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| View Larger Image | Old Man's War
by John Scalzi
| | List Price: | $6.99 |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 1597 | | Studio: | Tor Science Fiction | | | Binding: | Mass Market Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 320 | | Publication Date: | January 15, 2007 | | Publisher: | Tor Science Fiction |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
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. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 249 reviews)
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enthralling. 
How often do you come across a book that you simply cannot put down? Well, you've found one with John Scalzi's book Old Man's War. And don't think this is only for sci-fi fans, 'cause it's not!! This book is one battle after another told from the soldier's point-of-view. I think you knew that by the title, but what you may not have known is that the elderly are recruited to solve the problems posed to humanity. But this being the protaganists second chance at life, he is forced to make the most of it. The writing is top-notched, the characters, well-developed, and the plot, enthralling.
You might also like: Starship Troopers
August 25, 2008 | |
Refreshing 
Scalzi's ideas are fresh and intriguing and I very much enjoyed this book. It is not often that a Sci-Fi writer produces the kind of originality you'll find here. Tragically, it lacks some fit and finish--otherwise it could have been one of the all-time greats. The story meanders without any real goal or sense of purpose, making it feel empty at times. The concept of a story arc is lost on Scalzi as well, who writes this very much like a travelogue. The end is consequently unfulfilling, have a rather rushed and anti-climactic effect. That said, this is still an excellent book which I would recommend to any fan of the genre.
August 19, 2008 | |
Entertaining, not mind-blowing. 
I thought that overall book was a fairly entertaining read that kept me busy for a few days: a solid 3.5-star book. The reason I hedged toward 3 instead of 4 was because I felt the ending was a little weak, and the premise was highly implausible (even within the book's fictional boundaries created by the author).
Pick it up if you're a SciFi buff looking for a quick, fun, light read, but don't be expecting anything really deep or complicated.
August 17, 2008 | |
Great Comfort Reading
It isn't going to change the world, or probably enlighten anyone, but this is a great piece of military sci-fi. This is a sort of modern Starship Troopers and the plot closely parallels it from enlistment, to boot camp, to a milk run on a low-tech planet, to humans getting hit, to the human offensive.
The first half of the book is like bottled lightning. Ideas come fast and furious and you can't stop reading. Scalzi's universe provokes the so rare sense of wonder in the reader as they experience the rejuvenation of the soldiers and the giddy joy of having incredibly gifted physical prowess tempered by the danger of a war in which most will die before their 10 year enlistment is up.
The second half slows and is weakened a bit in my opinion by a particularly maudlin plot involving the ghost brigades. The ghost brigades themselves are another wonderful idea the relationship plot detracted from the story for me. I found both the coincidence of the meeting and the follow up to be unlikely.
One plus is that the aliens are truly alien. So different that in some cases there can be no realistic understanding between the two races, though to be fair there are characters with dissenting opinions on whether the human race can negotiate with these other races which range from understandable and allied, to 100% alien and enemy to totally inscrutable with a motivation above and beyond conquest but interested in the spiritual growth of other races.
The climax speeds back up to the fast pace of the beginning and resolves the plot threads, mostly, in a more than satisfactory fashion. This is a really wonderful universe that has been created with room for many more stories. I will definitely be seeking out Scalzi's other titles.
August 17, 2008 | |
An Engrossing Read (Kindle Edition)
I downloaded this book as a free edition and expected a so-so first novel. Surprise! A first class sci fi adventure story that captured my attention completely. Reading this novel gave me the wonderful effect that well written fiction can- the book, or in this case, the Kindle reader- disappears and the reader enters the story seamlessly. I have since purchased and downloaded the next book in the series, The Ghost Brigades, which I am starting after I post this review. I recommend this book to all who love a good "space opera" with crisp writing and interesting plotting.
August 17, 2008 | |
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