Old Man's War

by John Scalzi

Paperback

Published by Tor Science Fiction.

OCLC Number:: 78226568

(265 reviews)

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.

15 editions

Lord of Candy reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Oooh! It's smart, its fast paced, a lot of reality in potential outcomes. I dig it and now I must consume more!

If you want a wild ride of the old is young again, a war amongst the stars for expansion with creatures and methodologies which all strike a remarkable cord of plausible you'll want to check in to this series. I caught myself in a few good laugh out loud moments where I had to try to explain to my wife, who didn't care, what I was laughing at, then I had to try and downplay moments of humor to my 4 year old who kept asking, "Dad what's funny?" -- oh nothing, this guy just named the computer in his head Asshole, that's all. hahah!

Goodness, fun read all around. Core character and thoughts for the future will seed onwards and I look forward to seeing where Scalzi …

gimley reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

There was a point when I was going to give up. It was certainly clever enough in that way sci-fi books need to be clever, but the xenophobia and the banding together of humans because of their humanness is not a theme that resonates with me. Full disclosure: I am about to start The Dark Forest which includes the ETO, an organization that wants to see humans wiped out (or at least colonized) -- that's more my speed. Also, you need to appreciate the military in a way that I find difficult--even though the author takes pains to make the hero a former war protester.

What saved it for me is that it turns out to contain a love story. Make love, not war; yes--the slogan of an earlier generation (earlier for YOU, not me, for I am an old man and this was really a young man's war disguised as its opposite. The young shouldn't really be allowed to write about old people in the way whites shouldn't write about blacks (except, if they do it well, and the problem is they mostly don't) There's a sense in which age is marginalized in our current culture and that marginalization is transported into the future in this book despite superficial attempts to value the life experience of 75-year-olds.

One curious theme is how the book starts with 2 characters bonding over bible quotes but the religion of aliens is made to appear comical.

So I checked out the goodreads author's page for John Scalzi and he makes a point of how writing is a job for him. That gibes with the concept of duty & the military and so explained something to me of where this book came from: a world view in which necessity/survival ultimately drives everything else--a kind of economic Darwinism in which art is happy coincidence, or maybe the beautiful plumage that give that extra push to the propagation of one's genes.

Wetdryvac reviewed Old Man’s War by John Scalzi (Old Man’s War #1)

Review of 'Old Man’s War' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really like some of the ideas in this one.

Spencer reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Solid military sci-fi fluff. The most interesting part of the world -- the separation between the Earth and the Colonial Union was left woefully unexplored.

Mollarom reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Enjoyable, light, and sweet.

Victor Hugo Kebbe reviewed Old Man’s War by John Scalzi (Old Man’s War #1)

Review of 'Old Man’s War' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

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.

Gerard Braad reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

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!

Robin reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Not much to say, except I really liked this. Good classic sci fi.

Armamix reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Review of 'Old Man’s War' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

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.

Laura Lemay reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Very readable, good characters, a strong sense of humor. I'm totally not a fan of military space opera, but this was worth reading.

Alex Keane reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

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.

Scopique reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

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".

MandolinDan reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This generation's worthy successor to Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" and Haldeman's "The Forever War."

Peter Ludikovsky reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

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])

John Sullivan reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #1)

Review of "Old Man's War" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

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.