Bill Crider recommended this book to me a couple of years ago, but even though I went out and bought a copy, procrastinator that I am I hadn’t gotten around to reading it before it went up in the fire last January. So a few weeks ago I found myself sitting next to John Scalzi on the space opera panel at ArmadilloCon and had to admit in an embarrassed mumble, “Uh, no, I haven’t read your books yet . . . but I’m gonna!”That prompted me to buy another copy of OLD MAN’S WAR and actually read it this time, and I’m glad I did. It’s one of the best science fiction novels I’ve read in a long time. The protagonist/narrator is seventy-five-year-old John Perry, a new enlistee in the Colonial Defense Force, which only takes recruits when they turn 75. That’s because they transfer the recruits’ consciousness into new bodies grown from their own DNA, and these new bodies are specially modified to make the members of the CDF better suited for fighting the horde of alien races bent on destroying the colonies that have spread out through the galaxy from Earth.
Plots similar to this have been used before in SF, but seldom with as much skill as Scalzi displays here. He balances big ideas with gritty, fast-paced action and well-rounded characterization about as well as anybody and better than most. I really liked the way things that he set up early in the book pay off later on, a sure sign of good plotting. The alien enemies are also varied and well-developed, especially the race known as the Consu, who manage to be the typical ravening horde often found in military SF, but with secrets and surprising characterization of their own.
Scalzi has written several sequels to OLD MAN’S WAR. I’ve already picked up the next book in the series, THE GHOST BRIGADES (great title!), and plan to get the others as well. This one is certainly highly recommended by me and is one of the best novels I’ve read this year.
7 comments:
Yes, it is. Scalzi feels a bit like he's channeling Heinlein. OMG may be the best of the lot, although he's adept at change-ups. The Ghost Brigades has big ideas and lots of military SF, and I don't think the idea spark is quite as great as in OMG, but it's a very good book with a lot of cool twists. Then John Perry's back in The Last Colony. His latest, just out in August, is Zoe's Tale, which basically tells The Last Colony from the POV of a 16-year-old girl. They're all excellent, and I really enjoyed The Android's Dream, which is in a different universe than the others, but manages to be a sort of SF comic caper. And John's "Whatever" blog is a particularly excellent stop on your day's blog circuit.
Guess that makes me a big fan.
I have read the first three books in the Old Man's War series and have enjoyed all of them. The forth, Zoe's Tale, is sitting on my desk waiting for me to start it.
Danny
Glad you finally got around to it, James. I bought ZOE'S TALE at ArmadilloCon, and I plan to read it Real Soon Now.
Okay, I'm convinced. I've picked this up a couple of times in bookstores, but somehow alwasy walked out without it. Guess it's time to go back and actually buy it.
Nice review. I'll see if my library has it. You sure do have a way of recommending! :)
James-I think you would really enjoy the movie Shotgun Stories if you haven't seen it. On DVD and set in your neck of the woods.
Okay, so I'm about half-way through Old Man's War and so far I'm really enjoying it. Scalzi is inventive enoguh to keep me wanting to know more about the universe he's creating without being to techno heavy.
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