John Scalzi books in order
American science fiction writer
- Born
- 1969
- Country
- United States
- Books
- 39
- Series
- 3
John Scalzi has published 27 novels, 4 novellas and 8 other books, beginning with Agent to the Stars (2005). The 3 series include Old Man's War (7 books, starting with Old Man's War), The Dispatcher (3 books, starting with The Dispatcher) and The Interdependency (3 books, starting with The Collapsing Empire). The best-known is Old Man's War (2005). The latest is When the Moon Hits Your Eye (2025).
Updated September 2026
Old Man's War books in order (7)Series page
Reading order: 1 Old Man's War (2005) · 2 The Ghost Brigades (2006) · 3 The Last Colony (2007) · 4 Zoe's Tale (2008) · 5 The Human Division (2013) · 6 The End of All Things (2015) · 7 Shattering Peace (2025)
- 1.
Old Man's War (Jan 2005)
- 2.
The Ghost Brigades (Mar 2006)
- 3.
The Last Colony (Apr 2007)
- 4.
Zoe's Tale (Aug 2008)
- 5.
The Human Division (2013)
- 6.
The End of All Things (Aug 2015)
- 7.
Shattering Peace (2025)
The Dispatcher books in order (3)Series page
Reading order: 1 The Dispatcher (2016) · 2 Murder by Other Means (2021) · 3 Travel by Bullet (2022)
- 1.
The Dispatcher (Oct 2016)
- 2.
Murder by Other Means (2021)
- 3.
Travel by Bullet (2022)
The Interdependency books in order (3)Series page
Reading order: 1 The Collapsing Empire (2017) · 2 The Consuming Fire (2018) · 3 The Last Emperox (2020)
- 1.
The Collapsing Empire (Mar 2017)
- 2.
The Consuming Fire (2018)
- 3.
The Last Emperox (Apr 2020)
Where to start with John Scalzi
Start here
Old Man's War
John Scalzi's most-read book and the first of the 7 Old Man's War books.
Shortest way in
The Sagan Diary
One of the most-read, at about 100 pages.
Newest
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
Published March 2025.
Standalone novels in order
The Rough Guide to The Universe (Rough Guide Science/Phenomena) (2003)
Uncle John's Presents Book of the Dumb (2003)
Agent to the Stars (2005)
The Android's Dream (Oct 2006)
You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop (2007)
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded (2008)
Uncle John's Presents Book of the Dumb 2 (Uncle Johns Presents) (2010)
Fuzzy Nation (May 2011)
Redshirts (Jun 2012)
Lock in (2014)
Old Man's War Series 1-6 (2016)
Don't Live for Your Obituary (2017)
Head On (2018)
The Kaiju Preservation Society (Mar 2022)
Starter Villain (Sep 2023)
When the Moon Hits Your Eye (Mar 2025)
Novellas in order
The Sagan Diary (2007)
The God Engines (Dec 2009)
Unlocked (2014)
Other books in order
Questions for a Soldier (2005)
After the Coup (2010)
The President's Brain Is Missing: A Tor.Com Original (2011)
A Guerra Do Velho (2016)
Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi (2016)
B-Team, The (2017)
3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years (Nov 2025)
About John Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Old Man's War series, three novels of which have been nominated for the Hugo Award, and for his blog Whatever, where he has written on a number of topics since 1998. 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. He has written non-fiction books and columns on diverse topics such as finance, video games, films, astronomy, writing and politics, and served as a creative consultant for the TV series Stargate Universe.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
John Scalzi FAQ
- How many books has John Scalzi written?
- John Scalzi has published 27 novels, 4 novellas and 8 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read John Scalzi's books in?
- Read each series in its own order: start Old Man's War with Old Man's War, The Dispatcher with The Dispatcher and The Interdependency with The Collapsing Empire. The other books stand alone and can be read in any order.
- What is John Scalzi's latest book?
- When the Moon Hits Your Eye (2025).
- What is John Scalzi's most famous book?
- Old Man's War (2005) is John Scalzi's most widely read book.
- Are John Scalzi's books connected?
- 13 books belong to 3 series (Old Man's War, The Dispatcher and The Interdependency); the other 26 books stand alone.
Authors like John Scalzi
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.