Old Man's War - John Scalzi

Best Sci-Fi novel I've read in awhile

This is a wonderful book. Both the prose and characterizations are far above what you can normally expect from science fiction these days. Scalzi has imagined an interesting universe and there are a lot of intense action sequences balanced by thoughful, nuanced passages. The book also has a lot of clever, salty dialogue between the soldiers that is often quite funny.

This is the best science fiction book to come out since The Risen Empire/Killing of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld, in my opinion.

What's All the Excitement About?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed "Old Man's War". But I enjoyed it more when it was called "Starship Troopers" or "The Forever War". Scalzi's book is well written and has a few fun ideas like the BrainPal and SmartBlood and the Ghost Brigades, but in the end it is very derivative of the above mentioned sources (as well as the movie version of Starship Troopers). John Perry is an interesting character, but the reality is that he doesn't really change much through the course of the book, and in the end he doesn't seem that moved one way or another by the prospect of losing his resurrected wife from his former life. The novel is good on plot, well-paced and solidly written. It suffers from soft characterizations and a lack of originality. If you're going to give us this type of book, give us characters we care about or don't bother.

One word, Amazing.

I am no big time book reader, I had some time to spend so I read this book first in eBook format on my phone. Enjoyed it so much that a couple months later I bought it in paperback along with Ghost Brigades to enjoy it more and go further in the series. Not thinking much into it when I bought it I wish I also got the third book, "The Lost Colony" because despite work I finished both books in 3 days and was left wanting more like a drug crazed addict.

Old Man's War tells of a normal man doing great things, and the way John Scalzi writes it got me laughing and even feeling for the poor "old" man. He doesn't get into too much technical detail like other writers do, it's an all out no bull style of writing and he ain't afraid of using certain words either. His writing really comes out in The Ghost Brigades, but no need to write a review for that as by the end of this book you'll be wanting the next. I don't think I will be able to handle it when I am done with The Lost Colony.

But anyways, the Universe Scalzi creates is truly great. And I hope more comes out, even if it doesn't include the characters we have come to love in this series. Buy it, I doubt you'll regret it.

Enjoyable read

I enjoyed the characters, the sense of teamwork, the introduction to new (to me) science fiction concepts, a new universe with continually new aliens and the happy ending.

Excellent

I kept hearing about this book... sometimes people are right when they recommend something. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to this, but whenever it happens, it's a very good thing!

Sometime in the future, earth is much like it was but is really a distant back-water as all the action is happening in space. There, the Colonial Defense Forces are fighting battles to secure mankind's foothold amongst the stars. They control all access to space-travel and the only way off-planet is to volunteer in the CDF at the age of 65 and join the forces at 75. No one knows what happens after that--no CDF members have ever returned. John Perry's wife has died 8 years previously and he's ready to go. Like others, they are curious about what may be ahead. They expect to somehow be rejuvenated. Earth-side tech has only extended life minimally--to around 100 years--so old age still looms as much as ever.

What actually happens to these volunteers who give up everything when they leave Earth is an incredible tale. It's a sort of rites of passage for the elderly as we follow Perry and the new friends he makes through their voyage off-world and into testing and the "physical improvement regimen" and training/boot-camp and into battle and beyond. It's life-affirming that it is never too late to teach old dogs new tricks (well, most of the time, anyway), and that these people look forward to the future and wish to serve. Soldiering on endless battlefields is not so life-affirming, but perhaps it's necessary? At least they hope so, although at times it all seems senseless. There are so many cool notes hit in this book while the action and adventure never ends. Perry is a special sort of everyman, easy to relate to and yet has that bit of good sense and intelligence and quick-thinking that enables him to excel in this strange new world.

It's an engrossing journey from small-town America to the aliens and technology of the stars. How will humanity fare, with changes and enhancements and seemingly endless warfare on a galactic scale? Watching this all through the eyes of John Perry, one is caught up easily and so willingly. The characters are well-drawn and sympathetic, the plot gripping and filled with mind-boggling concepts and military action. It's a novel very worthy of the praise it has been receiving.