Head On is Out! How to Get It, Where to See Me, and Introducing the Theme Song
Posted on April 17, 2018 Posted by John Scalzi 36 Comments
The day has arrived! Head On, the stand-alone sequel to Lock In, is now officially out in North America! (UK, you will have to wait two more days.) “Stand-alone sequel” means that although the book follows the characters and universe of Lock In, it’s been written so that it can be enjoyed even if you haven’t read that book. The book has been getting some of the best reviews of my career:
“Scalzi expands his complex future with master strokes, balancing buddy-cop wryness with thought-provoking social and political commentary.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[Scalzi’s] prose flows like a river… his characters are beautifully crafted; and his future world is impeccably designed, at the same time wildly imaginative and wholly plausible.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Very clever, wonderfully satisfying fun.” — Kirkus Reviews
And, well. That doesn’t suck.
How can you get this book?
Print: It’s available at your local independent bookstore, and Barnes and Noble and other chains, as well as through your favorite online retailers, including, of course, Amazon.
eBook: Available through Amazon, BN.com, Google Play, iBooks, Kobo and other ebook retailers.
Audio: Available through Audible.com and in two(!) flavors: One narrated by Wil Wheaton, and the other by Amber Benson. They are both fantastic versions, you can’t go wrong with either (or both!).
“What if I want a signed copy?” I hear you ask? Well, there are several ways: One, Barnes & Noble has quite a few signed copies available. Two, Jay & Mary’s Book Center, my local bookstore, has a couple dozen signed copies on hand. Three, come see me on my book tour or order the book from one of the bookstores where I will be appearing; even if you’re not there in person I will sign and personalize your book for you.
Speaking of the book tour: Yes! I am on tour! Staring tonight in Ann Arbor, and then heading to Iowa City, Minneapolis, Los Angeles (for the LA Times Festival of Books), St. Louis, New York, Washington DC, and then back home to Troy, Ohio. At every stop aside from Los Angeles, I’ll be brand new work; in LA, I’ll be having an hourlong discussion with Wil Wheaton. I hope you’ll come see me on tour; it’s going to be fun.
Speaking of fun! Those of you who follow my works know that I frequently commission songs to tie into the release of my books. For Fuzzy Nation, I had Paul and Storm write one. For Redshirts, Jonathan Coulton. And for Lock In, former The Academy Is… and current solo artist William Beckett provided a fantastic song. For Head On, which is a stand-alone sequel to Lock In, I asked William to come back for another song. And because Head On features a massively popular new sport called “Hilketa,” I asked him for a song that would be at home in an arena, blasting out as fans are cheering and the players are coming out onto the field.
Did he deliver? Why, yes. Yes he did:
Yeah, I’m pretty darn happy.
I hope you enjoy Head On. I had a blast thinking it up and putting it down into words. I hope you’ll have as much fun reading it.
See you on tour!
Full multimedia goodness! I look forward to reading the book.
It has just occurred to me why I assumed Chris is a fella. I saw the cover art for Head On, as pictured above, before I read Lock In. Since it features the symbol for fellas-as-opposed-to-gals, that’s the direction I went.
Wishing you a happy & successful tour.
Congratulations! Great reviews! I ordered the hardback and expect it within a few days. Hopefully, the print is reasonably large.
Congratulations. Looking forward to it.
nice
You probably know this already, but I can’t buy it on kindle from Australia. Probably something weird to do with th Commonwealth rights… hopefully we’ll get it eventually given I don’t read paper books any more.
I got it on the 14th (because Waterstone’s are bad with street dates :-3) and spent the entire afternoon sitting in the park in some rare British sunshine with it.
It was good! I enjoyed it a lot more than Lock In, in fact. Bravo!
Congratulations, John. A good day in a writer’s life.
Oh dear! I see by those reviews that your failing career had taken a real nosedive. ;)
Happy Release Day to you! It dropped into my Audible account this morning and I’ll be listening to it right after my current audiobook. :)
The difficult thing about this book for me is going to be waiting to read it (cruise vacation planned for next week, I’ll want to enjoy this on the deck :-)). Luckily for me, I picked up Charlie Stross’ Merchant Prince series which should keep me distracted until then. Regardless, happy book release day!!
Congratulations on the release, sir! Sub Press shipped my signed copy yesterday, and I am VERY impatiently awaiting its arrival. I’ve really been looking forward to this one!
Safe travels on tour, and thank you for all the enjoyment you provide through your work, Mr. Scalzi!
I think it’s sweet you stayed up late to wait for the official release date and share it with us all. Thanks, Scalzi. Sleep in late and have some pie for breakfast!
Congratulations. I quiver with anticipation to read it. I loved the “Locked In.”
Now about this tour……
WHAT?!?! You are going to “that” state up north, but you can’t come visit your state’s capital!!! Sir, we have an independent bookstore – The Book Loft! We are a drive-able distance from your home so you could even sleep in your own bed if you like. Or we have lovely bed and breakfasts around. Or if you wanted I am sure Lucy Snyder and Gary Braunbeck (both Hugo winners) would love to play host to you! I am wounded, Sir. Emotionally wounded.
Thank you John! Can’t wait to see you tonight in Ann Arbor! Just re-read Lock In to get ready for Head On.
Will there be a version of the song we can download?
Huzzah! Downloading from Audible now! Looks like I’ll be spending the next couple of days with you and Wil in my earbuds. Temps. in the low 80’s this weekend in Los Angeles, tee shirt weather! Enjoy!
Obtaining book … and the song is great! Very catchy.
Happy book birthday! Congratulations!!
Yes! Just in time for my birthday! Mine is in route from Subterranean Press. Have a good day, John!
On my way to Barnes and Noble today.
In honor of this Scalzi publishing occasion I have coughed up my money and signed up for my very own wordpress blog account. I am a rank beginner. Any words of advice Sir Scalzi, as you are the veteran at this blogging thing. Nothing there yet though as I just set it up, I think. https://willisgarycpa.life
If you need to delete this comment as being off-topic, I understand. At least it started out on topic.
Audible version read by Will Wheaton waiting for my commute this morning…it’s starting off with a bang and I look forward to the commute home! Great accompanying song, too!
Carmichael’s, my local (Louisville, KY) independent bookstore has some signed copies, so it may be worth it to check out other independents.
Fascinating choice to have *two* different readers for the audio version, though it’s clear why that is. Congratulations Mr. Scalzi!
Very interesting that Amber Benson version of the audiobook is more than an hour longer than the Wil Wheaton version. The first book the disparity was not as large. I assume Wil just reads significantly faster this time?
Or was there a mistake in the listing?
Was up at 6 a.m. grumbling at the phone to download it. Just waiting for work to end so I can keep reading.
I assume the song will make more sense when I’m done reading though…
It dropped here at 9:15 PM local time, and I read till 2 or 3 to finish. So I got no sleep, but the book was Swell.
(I am convinced Chris is a man, though don’t know what his sexual identity is.)
(Also, Chris’ mom is OBVIOUSLY Krissy, but from old money)
Well, since I pre-ordered this three years ago (or, whenever it came up for pre-order, it’s so long ago I don’t remember) I had forgotten all about it, until Kindle popped a notice on my iPad this morning. And, now I’ve finished it, and got almost nothing done today.
Thoroughly enjoyable! Well worth tanking a day of work for. Don’t start it too late, unless you can afford to stay up all night.
Donut The Cat. And there you go, that’s all you need to know to rush out and buy this book.
Thanks John, I picked it up on the way home from work. I haven’t had the chance to start it because my son wanted to play video games with me and read some Harry Potter. I certainly look forward to reading it, but I can’t pass that kind of evening up! Good luck on the tour and hopefully the next time you are at Brookline Booksellers I will get the chance to attend one of your readings.
Rockin’ song! Also: Looking forward to reading HEAD ON. :-D
Well, jeez. I was gonna take my time and savor this over a few evenings.
Now I just polished this off in an evening.
Damn you, Scalzi.
Woohoo! Pleas let us know when we can Kindle it here in Australia :)
I love the idea of commissioning music to go with your books! Congratulations on the release. I’ve added both to my TBR pile :)
John, do you know if they mp3 CD of the audiobook will be available anytime soon? I prefer physical copies of my media, and usually order from B&N. Looking forward to hearing Benson’s version, anyway.
I was hoping to read this on a plane I’m about to take, but looks like the Kindle version isn’t out yet in Australia – any idea when its going to be released?
Is there a CD audiobook version? Not really a fan of audible.