John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against more advanced species. Citizens volunteer for the Colonial Defense Forces after retirement, in exchange for which they have their consciousness transferred into a young body, cloned from their DNA but enhanced. If, against the odds, they survive two years of combat (or 10 years if things aren't going well, which they're not), they get another body and enjoy a fresh start on a colony. This is Scalzi's first novel, and it creates a future he will revisit in subsequent stories.
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien …
John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against more advanced species. Citizens volunteer for the Colonial Defense Forces after retirement, in exchange for which they have their consciousness transferred into a young body, cloned from their DNA but enhanced. If, against the odds, they survive two years of combat (or 10 years if things aren't going well, which they're not), they get another body and enjoy a fresh start on a colony. This is Scalzi's first novel, and it creates a future he will revisit in subsequent stories.
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You’ll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You’ll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets. John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine—and what he will become is far stranger.
It was a very enjoyable reading experience, and a great piece of entertainment .But only that. I was hooked since the beginning, most because Scalzi has a fairly straightforward writing style, fluid and his sense of humor is very funny.
Got this book as part of a Humble Bundle if not mistaken and didn't take the time to read it... but since I did I haven't stopped. It made those daily commutes a whole lot more enjoyable. Every time I was hoping for something to happen... and what happened was better than expected.
... and now even more happy it is a whole universe/series of books!
Got this book as part of a Humble Bundle if not mistaken and didn't take the time to read it... but since I did I haven't stopped. It made those daily commutes a whole lot more enjoyable. Every time I was hoping for something to happen... and what happened was better than expected.
... and now even more happy it is a whole universe/series of books!
Not much to say, except I really liked this. Good classic sci fi.
Great book. Great character. This is very much like Starship Troopers. I would even call it more of a homage to that book and to Heinlein. This was fun to read and I really cared about all the characters. I really can't wait to read the next in the series but I have other books in my Kindle Library to read first so I'm moving on to them. But this is a series I can't wait to come back too.
Great book. Great character. This is very much like Starship Troopers. I would even call it more of a homage to that book and to Heinlein. This was fun to read and I really cared about all the characters. I really can't wait to read the next in the series but I have other books in my Kindle Library to read first so I'm moving on to them. But this is a series I can't wait to come back too.
Part Ender's Game (without the hero worship) part Starship Troppers (without the fascism) and quite a lot of fun. A few plot errors (one pertaining to the whereabouts of the crew of the Sparrowhawk spring to mind) and a couple of "just so"-moments took a little bit away from it.
Part Ender's Game (without the hero worship) part Starship Troppers (without the fascism) and quite a lot of fun. A few plot errors (one pertaining to the whereabouts of the crew of the Sparrowhawk spring to mind) and a couple of "just so"-moments took a little bit away from it.
A mix between star ship troopers and enders game
Very readable, good characters, a strong sense of humor. I'm totally not a fan of military space opera, but this was worth reading.
Very readable, good characters, a strong sense of humor. I'm totally not a fan of military space opera, but this was worth reading.
Since I read Redshirts earlier this year, John Scalzi has been becoming one of my favorite sci-fi authors. Old Man's War is an extremely well crafted story. It borrows heavily from Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers for the aesthetic. You've got a well-trained army going against a thousand things that would eat them for breakfast without hesitation. Then you get into a bunch of nature versus nurture questions about behavior and what it means to be human. Old Man's War is an exquisite piece of contemplative fiction.
Since I read Redshirts earlier this year, John Scalzi has been becoming one of my favorite sci-fi authors. Old Man's War is an extremely well crafted story. It borrows heavily from Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers for the aesthetic. You've got a well-trained army going against a thousand things that would eat them for breakfast without hesitation. Then you get into a bunch of nature versus nurture questions about behavior and what it means to be human. Old Man's War is an exquisite piece of contemplative fiction.
I see why people rate this one so highly. I burned it down in about 2 days, which is both due to it's relatively short length, and it's easy but engaging style.
I won't go into specifics, since I think I'm the last one around here to read it, so just the 10,000 foot view.
Some books are really dense and hard to get through, and at the end, leave you wondering if any of the characters progressed at all. Some books move so fast that might swear that the book read itself while you slept, for all the continuity you experienced. Right in the middle are those books that move quickly, but are written in a way that leaves you feeling like you aren't missing anything you need, or are weighted down with anything you don't. This book is an example of the last type.
Someone else mentioned that …
I see why people rate this one so highly. I burned it down in about 2 days, which is both due to it's relatively short length, and it's easy but engaging style.
I won't go into specifics, since I think I'm the last one around here to read it, so just the 10,000 foot view.
Some books are really dense and hard to get through, and at the end, leave you wondering if any of the characters progressed at all. Some books move so fast that might swear that the book read itself while you slept, for all the continuity you experienced. Right in the middle are those books that move quickly, but are written in a way that leaves you feeling like you aren't missing anything you need, or are weighted down with anything you don't. This book is an example of the last type.
Someone else mentioned that it felt like a great homage to "Starship Troopers", and I totally see that. As a battlelogue of one soldier's exciting-turned-regretful-turned-accepting journey through war with a veritable nature's field journal of unashamedly bizarre xenobiology, there was no obtuse technobabble, and conversely, no technology that I felt was "practically magic" by anthropological definition. It just worked. Actually, it worked a bit too well: near the end, I was envisioning how this could be turned into a movie. I have no idea if it's on that track, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least (I checked; it is).
I would have given this another 1/2 star (leaving room for the "perfect five star book") if not for the occasional bouts of 'Crichtonosis', when one character is used strictly to set up another as a mouthpiece for showing off the author's cool theory/grasp of science/need to educate in the middle of an otherwise enjoyable read. Honestly, though, in some cases, this really irritates me. Here, though, it fit because the...two?...times it happened, it wasn't very drawn out, and was positioned at a turning point for the story, making it one part necessary, one part "look at me".
This generation's worthy successor to Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" and Haldeman's "The Forever War."
This generation's worthy successor to Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" and Haldeman's "The Forever War."
I picked up this book as part of the Humble E-Book Bundle, or otherwise I'd probably haven't bought it. And with what I know now I would have regretted it.
Some SciFi books feature a lengthy introduction, telling you how this setting came to be. Others jump right in and leave you wanting for more explanations. And a very few skip the introduction but manage describe the setting in words that have you understand everything right away. Scalzi manages the last way, by having his characters guess about how stuff works. Combine with that characters that are relatable, a marvelous fluid writing style, a nice backstory, mix well, and you've got a book that lends to re-reading and has you wanting for more (eg. [b:The Ghost Brigades|239399|The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War, #2)|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729668s/239399.jpg|18279845])
I picked up this book as part of the Humble E-Book Bundle, or otherwise I'd probably haven't bought it. And with what I know now I would have regretted it.
Some SciFi books feature a lengthy introduction, telling you how this setting came to be. Others jump right in and leave you wanting for more explanations. And a very few skip the introduction but manage describe the setting in words that have you understand everything right away. Scalzi manages the last way, by having his characters guess about how stuff works. Combine with that characters that are relatable, a marvelous fluid writing style, a nice backstory, mix well, and you've got a book that lends to re-reading and has you wanting for more (eg. [b:The Ghost Brigades|239399|The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War, #2)|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729668s/239399.jpg|18279845])
My reading of this book is probably due to a series of coincidences. Another book from Scalzi, Redshirts, has been on my radar for a few weeks/months - so I knew the name. And then, the EBook Humble Bundle appeared, and I bought it, and there was this book in it. And that day, I thought that I had forgotten my (dead tree) book (I hadn't, it just wasn't in the bag in which I thought it was), so I browsed my Kindle app content, found that, told myself "oh well" (I was not convinced by the title), and was hooked within a paragraph or so. Or possibly within the first three sentences: " I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife’s grave. Then I joined the army."
The whole book is very similar to Starship Troopers, by Heinlein - Earth is reasonably healthy, but war …
My reading of this book is probably due to a series of coincidences. Another book from Scalzi, Redshirts, has been on my radar for a few weeks/months - so I knew the name. And then, the EBook Humble Bundle appeared, and I bought it, and there was this book in it. And that day, I thought that I had forgotten my (dead tree) book (I hadn't, it just wasn't in the bag in which I thought it was), so I browsed my Kindle app content, found that, told myself "oh well" (I was not convinced by the title), and was hooked within a paragraph or so. Or possibly within the first three sentences: " I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife’s grave. Then I joined the army."
The whole book is very similar to Starship Troopers, by Heinlein - Earth is reasonably healthy, but war is everywhere in the galaxy, and aliens are not the most peaceful creatures ever. And to fight a war, well you need soldiers. In Starship Troopers, soldiers are mostly young adults/kids, and military service is a way to attain "citizenship" (the right to vote, essentially). The premise of Old Man's War is pretty different: people enrol at their 75th birthday, in the hope of accessing a better health - even if noone knows what happens in reality (because it's all managed by the Colonial Defense Force, whose interactions with Earth are minimal), the general consensus is that you cannot wage a war with 75 years old people, so probably they must do something for that. In the book, we follow the narrator, John Perry, during his enrolment and subsequent career. And it's a very, very enjoyable read. Again, the reference to Starship Troopers are obvious - but it's a "revamped" version of Starship Troopers - and much more funny (there are some great dialogs in there - I laughed out a few times in the train yesterday - sorry for that, neighbors).
Really a great book; I was kind of afraid of Redshirts because I really loved the premise but I was afraid that the book would not live to my expectations; now I think it will, so I'm happy :) Also, Old Man's War is actually the first of a series of (to this day) 4 books; I think I'll read the rest.
Scalzi's book is an entertaining read, but if you're expecting a deeper message about the pointlessness of war or the perils of the human condition, you might be better off reading Haldeman's Forever War or Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Character development is not real complicated but the plot development is enjoyable enough. Recommended.
Scalzi's book is an entertaining read, but if you're expecting a deeper message about the pointlessness of war or the perils of the human condition, you might be better off reading Haldeman's Forever War or Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Character development is not real complicated but the plot development is enjoyable enough. Recommended.
Up to now I hadn't read anything by John Scalzi, which is a bit of a faux pas in SF fan circles these days. So I started, somewhat unoriginally, with the book everyone mentions.
Old Man's War is what I think of in my head when I talk about written science fiction. It's set in the future, it has weird alien races, advanced science and a fair amount of action.
On the surface there's nothing really exceptional going on here. We've had clones before, and scary aliens and battles in space. What makes this work is the execution.
The story here is simple enough. People who reach the ripe old age of 75 get to enlist with the Colonial Defense Forces and go up into space to defend the growing human settlements. When they do so they discover that they had no idea how comfy and safe a life they …
Up to now I hadn't read anything by John Scalzi, which is a bit of a faux pas in SF fan circles these days. So I started, somewhat unoriginally, with the book everyone mentions.
Old Man's War is what I think of in my head when I talk about written science fiction. It's set in the future, it has weird alien races, advanced science and a fair amount of action.
On the surface there's nothing really exceptional going on here. We've had clones before, and scary aliens and battles in space. What makes this work is the execution.
The story here is simple enough. People who reach the ripe old age of 75 get to enlist with the Colonial Defense Forces and go up into space to defend the growing human settlements. When they do so they discover that they had no idea how comfy and safe a life they had been living and how harsh space really is.
I say story rather than plot, because it isn't quite a plot. Along the way we learn more and more about the universe and the races that life in it as well as the CDF and it's methods of defending humanity. But it's more of a man's biography than it is a singular plot.
Scalzi presents us with a cold and dangerous universe. Populated by aliens we really don't understand very well. Many of which are as capable (or more) than us. But he humanizes it with the characters that populate it. Some of those characters really don't get much screen time, but they are distinctive and when some of them die, it does hurt a little.
In the quest to be new and original, sometimes the basics get forgotten. And those basics are far more important than any burst of originality. I'm glad I read this and I'm looking around to see what other books of John Scalzi's I might want to read soon.
This was an easy read, I liked the way the story flowed and the humor.
This is not a serious book about war or soldiers.
Making the aliens man eating monsters and/or religious nut cases you can't reason with doesn't leave much space for questions about why we have to fight and die. And hell, man eating aliens? Really? They are really going to be able to metabolize humans? It's as bad as sex with aliens and vampire aliens.
I was also not at all convinced that the characters were over 75 years old.
There was much talk about the reasons for choosing old soldiers, but it didn't seem to play out in the actual performance of the troops.
If I was not told that these are old soldiers I would never have guessed.
However it is actually just the jesting and youthful socializing that make this book fun to …
This was an easy read, I liked the way the story flowed and the humor.
This is not a serious book about war or soldiers.
Making the aliens man eating monsters and/or religious nut cases you can't reason with doesn't leave much space for questions about why we have to fight and die. And hell, man eating aliens? Really? They are really going to be able to metabolize humans? It's as bad as sex with aliens and vampire aliens.
I was also not at all convinced that the characters were over 75 years old.
There was much talk about the reasons for choosing old soldiers, but it didn't seem to play out in the actual performance of the troops.
If I was not told that these are old soldiers I would never have guessed.
However it is actually just the jesting and youthful socializing that make this book fun to read.
It's a bit weird to read about this Zero Sum universe where war seems inevitable and is very hard to question, with man eating alien enemies to boot.
Right after reading [b:A Deepness in the Sky|226004|A Deepness in the Sky|Vernor Vinge|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316729499s/226004.jpg|1270006] and the Qeng Ho's efforts to use trade in place of 0 sum resource hogging, war and enslavement.
