But Krissy knows just how long each novel takes because she has to live with me while I’m writing them, and she sees pretty much every stage of the process. For this one, the process was—how to put it—more process-y than it’s been with others. She encouraged me, supported me, and loved me through it. She is the best of people, and every day I am reminded how stupendously, genuinely lucky I am that I get to be with her. I hope each of you in your life has someone like her in it.
—John Scalzi
12/20/17
OTHER TOR BOOKS BY JOHN SCALZI
Agent to the Stars
The Android’s Dream
Fuzzy Nation
Redshirts
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded
Lock In
The Collapsing Empire
The Old Man’s War Novels
Old Man’s War
The Ghost Brigades
The Last Colony
Zoe’s Tale
The Human Division
The End of All Things
Edited by John Scalzi
Metatropolis
About the Author
JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular and acclaimed SF authors to emerge in the last decade. His massively successful debut, Old Man’s War, won him science fiction’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony; Fuzzy Nation; Redshirts, which won 2013’s Hugo Award for Best Novel; and Lock In. Material from his widely read blog, Whatever (whatever.scalzi.com), has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
The Death of Duane Chapman
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Other Tor Books by John Scalzi
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
HEAD ON
Copyright © 2018 by John Scalzi
All rights reserved.
Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-8891-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-18892-2 (signed edition)
ISBN 978-0-7653-8892-6 (ebook)
eISBN 9780765388926
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First Edition: April 2018