Ohio author John Scalzi’s latest book is a retelling of an old classic

“Fuzzy Nation” began as a writing experiment based on a public domain work

web John Scalzi, award-winning Ohio author, latest book, "Fuzzy Nation," is a twist on an older sci-fi classic.

web "Fuzzy Nation" by author John Scalzi, award-winning Ohio author, latest book "Fuzzy Nation" is a twist on an older sci-fi classic.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Rosemary Clooney musical makes world debut in Dayton
2/22/12
Charity boxing event this weekend puts local names in the ring
2/21/12
Rookwood tile exhibition now open
2/20/12
Commentary: Early presidents wouldn’t have chance today
2/20/12
Christian band's tour stops in Lebanon
2/15/12
> More headlines

By Cara Spray, Contributing Writer 5:57 PM Friday, July 15, 2011

When award-winning Ohio author John Scalzi chose to kick off his book tour in Dayton this May, he did it for the enthusiastic hometown crowds that he says he has encountered over the years.

“This is a city of readers,” he remarked.

Scalzi, a California transplant, calls the village of Bradford, which lies on the border of Darke and Miami counties, home and doesn’t feel it’s held back his publishing career in any way. “I think there’s a feeling you have to move to New York City or Los Angeles in order to get contacts in the publishing industry ... but in fact what really matters is if you have good and interesting stories to tell,” he said.

His latest book, “Fuzzy Nation,” is a twist on an older sci-fi classic — “Little Fuzzy” by H. Beam Piper. It began as a writing experiment based on the public domain work by Piper and was not originally intended for publication. Scalzi — the author of more than a dozen books — was experiencing some frustration and wanted to reconnect with the joy of writing and he turned to a book he knew and cared about for inspiration.

“I did it not for greed, or for avarice, or to spit on another writer’s grave,” said Scalzi, “but from a place of enthusiasm.”

Scalzi says he kept fans of the original work and the Piper estate at the forefront of his mind when he and his publishing agent discussed selling “Fuzzy Nation”.

“I don’t want to be seen as the guy who stomps on Piper’s grave,” Scalzi said. “They (Piper’s estate) read it, they liked it, they didn’t feel it was detrimental to the original material, and so they let us do it.”

Scalzi likened his retelling of “Little Fuzzy” to popular stories that have been reimagined in film such as Jane Austen’s “Emma” into the movie “Clueless” and Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” into the movie “10 Things I Hate About You.”

“Lots of stories get re-imagined in different sorts of ways and it doesn’t diminish the earlier work, it just brings attention to it again,” Scalzi said.

Even though the two books share the same story, the details are different. “I wanted people who had read the earlier book to actually have a whole new experience and I wanted the people who had not read the earlier one, not to feel like they had to go back to it,” Scalzi said. “One of the nice things about this is that by raising the profile of this particular story, I’m also raising the profile of H. Beam Piper, saying ‘Here is somebody who was a pretty influential figure in science fiction in his time, why don’t you check out some of the other stuff that he did?’”

Retelling Piper’s story led to an experience Scalzi didn’t anticipate, but one that met his goal of reconnecting with his writing. “It was kind of fun to basically wander down the same paths he did.” He said the process “tells you a little bit about yourself as a writer and it tells you a little about that person as a writer. It tells you a little bit about your time as opposed to their time. It was a learning experience in a whole lot of ways I didn’t necessarily expect.”

Recent books by John Scalzi

“Fuzzy Nation”

Published May 10, 2011 by Tor Books

The Buzz: “Little Fuzzy is cleverly constructed, compact, masterful, lighthearted yet dramatic, an average-guy-fights-corrupt-establishment tearjerker that also manages to deal with deep philosophical and neurological issues still current today: what constitutes consciousness and sapience, and how do we recognize it?”

— Barnes & Noble review

“Zoe’s Tale”

Published August 19, 2008 by Tor Books

The Buzz: “Scalzi’s sharp ear for dialogue will draw in new readers, particularly young adults.”

— Publishers Weekly Review

“The Rough Guide to the Universe second edition”

Published May 5, 2008 by Rough Guide Books

The Buzz: “This fascinating guide is not meant to delve too deeply; instead it gives the reader the grounding needed to appreciate the night sky.”

— Amazon Product Description

“Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008”

Published September 13, 2008 by Subterranean Press

The Buzz: “This book captures everything I love about blogging ... this book is made of EPIC WIN.”

— Wil Wheaton, actor

Additional Scalzi titles include: “You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing,” (Subterranean Press, 2007); “The Last Colony,” (Tor Books, 2007); “The Ghost Brigades,” (Tor Books, 2006); “The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies,” (Rough Guide Books, 2005); “The Android’s Dream,” (Tor Books, 2006); “Agent to the Stars,” (Subterranean Press, 2005); “Old Man’s War,” (Tor, 2005); “The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies,” (Rough Guide Books, 2005); “The Book of the Dumb 2,” (Portable Press, 2004); “The Book of the Dumb,” (Portable Press, 2003); “The Rough Guide to Money Online,” (Rough Guide Books, 2000)

Share this article