Zoe's Tale
by John Scalzi
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Book Reviews of Zoe's Tale
Book Review: Perhaps his best yet !
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps his best yet! This book was an unexpected treat, and he's not only come up with yet another surprising twist and extension of the series, he's managed to pull off two amazing feats of writer craftsmanship -- a parallel story and using a teenage girl as the lead -- and both wind up helping the story!
The book's lead character is Zoe, who was a significant character in the Last Colony and is given a lot more heart and characterzation and her own plotline in this one. This book should be read after the earlier works as it would be somewhat a spoiler for the plot twists in Ghost Brigades and Last Colony if you read this one first, and since it would be fine on it's own but seems like I appreciated this one more having the background from the others clear and could really focus on enjoying the new plot and the writers craftsmanship.
This book was an unexpected treat as I'd thought he was finished with the Old Man's War series or at least taking a break. The first book was a surprising new author and novel concepts, and the next two both extended the same universe and did a lot of amazing plot twists. But I'd thought he had used up all the novelty and play of technology consequences and strategic twists and main characters and maybe was at the end of the series or at least for a while. Instead, he comes back to the tale of Zoe, and managed to reveal more plot twists and strategic bits were going on at the same time, and really tell Zoe's story amazingly well.
Book Review: intriguing
Summary: 4 Stars
Jane Sagan and John Perry have been recruited to establish Roanoke, a new human colony. When they agreed to help, neither Jane nor John expected interference or hostility from the scheming amoral home-world government. They were also taken aback by local shapeshifters and under alien assault by a federation violently opposed to human expansion into their sector.
While they struggle with those threatening to demolish the colony, their adopted teenage child Zoe ignores the big picture; instead she has fun with her boyfriend Enzo and her sarcastic best friend Gretchen while flirting with her Obin bodyguards. The Obin pair keeps Zoe on a pedestal due to her late biological father, a God to that species because of an incredible scientific discovery he made.
THE LAST COLONY contains much of the same events that occur in ZOE'S TALE but with a differing perspective as that novel was through the eyes of Jane and John. Thus, though ZOE'S TALE is well written and entertaining, to those who read THE LAST COLONY, it has a déjà vu feel. Still comparing the viewpoints is fun as interpretations of what is going on differ between the teen and the adults enhancing the intriguing read as the devil is in the details and that is where Zoe sees things radically diverse from her adoptive parents.
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Not even exiting enough for the excercise bike
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm stupid.
I was very disappointed with The Last Colony, but still decided to go ahead and buy Zoe's Tale. Being sleep-deprived with a 7-week old baby, I thought this book could be the right level. That was wrong, and I should have known better.
Zoe's Tale contains so little action and is such a regurgitation of The Last Colony that I quickly resorted to reading it only on my exercise bike. Even pedaling away at 90 rpm, this book was barely engaging enough to keep my attention.
After reading The Last Colony, I felt that Scalzi didn't put the right level of effort into this series any more. I was a fan of the Old Man's War and even The Ghost Brigades, but the Last Colony wasn't military sci-fi anymore; it was a family tale with a space setting.
Zoe's Tale is just The Last Colony retold from another perspective, with 5% new content added in the end.
Although Scalzi in the afterword complains how hard this book was to write, I still feel that both TLC and ZT are rip-offs of an existing successful franchise. The author is just trying to milk the last few dollars from the universe he built, and is really not giving the readers their due. Not for their money, and certainly not for their time.
Book Review: Deja Vu
Summary: 3 Stars
Well, I just went out and grabbed this book based on my high regard for Scalzi's work, without any research. I should have looked here first. The retelling of the Last Colony from the standpoint of a teenage girl and companions is not something I would have normally sought out, since I'm way past being much interested in the interpersonal trials and tribulations of teenagers, present or future. Been there, done that. Perhaps Scalzi is trying to expand his reader base into another demographic, like Pratchett and Hiassen have, with youth-oriented books alongside the adult novels. If so, he's off to a good start.
Overall, the book is well written as are all of Scalzi's works. He is a very skillful craftsman, treating the language and the reader with respect. His stories hold together, and they keep the reader turning those pages.
As a general comment, I do wish Scalzi would spend a few more lines in his books describing his aliens -- or get an artist to do a beastiary -- so the reader could better envision what the human characters are interacting with. In his finest-by-far book, The Sagan Diaries, there are a few drawings, and they add a lot to the reading experience.
Book Review: Spunky teen in a fun SF tale
Summary: 4 Stars
Not having read any previous books set in John Scalzi's "Old Man War", I found this book stood on it's own well enough. Zoe and her family set out as part of a group to colonize a new planet, something that has become a standard occurrance in the novel. "Zoe's Tale" definitely has the tone of a young adult novel, but as an adult I still found it enjoyable. It's an easy read, and while it has some serious dramatic moments, it is all from the point of view of the teen protagonist.
Zoe is a spunky teen, almost relentlessly so at times, but great fun. For those, like myself, who haven't read Scalzi's other novels, the war, the various worlds, and the alien races seem only lightly sketched. However, there are enough details to get the general idea, and the story is so focused on Zoe that I wouldn't really call this a shortcoming. Basically, the further from Zoe you consider, the less detailed the picture, but Zoe's interactions with the people in her immediate surroundings are richly drawn.
I can easily recommend this as a young adult novel, and as a lighter read for adults who can enjoy an interesting story centered on a group of teenage colonists.