This is a novel approach:  Take your last book, which was really quite good, and retell it from the perspective of a supporting character.  Scalzi's latest book, Zoe's Tale, does just that.  What's more, the supporting character is the sarcastic teenaged daughter of the protagonists in The Last Colony.  Of course, being Scalzi, I ordered and read it in hardcover.

This is the parallel of the last book in the John Perry storyline.  Zoe is the adopted teenaged daughter of John Perry and his ex-SpecialOps wife Jane Sagan who are asked to be the administrators of a new colony.  She must leave behind everything she has known, again, because the colony, named Roanoke, will be hidden, or lost, from everyone.  She must survive with the rest of the colony as the Conclave of Worlds comes after the colonists to destroy them for violating their non-compete edicts.  Oh, and also needs to deal with an entire race of aliens who hold her in the highest reverence for the acts of her biological father.

If you have not read The Lost Colony, do not read this book.  I could only imagine what it must seem like to a non-fan.  It does stand alone, but is not the voice of John Scalzi at his best.  It is, however, extremely entertaining to one familiar with the storyline.  Zoe is sarcastic, cynical, cruel in a teenage-girl way, and very funny.  She is a very endearing character to someone who appreciates some of those qualities.  This may be a fan-service book, but I am very happy to have it in my collection.