Old Man's War

Rating:
Summary: Life Begins at Seventy-Five
Review: After reading about ten pages of this, I had to go back and check the title page for the author, sure that it would read Robert Heinlein, not John Scalzi. Mr. Scalzi has obviously spent some time and effort analyzing Heinlein's methods and style, and the result here is an excellent novel that reads just like a brand new Heinlein.

The opening paragraph grabs: "I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army." Simple, direct, and immediately intriguing. And from this idea of geriatric soldiers the entire story unfolds: how these advanced age people are given new, enhanced bodies, interfaced with a remarkably effective internal computer, and sent to fight the baddies of the universe. Why they must fight. What the reasons are for living. Where the human race is heading. The problems with making assumptions about other life forms - and the effect that has on diplomacy.

Plot wise, this is a series of incidents and battles in the life of a soldier, without any strong goal or endpoint in mind. But as the scenes unfold, the person that is John Perry comes into clearer and clearer focus, a quiet, unassuming man who nevertheless can think on his feet, is not dismayed by radically new things, a natural leader with seventy-five years of experience to back up his decisions and actions, a man capable of deep love. Most of the people around him are not so well realized, but they really don't need to be.

Comparison is obviously invited with Heinlein's Starship Troopers with its similar theme and environment. But where Starship Troopers is very much a coming-of-age story, this is an adult trip into the land of survival. And where Starship Troopers had a large amount of philosophy directly exposited, Scalzi's opinions in these areas are much more muted, more shown rather than told. Replacement of Heinlein's powered armor with Scalzi's enhanced bodies doesn't cut down on the action, but does highlight the importance of the mind inside the body, its spirit, its willingness to fight not just for himself but for all of his compatriots and the race as a whole. Where Starship Troopers might be considered a treatise on government, civic responsibility, and military organizations, this has a somewhat less lofty goal, of showing why life is worth fighting for.

For anyone who loves Heinlein, this is a must. For those who like military science fiction, this is a must. For those who like a good story, powerfully told, this is a must. I fully expect to see this one on the Hugo nominee shortlist next year. It already has my vote.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Rating:
Summary: Highly Entertaining
Review: Before I read Old Man's War, my interest was captured by the premise of this novel. Science fiction and fantasy literature has, overall, something of a youth obsession. Older characters are usually relegated to the role of the Wise Old Sage who advises from the sidelines. But here is a story in which the main character -- indeed, all the main characters--are old.

John Perry is a widower and a resident of a future America. He joins the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF) on his seventy-fifth birthday. His subsequent journey first takes him through a period of training and indoctrination. He then participates in the battle to make the universe safe for humanity. He and his comrades face every imaginable type of monster, from killer slime mold to giant (but technologically advanced) crustacean-like creatures.

I was quite satisfied by the depth and the variety of the alien foes in Old Man's War. Scalzi avoids recreating the purely anthropocentric villains that are the stock of so much science fiction. Discovering the next type of monster to be faced by the CDF at each stage was one of the most pleasurable aspects of reading this novel.

The plot of Old Man's War moves along at a gratifyingly fast clip. One of the main challenges of every writer of speculative fiction is to create a credible world that never existed, and probably never could exist. Many writers in the genre overcompensate by indulging in too much background information. Scalzi has a good handle on just how much backstory is enough - and when enough becomes too much. He gives the reader just enough peripheral detail to make the tale credible. The story of how the universe of Old Man's War came to be never weighs down the action that takes place there.

Now for a minor complaint. Scalzi is a gifted writer of humor, and this book contains a generous portion of satiric dialog and situational humor. Throughout the first third of the book, every character seems to have a witty comeback for every other character. For the most part, Scalzi's humor is on target, and I often found myself laughing at the jokes. At the same time, I also wondered if senior citizens would ever really talk this way, either now or at any point in the future.

Finally, this is not a book with a hidden agenda. Stephen King once described his own work as the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries. I don't wish to put words in this author's mouth, but my suspicion is that Scalzi was aiming for something similar. The characters in Old Man's War are multi-dimensional and satisfying; but on balance, this book is primarily entertainment. There is little of the philosophical meandering here that often plagued Heinlein's novels; and you'll find yourself extending your lunch hour for an extra few minutes each day while you read just one more battle scene.


Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down
Review: First the bad. I found the first few chapters somewhat annoying. The author goes a bit too far with his bunch of wise-cracking, smart-mouthed Americans in space. It feels like he was trying to be a bit too smart with his characters, who seem to have dialogue modelled straight out of a mindless Hollywood action movie. Get past that though and the story really takes off. I literally couldn't put it down and as a consequence had to struggle through work the next day in a lethargic haze. The story is exciting and moves quickly. Its not as original or as well-written as Haldeman's Forever War, but who cares, this is a fun novel that really draws you in. An excellent first novel.

Rating:
Summary: Like Heinlein without the anachronisms
Review: Good science fiction has the capacity to literally transport you forward in time -- and yes, I use the word "literally" literally. Simply pick up a book like Old Man's War, and the next thing you know, you'll be several hours into the future without any sensation of the passage of time.

Scalzi has clearly been influence by Heinlein, and acknowledges as such on the book's final page. I've loved Heinlein since my father gave me a copy of _Door_Into_Summer_ when I was a wee lad, and I've always felt rather sad that there will be no new stories from him. John Scalzi aspires to be his successor, and with _Old_Man's_War_ he's off to a great start. The book is at turns enthralling, suspenseful, wistful, and hilariously funny. (If the protagonist's first encounter with his drill instructor doesn't have you laughing out loud, your sense of humor has been surgically removed.) The level of science is just about right; futuristic without much straining credibility. The only downside, which this book shares with every other quality book of its type, is that the ride is over all too soon and you're left aching for more.

I certainly hope Scalzi is hard at work on his sophomore piece. If he manages to keep it up, he has the potential to enter the canon.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, different and appealing to different age groups.
Review: I found this book by mistake. I was looking for my coffee pods (yeah I know, pretty far away from my original goal). What captured my interest was during my read of the pages that were available online at Amazon. By the time I had finished reading them I wanted to read the book. A fast read (4 hours for me), it was amusing and enjoyable. My 15 year old read it in just under 6 hours and felt it was a little below her reading level (but she is use to translating pages of Latin text). That said, neither she nor I put the book down once we started it, we both read it straight through. AND we are both hoping that this author writes another few books for our reading enjoyment. :)

Rating:
Summary: Mindblowing. A terrific read.
Review: I went back and forth between four stars and five. On the one hand, this novel is not great literature on the level of say, "Dune" by Frank Herbert. On the other hand, "Old Man's War" is a terrific read, very imaginative, and not terribly implausible.

No spoilers here, so my discussion of the story will be limited. The essential premise and storyline is that in the near future, Earth/humankind have discovered the "skip drive" which is a method of interstellar space travel. Mankind quickly learns that valuable planets are a scarce commodity and there are several intelligent races in our neck of the Galaxy that as a matter of routine try to use military force to take planets away from other races. Including, of course, human colonial planets. Accordingly, to protect Earth and also to protect colony worlds, the "Colonial Defense Force" enlists elderly human beings on Earth as soldiers to protect the colony worlds. The protagonist in the novel is such a one.

The novel includes pretty strong character development. It manages to make some of the characters both lifelike and alien. This is no small feat and a task that most science fiction authors struggle with. Here, the author succeeds.

The author's speculations about what interaction between mankind and aliens will be like are startling. The reader can decide for him or her self whether they are plausible. I was not able to say that they were implausible, at any rate.

The novel contains dazzling speculation about the future destiny of humanity in space and technology in general. This, combined with a fast-moving storyline and solid plot, earns this one five stars in my opinion. Quite frankly, this is far and away the best science fiction novel that I have read since "Dune" and "The Forever War" and it gives my old favorite "The Forever War" a run for its money in terms of which is my favorite military science fiction novel of all time. Any lover of "hard" science fiction will want to snap this one up, and I imagine "Old Man's War" is destined for Hugo and Nebula awards.

Rating:
Summary: Thank You Scalzi, May We Have Another
Review: I've been very picky about what books to pick up recently, given my lack of free reading time. We've all read books that make us wonder what we were thinking at the time of purchase, or why someone could possibly have recommended this book to us....

Scalzi did a wonderful job of setting up a believable world, with interesting characters... it reminds me in many ways of 'Forever War' by Haldeman, or early Heinlein.

Sure, there are some parts of the book that felt like they dragged-- but for pete's sake, considering this is his first science fiction novel in print, I'm looking forward to the planned sequel. ( And since I know he reads the reviews: GET BACK TO WORK. We want, nay, we *REQUIRE* the sequel. )

Rating:
Summary: Amazingly original first novel
Review: Military sci-fi seems very chic as of late. Several months ago, "Orphanage" was released to significant fanfare and while its a good read, it can't hold a candle to its philosophical forebears - "Starship Troopers" and "The Forever War". "Orphanage" simply doesn't bring enough originality to the genre.

"Old Man's War", however, does bring some much-needed originality to the table. There are some obvious influences from Heinlein and Haldeman here, which mostly manifests itself in how Scalzi talks about attrition rates. And like "Starship Troopers", much of the novel is of people talking to one another about the universe they inhabit. This could have made the novel a boring mess, but Scalzi makes it interesting by making this universe interesting. He draws up characters rather than caricatures and you care about them, even as they are killed off one by one.

The most original concept introduced in the novel is the idea of recruiting the old to fight humanity's enemies. He enhances the battle scenes of the novel by showing them from the perspective of a man who already lived out his normal lifespan, only to have another life dangled in front of him like a carrot....provided he survives. This provides a heightened sense of urgency to those battle scenes.

There are plenty of other original concepts introduced within these pages, but all of them would be for naught if Scalzi didn't care about his characters. He does, and "Old Man's War" is a much better read for it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This was a great and very imaginative book! It was very funny and paralleled much with how the world is today. I would highly suggest this book; it was a good balance of the good, bad, humor, ect.. I would highly suggest this book for the sci-fi lover. :) And anyone else, for that matter.

Rating:
Summary: tense anti-war military science fiction thriller
Review: When he turned seventy-five, earthling John Perry visits the grave site of his wife of forty-two years Kathy interred in an Arizona cemetery. He reflects how much he misses her, how he hates coming here, and that her last words dealt with finding vanilla as she was making pancakes when she stroked to death. With nothing to keep him here, John abruptly decides to join the Colonial Defense Force struggling to defend or annex other worlds in deadly competition with alien races for control of the few hospitable planets.

As a recruit, John receives standard gear to include a much younger healthier body that is beyond the ability of most non government citizens to buy except the affluent. Like his brothers and sisters in arms, he bonds with them as they are his family and his hope to survive one skirmish after another in many cases against superior aliens. As his comrades die and collateral damage devastate civilian population, John begins questioning the worth war that enables a few to economically gain a lot at the cost of others even as he begins to ponder whether he is still human.

Paying homage to Heinlein (Starship Trooper the book not the movie), John Scalzi provides a tense anti-war military science fiction thriller that will leave fans pondering what is war good for. Readers will also wonder about who benefits from scientific advances and military operations and what actually a human is as science changes Homo sapiens. The story line is action-packed once John enlists as the audience get inside his head while he goes from "youthful" awe to experienced cynic. OLD MAN'S WAR is a terrific tale of a belligerent future in space.

Harriet Klausner