Old Man's War
by John Scalzi
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Book Reviews of Old Man's War
Book Review: some of the best SF I've read in ages
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been meaning to read this book for awhile. It came highly recommended, and so went into my to-read queue. I've been reading Scalzi's blog for ages (and, since Amazon gets cranky about URLs in reviews, I'll leave it as a very easy exercise for the reader to find it) because this book came so highly recommended, and have generally enjoyed it. But the real reason that I ended up reading it was because I had an unexpected trip and needed a paperback. It wasn't a good reason, but I'm okay with that.
In the future, after additional wars on our planet, humanity has finally started to colonise space. And we're not alone out there in the stars: many other civilisations are out there, too. But planets fit for survival, human or otherwise, are scarce, and so humanity must compete with the others for the planets that can be colonised. And so, the Colonial Defence Force is formed to protect the existing colonies, and fight to secure additional colonies.
The CDF is known on Earth, but their technologies are unknown. Those young enough can volunteer to settle the colonies. At age 65, you can volunteer for the army, and actually enter it at age 75. Everyone assumes that the CDF can somehow make you younger, but no-one from the colonies ever returns to Earth, and technology doesn't allow for communication between the colonies and Earth, so no-one really knows what the CDF does or what's happening out in space.
John and his wife had signed up, but his wife passed away before she turned 75. John follows through anyway, deciding that he has little left on Earth to live for. So John does become younger, trains for the army, and fights the aliens. Along the way, he learns how low the chances of survival are for him and his fellow soldiers, as well as learning some of the secrets of the CDF -- including the rumoured Ghost Brigades.
I'm glad I listened to that recommendation, and I'm sorry I let such a great book wait in my to-read queue for so long. The book is excellent, and reminds me of Heinlein in his prime. Scalzi acknowledges his debt to Heinlein in the afterword; it most reminds me of "Glory Road" and "Starship Troopers".
Book Review: Unintentional comedy...
Summary: 3 Stars
This book started out interestingly enough, with a good premise, but quickly degenerated into an unintentional comedy. They say, "Write what you know," but this author obviously doesn't know much about the military, warfare, or anything to do with combat arms.
The main character's drill instructor is a MasterSergeant, with this space age military apparently using current rank structure, this makes him an E-8, with the highest enlisted rank being E-9. Sorry, the military doesn't use E-8's to train individual platoons. Those are Sergeants and Staff Sergeants, (E-5's and E-6).
In his very first battle, he figures out the very obvious solution to killing the aliens when none of the hardened veterans of multiple battles with aliens can't, thus saving the day? Gimme a break...
In his first couple of months of service, he's promoted from private to Captain because of his innate battlefield genious, all borne of his background as some advertising writer? Gimme a break...
In one of the most amusing battles, our hero is pitted against alien humanoids that are all an an inch tall, and the best military solution to eradicating his dreadful foe, (in an age of instaneous space travel, nanotech armor and weapons that can meet nearly every need except actually protecting the soldier from being blown away by common projectiles, including rocks,) is to have the soldiers run around and stomp on their tiny human like foes, (which leads the hero into a great depression over the morality of war.) Gimme a break...
The author's concept of normal conversation sounds like people who are constantly trying, (too hard by half,) to be clever and filled with high wit rather than people who actually possess these traits.
I got the kindle version, and it wasn't worth the money spent. The only mildly redeeming aspect after an intriguing beginning was the unintentional humor
The characters are all comic book stereotypes, with about as much depth as your average comic book's thickness, from alien enemies to mankind's heroic defenders.
Some interesting concepts that fell flat due to a lack of imagination and even basic knowledge about the basic subject, (warfare,) the author is trying to write about.
Book Review: Old Man's Bore
Summary: 3 Stars
Despite the title of this review, I mostly enjoyed reading this book. Scalzi admits his debts to Heinlein, and as you'd expect it's full of classic sci-fi action. You get a bit of fighting, a bit of dialogue, and some fast-paced excitement.
ALERT: I usually never talk plot, but I found it inavoidable here. There will be some spoilers below. ALERT.
You also get some static characters, overused tropes, and a plot as linear as they come. The dialogue is not very witty (and it really wants to be.) All the while, I was hoping for a twist--that the CDF wasn't who they said they were, or that Perry was fighting on the wrong side. Nope. This book is simple and straight-forward. (There are more in the series, so perhaps the twists are coming). I kept expecting Perry's age or acquired knowledge to come in to play, but the fact that he was old was nothing more than a gimmick. I also thought Perry's feelings on his wife where a clichéd, and the reactions his feelings drew from others were unrealistic.
Don't get me wrong--Old Man's War is not bad. It just doesn't do anything new. Clichés abound; my favorite was the angry drill sergeant who is actually very nice to our protagonist. (And the reasoning for that came out of nowhere). You have the brainy gay friend who dies and is replaced by the less brainy, straighter friend. Woman all want to sleep with John Perry. If you wanted to sum up the plot in this book, it would be John Perry and a bunch of people do something risky. John Perry has a moment of brilliance and his superiors love him. His friends all die.
I know that John Perry is supposed to be named after members of Journey, but it can't be coincidence that the author and his character are both named John, both are from Ohio, both wrote nonfiction before their current lives. That doesn't make it worse, but I am leery about reading how cool an author's alter-ego is. It's engrossing enough, and short enough, that it can entertain for a few hours. I'm not sure how it won the Hugo; though I guess like all major awards it's rarely a reflection of true quality.
Book Review: Light, Breezy SF
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm not a hardcore reader of science fiction, but I've heard a lot of good things about John Scalzi, so I thought I would give this book I try. I found OLD MAN'S WAR enjoyable, but surprisingly lightweight.
This novel begins superbly. The main character is a 75-year old man who has volunteered for military service. He is very likable person, and the story begins with his enlistment and his transformation into a fighting machine. All of this is fun, imaginative and very well done. I had great hopes for the rest of this novel as a result.
Unfortunately, OLD MAN'S WAR takes a bit of a tumble after the first third. This book essentially becomes a military war story, and Scalzi does a subpar job of supplying any of the supporting characters with a distinct personality. To a large degree, I found most of them rather boring and interchangeable. There is a lot of action in this book, and a fair number of characters die, but I couldn't care less because I never really got to know any of them. The result is a less than compelling read.
There is also a ton of jokey dialogue in OLD MAN'S WAR, which I found rather jarring, given the serious themes that Scalzi seemed interesting in exploring. I enjoy humor in a book, but not the sort of endless wisecracking that I found here. As another reviewer commented, it's hard to believe any of these characters is 75 years old. They sound more like a group of smart-alecky college kids, each trying to one-up the other in the joke department.
That being said, Scalzi has a first-rate creative mind, and I enjoyed the world-building he did for OLD MAN'S WAR. He also writes in a smooth style that's pretty easy to read, and the story moves at a fast clip. Many of the fight scenes are well done. I was able to finish this book, and I enjoyed it for the most part despite its flaws.
Overall, OLD MAN'S WAR a good read, but the instant classic that some people have been claiming. Lower your expectations, and you should have a good time with it.
Book Review: Getting the crap kicked out of you by an old fart would be bad...
Summary: 5 Stars
"Old Man's War" by John Scalzi
The distant future; John Perry did 2 things on his 75th birthday. He visited his wife's grave and signed up for the army. The Colonial Defense Forces are the Earths new cutting edge military. They have all the latest military bells and whistles but they don't share any of them with Earth. The CDF keeps a tight grip on all of it's technoligical advances as well as all interstellar colozination. In fact they control all space travel, both coming and going. What the Colonial Defense Forces does is a bit of a mystery but the word is that they are constantly at war with Alien races across the galaxy for the ever coveted inhabitable planet. The CDF has found a new group to try and recruit which includes seniors age 75+. No one is sure how or why but apparently the CDF has figured out a way to return youth and vitality to a human and that alone is worth the price of admission for many to sign up and leave Earth behind forever. With all of his worldly possessions accounted for John Perry signs up for the ride of his life...
"Old Man's War" is the second book I have read of John Scalzi's with "The Android's Dream" being the first and both were enjoyable from cover to cover. Scalzi has something of an easy going writing style with that manages to insert just the right amount of description, actions and humor to keep you turning pages. Both books were truly enjoyable.
The Good: I always enjoy Scalzi's prose. Scalzi creates interesting characters and an interesting world full of unique takes on technological progress. His writing gives his characters a very real feel to them which makes them enjoyable to read. The overall plot of the story worked well and combined with all other elements made for a great read.
The Bad: Nothing memorable.
Overall: Although this is Scalzi's first published work he delivers like an old pro. Give "Old Mans War" a try!