless and will ship it to you forthwith.
To mark the occasion of the release, here’s a promotional video of me talking about The Last Colony, filmed by Expanded Books. No, it doesn’t feature any talking books:
In retrospect, I’m not entirely sure I made the correct sartorial choices for the interview, but what can you do. The interviewer, incidentally, has her own Web site, here. She was very nice, as was the rest of the Expanded Books crew. Here’s that YouTube link, incidentally.
In any event: Another book! I’m very pleased. And I’m pleased with this book, too: I think TLC gives John and Jane the right send off. Folks are asking me if I plan to return to the “Old Man’s War” universe, and I would say I probably will, since I think it’s an interesting universe, and since Tor really really really wants me to. As an author it’s nice when your publisher really really really wants to publish a book from you. However, this is the last book with John and Jane as the leads. That’s a definite.
I’ll have more to say about The Last Colony later, I’m sure; for now, I just hope you’ll enjoy reading it.
Very neat video. Thanks for posting it! :)
(Will you be visiting Scandinavia sometime?)
Very neat video. Thanks for posting it! :)
(Will you be visiting Scandinavia sometime?)
Winsome, huh? ;-)
Swashbuckling? There are pirates?!?!?
Zomg! I lurve pirates, arrrrgghhhh!
Great interview. Looking forward to reading the book.
Good interview. I think chest hair tuft sticking out of your sweater was very classy.
The Barnes & Noble in West Chester (N of Cincinnati) had it in last night. I’m about halfway through it now. Excellent story so far.
BTW, you are still going to be at Penguicon this weekend, right? See ya there. ;-)
Grant:
Yeah, I noticed that as I watched. What can I say. I can’t hide my manliness.
The was a man in that video?
[blink] [blink].
I was too busy watching Lani Garcia.
Good interview John :-)
I can’t get the video to work. Weird. It keeps getting hung up on my browser.
I finished TLC last night! Thank you for writing somehting that was such a page turner to get my mind off of the goddamn leaks in the ceiling and the flooded basement.
I loved it! Not boring at all like some had said. Fie on them! I have two questions though, ut I am hesitant to ask here as I don’t wish to spoil it for others.
I don’t think anyone’s actually said it was boring. One person said the galactic politics in it were tiresome, but that’s not the same thing.
Re: Your two questions: Send them along in e-mail.
I don’t think anyone’s actually said it was boring. One person said the galactic politics in it were tiresome, but that’s not the same thing.
Re: Your two questions: Send them along in e-mail.
Wait, don’t you know if one person asks something, usually there are other who have the same question but are too shy to ask? Yeah, yeah, spoilers and spoilers. Now I’m itchy to get the book. It’ll be right behind Tobias and right in front of Neil Gaiman.
Picked up a copy in Perrysburg at the Books A Million this past Saturday.
And the clothing is spot on (looks like blue and maize). ;-)
Picked it up in Princeton, NJ today. Couldn’t wait until one of the tour stores had the autographed version!
Interesting and different.
Thanks.
When you’re reading TLC, keep an eye out for a very sly Bacon Cat reference…but it’s not gratuitous, it fits in well where it was put. And I got a giggle out of it…
I’ll be picking up a copy of TLC at the Seattle reading. It’ll be tough having to wait that long (no one has ever accused me of being Mr. Patience), but since I’m not quite finished with TGB yet, at least I’ve got some Scalzified fun to tide me over.
I’ll be picking up a copy of TLC at the Seattle reading. It’ll be tough having to wait that long (no one has ever accused me of being Mr. Patience), but since I’m not quite finished with TGB yet, at least I’ve got some Scalzified fun to tide me over.
Nice interview John. Though seeing all the books together still makes me happy that I have an original artwork hardbound Old Man’s War. I know mine won’t match (and I like the current art too) but I really loved the artwork for the first printing of Old Man’s War.
My local bookstore had at least two copies when I got there. They had at least one when I left. I took pictures as evidence: http://www.sdowney.org/2007/04/this-is-where-i-bought-it.html
I’m about 50 or so pages in. And it would be more if I weren’t fooling around with this whole mobile blogging / cross posting thing.
Thank you for the book. With the most sincere thanks I can give.
Real appreciation is green and folds.
Damn you Scalzi!
I had to go to 3 bookstores today to find your newest treasure. My promise (to myself) to not crack it open until bed time lasted only until my wife left for work at 9:30 tonight. My promise to only read 1 or 2 chapters (since I’d read the first one online) soon turned into 3 (expected) and then 4 (mostly expected) and then all 300+ pages. It’s now 12:30 am, and I have 3 hours worth of stuff to take care of before I can even think of sleep (cats really need to be able to change their own litter). I no longer have a brand new book to read, a new adventure to look forward to – I now have a silent reminder of my lack of self-control.
But it was a damn good read. I enjoyed it immensely – I can already foresee a re-reading of the trilogy in the near future (because my stack of 30+ books isn’t guilt-inducing enough without re-reading). I liked the political aspect of the book, it had enough action to keep the reader hooked, and the family dynamic was very interesting. A hard book to stick into narrow categories, which I think is a great selling point for it.
A very nice send-off to a fun series. And though I want more books with these characters, more books set in this world, I think your decision not to do so is a wise one. The three volumes stand together nicely as a body of work, from beginning to end (and I’ll eventually find a way to pick up the two ancillary volumes) and adding more to them would dilute the impact.
Old Man’s War introduced me to your writing, Agent to the Stars showed you weren’t a one-hit wonder, and now I’m hooked. I’m looking forward to reading your future work, and god knows I’m a sucker for series. But leave this universe alone, it’s just fine as it is.
I’m hoping my copy comes in tomorrow. B&N moved to town last year, so I give my local independent bookstore a spreadsheet with my book order for the next month, and unless the book is embargoed, I usually get them early. Damn it. Titans of Chaos was in Monday, but not the TLC. Good thing is, I will have Mr. Wright’s book finished this evening, leaving me with only about 40 other books to read.
I’ll have to hide TLC from the husband. I read faster than he does, so it’s not like I’m being unfair or anything. He has some John Varley to finish first. Hah!
I received notice yesterday (the 17th) that Amazon shipped mine. I may receive it today since a lot of books ship out of the warehouse in Kansas, but it’ll probably be tomorrow.
I’m not sure why they’re still listing a later date.