I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Head On by John Scalzi Series: Lock In #2
Published by Tor Books on April 17 2018
Genres: Science fiction
Pages: 335
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Scalzi expands on the fascinating world of Lock In with this sports-centric sequel that won’t disappoint his many fans, and will likely earn him some new ones.
Four years ago I read my very first Scalzi book and loved it. Lock In takes place in a near-future world where a crippling disease has made a percentage of the population unable to utilize their bodies in any way, even though their brains function normally. Dubbed Hadens after the name of the disease, these people have flourished—in great part due to government funding—with access to a “Hadens only” virtual world called the Agora, and the invention of “threeps,” sophisticated robots that use neural connections to allow Hadens to walk around and interact with others. The first book in the series introduced us to private investigator Chris Shane, whose fame as a child Haden has followed him into adulthood, and his non-Haden partner Leslie Vann, a wise-cracking heavy drinker with a keen sense of observation.
Chris and Leslie are back in book two and immediately become embroiled in the suspicious death of a famous Hilketa player, which leads to a full-blown investigation as they delve into the seedy underbelly of professional sports. Hilketa is gladiator-like sport played exclusively by Hadens, where the object of the game is to lop off the head of one of the players and get it into the goal at the end of the field. Hilketa is supposed to be safe for Hadens—their physical bodies are safely at home while their threep head is being ripped off—but when a player named Duane Chapman dies during a game, Chris and Vann don’t believe for a second that it was an accident. Their investigation takes them from the playing field to the secret love nest of Chapman to the manufacturer of a vitamin supplement used by the players, as Scalzi weaves a story of tangled connections, secret love affairs, and jealous wives and girlfriends.
Although technically a sequel, Head On is a self-contained story and could be read as a stand-alone if you haven’t yet read Lock In and you simply want to dive into this book immediately. However, I would recommend reading Lock In first, simply because Scalzi doesn’t really repeat himself in this book (which is a good thing!) and only touches on the basics of Hadens. Lock In immerses the reader in the Haden world and really establishes the characters of Chris and Vann, and I’d hate to have you miss that reading experience. I was very happy to learn all kinds of new things about Hadens in this book, including the awkwardness of trying to get around in a threep that isn’t fully charged. Scalzi expands on Chris’ character in particular, as the reader gets to spend time with his family (and there is one scene in particular with his mother that gave me goosebumps, it was so heartfelt and sweet) as well as his roommates (fellow Hadens who watch out for and take care of each others’ bodies).
I’m quite familiar with John Scalzi’s political and social views and opinions from reading his blog, and he has a field day in Head On exploring things like what really goes on behind the scenes of professional sports, the ins and outs of product endorsements, and the politics of a high profile sport that is driven by money (then again, what sport isn’t?) We also get to see the results of a law that has effectively taken away much of the government funding of Hadens, which is problematic because of their disabled status. It sounds like a story line packed with social commentary, but Scalzi manages to balance it out with a fast-moving plot and terrifically funny characters. And for all you cat lovers, there’s also a subplot involving a cat (who turns out to be very important to the investigation) that I absolutely loved.
Which brings me to my favorite part of Head On, the dialog. I almost wish I’d listened to the audio version of this book, because I’m sure it’s fantastic. Snappy dialog is one of Scalzi’s strengths, and I never tire of the banter between characters, and there’s plenty of that here. When you’ve finished a book and you feel like you know the characters, then the author has done his job well.
Honestly, I expected a story that was centered around a violent sport to focus more on that sport, and in this regard I was slightly disappointed. There is almost no “game” action at all in Head On, although there is a fun scene between Chris and a Helkita player that certainly gives the reader a taste of what the game is like, but frankly, I wanted a little more play-by-play during an actual Helkita game. There was also a fair amount of “talk” going on, as Chris and Vann interrogate just about every character in the story. I’ll admit I wanted to skip ahead a few times when these chatty scenes became just a little too long.
But I can’t fault the constant twists and turns that made this story such a page-turner. Scalzi’s characters are far from perfect and get into one scrape after another, and it was a blast to see such a high body count by the end of the story (not what I was expecting at all!). I’m not sure if there will be more adventures for Chris and Vann, but I sincerely hope so. I miss them already.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I hope he will write more of these as well, they’re fun characters!
It’s too bad we had to wait four years between these two books, hopefully if he writes more the wait will be shorter:-)
So many people love this series that I really should pick it up. However, I really want Fuzzy Nation to be my first Scalzi read. Guess I better get busy!
Barb (boxermommyreads) recently posted…April 2018 Monthly Wrap Up
I have a copy of Fuzzy Nation, I totally want to read it someday! I bought it years ago, but you know how that goes. Some books get dusty…
Scalzi is an author I know I would probably love if I read one of his books, I always mean to read his long works but I always put them on the backburner. I have read his flash fiction collection and it was amazing so I should really read something longer. Did you enjoy the Collapsing Empire, I know I have it somewhere hidden in my Kindle.
I did enjoy Collapsing Empire, but I think I like these Lock In books a little more. They are funnier and easier to relate to, imo.
Freaking adored this book, and adored the first one, AND adored the free “mockumentary” type story that J.S. did before the first one came out. What an amazing world, amazing characters, amazing dialog.
These are definitely my favorite Scalzi books to date. I could listen to his dialog all day:-)
If Chris keeps going through threeps as if they were tissues, I doubt they FBI will keep him/her as an active agent! It might be disastrous for their budget! .-D .-D
Jokes aside, another very enjoyable Scalzi novel that manages to entertain while it makes you think: what I call a win-win situation…
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: HEAD ON (Lock In #2), by John Scalzi
LOL, I loved that he trashed so many threeps in this book. Sooo funny!
Great review, Tammy:). I LOVED this one – but I’m such a sucker for near future whodunits and I particularly enjoy the interaction between the characters and the clever pacing. I was quite relieved there wasn’t too much about the game as I was slightly horrified at just how violent it was… but I think this would make a fantastic TV series.
You’re right, this would make a great TV series. I love detective stories (all my favorite TV shows!) and I would totally watch this:-)
@Tammy I loved Red Shirts. I didn’t pick up Lock In, now with the sequel coming out I must read both. Thanks!
I’m dying to read Red Shirts! One of these days…
I really enjoyed this. I actually hadn’t even noticed it didn’t focus much on the actual sport, but thinking about it, there really wasnt much.
Lisa @TenaciousReader recently posted…Sharing Love for the #FearlessWomen in Speculative Fiction
The focus was definitely on the murder mystery aspect, which really makes sense.
Hilketa was pretty awesome, wasn’t it? But I guess there’s only so much to say about a sport where the goal is to rip off the opponent’s head and score with it, lol! I agree it would have been cool to know more about the background and culture of it though, but I suppose we got to see the darker side of it in Chris’s investigation case. I did love the mystery aspect this time, I thought it was so much more suspenseful than in the first book (where I guess the culprit before the halfway point, haha)!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist
I thought the twists and turns were great, I really didn’t know who the killer was until the end!
I hadn’t realised there’d been four years between books, gulp – then again, I did read the first book a heck of a lot later than everyone else. Silver linings of being perpetually late to the party.
Lynn 😀