Old Man's War
by John Scalzi
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Book Reviews of Old Man's War
Book Review: You can't go home again
Summary: 4 Stars
Science fiction in literature could be in better shape these days. When I walk through my local Borders, all I see crowding the Sci-fi/Fantasy section is, well, fantasy for the most part, followed closely by Star Wars books and nearly half a shelf dedicated to Robert Heinlein. It's hard to be a sci-fi fan these days; what does it say when we have to look to authors from two generations ago to get our fix?
That's why I was so excited when I started reading OLD MAN'S WAR. John Scalzi knows what good sci-fi is, and he knows how to write good sci-fi. He presents a universe (or several) that's easy to get into, and easy to get lost in.
John Perry is a seventy-five-year-old who's decided that he's seen all that he needs to see of Earth, and joins the mysterious Colonial Defense Forces as a raw recruit in their military. What good would a senior citizen with no combat training do in an intergalactic war? Not even John knows, even as he's declared legally dead and shipped offworld to worlds unknown.
But once he arrives at the warzone, he finds himself with a new combat-able body and a timetable of ten years to survive one of the costliest wars humanity has ever participated in. A war where you might be fighting a different species of enemy every other week and, what's worse, have no idea how to kill them.
What I loved so much about this book was the mystery, because for almost half of the story, you have no idea what John and his associates have gotten themselves into. You're along for the ride, just as John is, through the nervewracking ride across the galaxy, "the change," basic training, and beyond. The action is handled with a light touch; you'll be able to get an image of what's going on, but there is no insane attention to detail in that regard.
And that's another thing I liked: the minimalist way Scalzi has gone about things. Good science-fiction can be a difficult thing to get right. Some write it too abstractly, and some write hard sci-fi to the point where you almost need a degree in astrophysics just to understand simple character banter. As one of Scalzi's characters would say, sometimes I just don't have the math. This is why I was so glad that OLD MAN'S WAR is written with a grace that provides a good story first, science-fiction as a supplement, and hard sci-fi for people who want to dig a little deeper.
But, oddly enough, the minimalist style is also a reason I took issue with the book. Now, Scalzi won't talk down to you, but his methods for explaining the science behind his universe are a little backhanded at times. The characters understand the science, but the reader doesn't, so most times you'll have a random character profess his ignorance so that one of the main characters can go about explaining everything. It wasn't too fun finding myself identifying with the dumbest guy on the spaceship for those few instances.
This is also a short book with a minimalist style and a lot of characters. Since there is a war on, characters do die, but I get the feeling that they were supposed to be more impactful moments than they turned out to be. You never really get a chance to know anyone until the end of the book, and some of the characters that I did get to like died somewhere off-screen. Didn't much care for that.
Getting back to the positive, I did love John Perry's adventure at galaxy's end. It was the perfect merger of originality and celebration of classic sci-fi. The story brings with it the beauty of the universal unknowns, very much in the passionate way the late Carl Sagan talked about them. It's also a book that asks a lot of questions: Are we really destined to reach Alpha Centauri as a warbringing people? Is winning a war worth losing a bit of our hard-earned humanity? Is it easy being green?
OLD MAN'S WAR is the story of an afterlife where there are decidedly few angels waiting to greet you. I was engaged the entire way through and eagerly await the sequel to arrive in the mail. Whenever I had to recommend a sci-fi book to a newcomer to the genre, I'd always hand over a copy of ENDER'S GAME, but lately that's been very, very hard for me to do. John Scalzi's given me a new book to pass along, and I really can't thank him enough for that.
Book Review: Heavily dialogue-based, with low-grade dialogue
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a huge SF fan, but disliked this book. I think some of the 3-star reviewers critiqued the plot better than I can, or feel like reinventing. I'll speak more generally, then leave off with a very specific example.
I've found you have to be careful when assessing the reviews of any item that has a mass following, especially if it has won a prominent award, as this one has. This book has a HUGE amount of reviews, overwhelmingly positive. But retarded people are quick to hit the 5-star button (or 1-star) when they're swept up with what they're supposed to believe, and mildly pleased. A fan-base seems to have a critical mass: once you're sufficiently popular, you can sky-rocket despite shortcomings. That's what I think happened here. So apologies to the author or devoted fans for my harsh words, maybe the guy's got great potential stories.
I wouldn't dog this so bad if it weren't made out to be more than a sophomoric effort, which I think is what this is. So no offense to the author, it's better than I can do, and I think he's got a future. But the slavering devotion to this book makes me slightly ill.
So: in regard to the bad dialogue, which makes up roughly half of the words overall in the book, I'd like to quote a section to give you an idea of how trite, hollow, retarded it is. It sounds like a screenplay for the show Friends in space at war with aliens.
This is a particularly bad section I chose, but I insist that the book is filled with passages like this. If you don't believe me, then please use the "Look Inside!" feature and go read some random sections. Read any 3 page section and then extrapolate.
Usually a dialogue-heavy book can serve to build up the characters, but for me the character development was shockingly shallow. I knew and cared only about the narrator throughout the entire book.
The book had some solid sections, and I actually liked the voice of the narrator. But I think the author had it in his head when starting out that he was going to "make it accessible to everyone!! LOL" And thus he devotes half of the book to dialogue, and a token character to explain each plot device, and shies away from anything that might challenge a reader with a 90 IQ. If he'd written this current day, I guarantee the characters would be twittering each other.
Maybe he wrote a good first draft and the publisher made him make it accessible to the idiots. Maybe they said, "Please remove these two-thirds of 'military jargon' and 'science stuff' and 'internal reflections' and 'moral quandaries' and replace it with campy TV-style dialogue, then we'll publish. Watch this CBS sitcom and learn how to make money."
(I'm not sure if I'm allowed to quote the book at the length below, but here goes):
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"What the hell sort of army is this, anyway?" I asked the Old Farts at lunch.
"It makes a little bit of sense," Harry said. "Yesterday we did basic intellect and emotion. Today was basic physical movement. Again, they seem interested in the foundations of high order activity."
"I'm not really aware of Ping-Pong being indicative of higher order physical activity," I said.
"Hand-eye coordination," Harry said. "Timing. Precision."
"And you never know when you're going to have to bat back a grenade," Alan piped in.
"Exactly," Harry said. "Also, what do you want them to do? Have us run a marathon? We'd all drop before the end of the first mile."
"Speak for yourself, flabby," Thomas said.
"I stand corrected," Harry said. "Our friend Thomas would make it to mile six before his heart imploded. If he didn't get a food-related cramp first."
"Don't be silly," Thomas said. "Everyone knows you need to power up with carbs before a race. Which is why I'm going back for more fettucine."
"You're not running a marathon, Thomas," Susan said.
Book Review: An excellent, light read with a great humor and military science fiction aspects
Summary: 4 Stars
John Perry's wife is dead and he's 75 years old. The only thing left for him to do is wait to die--or join the Civil Defence Forces (CDF). Who would want an old man in their Army? John and everyone else on Earth isn't entirely sure, but the speculation is that the CDF has the technology to make people young again... And if you survive the service, the CDF promises a plot of land in one of the human colonies.
OLD MAN'S WAR is my first Scalzi novel. I've previously read his novella/short story found in METATROPOLIS and his nonfiction YOUR HATE MAIL WILL BE GRADED, so I suspected that Scalzi's sense of humor and fiction writing would suit me just fine. What I did not expect was falling in love. It's just ridiculous how much to love about OLD MAN'S WAR. In fact, the book is a quick read and ridiculously entertaining.
And not only is it entertaining, it's thought provoking. After all, one cannot hardly use the words "colony" or "colonialism" without realizing that it's a loaded term. Scalzi is a smart guy, so he certainly knows. And rather than give an answer or one way of looking at the topic, he throws out several perspectives to the reader and steps back. I love that sort of writing. Along with colonialism, there's a bunch of other issues raised in OLD MAN'S WAR: mercenary systems, the ease of violence, ownership/withholding of technology, etc. It's enough to chew on for awhile--and enough that I'm surprised that the novel ended up as lightweight as it is.
Also surprising is that amidst a tale of war, Scalzi manages to deftly craft a humble humor. It doesn't always fit perfectly. Hell, John Perry's (the protagonist) humor falls short in one of the earliest scenes to another character, but I have the feeling that Scalzi falls in with Perry on the idea that it's better to try to make someone smile and crack the joke rather than not try at all. I can appreciate that sort of outlook.
Really, I'm a little gushy about how great this novel is and can't seem to get everything out quite right. How unexpected to find a fantastic science fiction novel equipped with a feel for action and a sense of humor? From the beautiful opening scene (in which John Perry visits his wife's grave) the story starts off in increasing speed. Add to that the humble humor of Scalzi (and/or Perry) and you have a winner of a novel. Even with all that, there's not even a hint of pretension in the entire thing, which is perhaps the most amazing thing of all.
The only negatives I'll bring up--from my perspective--that there were a lot of topics that needed more. It's a tease to bring up an idea and then move on blithely. One doesn't have to answer everything, but one does have to explore the idea with the reader. As much as I enjoyed the, erm, latest storyline regarding the Ghost Brigades, it felt like a bit of a cheat from where John Perry had started. Sure, I want him to get to that point with that person eventually, but what about all the questions along the way? Primarily, I wanted more with the ramifications and motivations on recruiting the Earth's old. After all, there's a whole bunch of military science fiction out there, but this particular premise is what makes Scalzi's take on it unique. So give me more. Additionally, I wanted John Perry to have just a little more trouble along the way rather than be the perfect golden soldier. Also, I have a few nitpicks with the military ranks/customs, but I'll write them off as different due to the CDF being an entirely new entity from the Earth Army rather than get bent out of shape.
The negatives are minimal when compared to the list of difficult to achieve positives. After finishing OLD MAN'S WAR, I knew I instantly that I want to read everything Scalzi has published. Such a writer is too rare to miss out on.
Book Review: A Great Concept with Nothing New
Summary: 2 Stars
From the first page, I was hooked. I was with the man through the beginning of his journey, but things went down hill in the middle. I didn't think I was reading the same book. The build up of the relationships, along with John Perry entering his new body in the first half were the best part of the book, so much so that I felt it whenever he recounted the deaths of the Old Farts, as they called their little group.
Here's what threw me in the middle.
1.) As a veteran, I didn't buy the boot camp scenes at all. Drill Instructors hate all recruits, whether or not they made an ad that saved their life, and not to mention Master Sergeant Ruiz wasn't believable, just a figure filling every Drill Instructor cliche in the world.
2.) The gun. Give me a break. A solid block of nanites can become any kind of ammunition? I can buy a weapon that uses a single mass of ammunition to form different kinds of solid projectiles, but grenades? Guided missiles? A flame thrower? The last one I found wholly unbelievable. Science-fiction needs some kind of rational base, otherwise it's just fantasy with a technical veneer. And I'm a little wary of this whole magical nanite trend I see going around.
3.) Where's the artillery? Where's their supporting fire? Armored vehicles? Power Armor? Battle suits? I would imagine that these new bodies they are given are expensive, not to mention the cost of getting the old people to the station, the medical tests, the large amount of staff to screen and prep them we're introduced too. You'd think they would invest in protecting these assets, like providing, oh, I don't know, a helmet! There were two very obvious instances where soldiers would have lived if they had had this ancient invention. The body armor they wore, high tech as it was, seemed the bare minimum. Maybe the author should play Crysis or something. Overall, the author seemed to rely more on military cliche and common image than to think of something new (foxholes are useless, even counter-productive against an enemy that burrows underground). Another reviewer said that they used WWII-era tactics; I think that's an insult to our WWII vets, honestly.
4.) The aliens. Why do so many species have to find humans as good eatin'? This seems more of a weak attempt to shock or scare the reader into believing the need to fight, rather than tackling any complex issues of war, peace, and diplomacy. And don't get me started on the Covandu. One inch tall? Give me a break. That part read more like a gorefest version of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It would have been pure comedy if the rest of the book didn't take itself so heavily. I nearly put it down then. And, there were just too many races. Give me two or three, really well-developed species rather than dozens and dozens of two sentence, weirdness-filled descriptions, all with the same motivation.
5.) The premise for the book was putting old people into new, young and heavily modified bodies to fight a war where their experience and maturity would benefit their forces. Yet, their experience never comes to bear. In fact, we're beaten over the head with the fact that their experience means nothing as they've never experienced anything like what they're about to see; see Master Sergeant Ruiz.
It picked up in the end, and the left hook he threw in there actually turned out to be pretty thrilling and got me going to the end. The prose is easy to read, a nice change nowadays. The Consu stand out among the aliens, and they turned out to be pretty cool with a differing motivation than conquer, kill, eat, repeat. But still, the glaring problems which I have illustrated here prevent me from calling it a favorite.
Book Review: Scalzi takes you on a speculative ride that is fast and rewarding.
Summary: 4 Stars
John Perry is an old man. His wife is dead, and he's joining the military. ??? Certainly an interesting premise already, but it gets better.
Scalzi's main character is intelligent, with a wry sense of humor and maintains a humble likability as he rises through the ranks. An imperfect past grounds him and make him real, while the passion and love he felt for his wife never waivers. Which is good, because this is a very personal struggle by one man. And if he didn't sell the book on his own standing, there'd be trouble.
The technology ideas here may be old hat to some, but Scalzi uses them superbly--integrating them and making them a very real part of life and military maneuvers.
Cybernetic implants? Check.
Nanotech? Check.
Enhanced strength and speed? Check.
Green skin? Uh...you'll see.
There's more, but despite a couple bits, nothing was jaw-dropping different. But it didn't need to be. Really illustrates how important execution is. A good idea is nice, but will get you nowhere if you can't sell it within the story. We're past the day and age when an interesting idea can make a sci-fi novel; there need to be deep characters, a convincing setting and it needs to all...work.
Humor is a solid reason to read this book. If you're not laughing through their version of Boot Camp, then something is wrong with you (or perhaps Twilight is more your forté--yes...I went there...).
My one real complaint with Old Man's War would be its lack of description. On the other hand, the narration is concise, amusing, and it makes the pages fly! There is no fluff in this book! Yes, I wished it had been longer and more detailed, but this is more a testament to Scalzi's skill than a lack of sheer book to read. So, in most regards, it makes up for its sparse detail. However, due to its brevity and the large jumps in time the narrative can take, the reader is sometimes left with the White Room effect. (If not commonly known, I've heard reference to this before and it is simply the loss of connection to the setting and surrounding stimuli. This makes you feel like the current conversation is taking place in a Matrix-like loading space--and not in a cool way.) It is a testament to the quality of the dialogue, story and well-used technology that this is not a bigger issue.
The story's setting is huge with a propensity for an EPIC story. There are large scale battles and conflicts, cliff hangers, aliens up the wazoo, but it is not Space Opera. It is one man's journey. That's it. I didn't find this to be a failing, but I did find it jarring when I realized the end was coming near and there was nothing earth-shattering in its conclusion.
Satisfying, but not earth-shattering.
Usually I love my stories to be epic and I like my endings to be monumental. This might have resulted as a fail for me in another book, but Old Man's War was just...different. I can't help but wish there had been more. Oh wait, there are more books set in the same universe. Ah. Well played, Scalzi. Well played...
As a first book it is phenomenal, quick to read and leaves you antsy for more. What else could Scalzi have wanted for his first foray into fiction? It gets a solid 4.5 stars from me. I may be late to the game here and telling you what you already know, but for anyone that hasn't read Old Man's War... Go get it!
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