eBook, 28 pages
Published Aug. 6, 2010 by Tor Books.
In a universe of harsh interstellar conflict, the practice of interspecies diplomacy—when possible—is important. So being a Colonial Union officer attached to an interplanetary diplomatic mission sometimes means taking a fall. Literally.
This story is set in the universe of Old Man’s War, and was acquired and edited for Tor.com by Patrick Nielsen Hayden.
Scalzi details combat well (even arena combat) and does a good job of sketching the rough aspects of alien morphology, letting the reader fill in the fine grain. Still, this little essay hovers weirdly between the chronology of the rest of the book series, and probably should have been incorporated into one of the novels instead.
Funny but a bit disconnected from the rest of the series.
Quick and easy short story that bridges the bulk of Old Man's War into a new direction with some of the prior case but new players as well. Lieutenant Harry Wilson takes much more staging and his dialog should make you grin. Enjoy this quick and easy rainy day read.
