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Great read, wanted more.(uh, i ordered the next three). Wow, superfun. Blockbuster movie feel.
I was sorry that it ended so quickly, and will definitely read more of Scalzi's work. A good story built around interesting and highly imaginative ideas. This book clicks on all cylinders. It's true-blue science fiction, but not so far out that it becomes fantasy.
I loved seeing his character evolve. Also, if you like Ender's Game, this is also a book you'd probably enjoy.Please note the book is for older teens and adults, related to some off-screen sexual content, and would probably garner a PG-13 rating if it were a movie. Old Man's War by John Scalzi is an excellent book. Scalzi did a masterful job keeping up the tension and my interest. If you're into military science fiction with strong characters, this is a book for you. No spoilers here. Did I mention that it's incredibly dangerous and horrible.The main character, John Perry, gets a lot more than he bargained for after he joins up.
The spin that Scalzi puts on things is quite fascinating. I loved the book, Starship Troopers, and if you liked that, you'll probably enjoy Old Man's War.
There is a promise of being young again and starting over. The book is written in the tradition of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but is a little more modern.
I read it in two days, and could barely put it down. It all felt so real and true.
I cannot emphasize enough that style of the writing is top-notch, and Scalzi seems quite deserving of all the praise he's gotten for this series, which continues with Ghost Brigades.Happy Reading,Paul GenesseAuthor of The Dragon Hunters[.]. The novel is written in first person and chronicles the distant future when old men and women are given the opportunity to join the Colonial army and go into space--when they reach the age of the seventy-five.
However, I will reveal that there are a lot of aliens out there, and defending the colonies is a huge priority as well as a necessity.
This was so clearly not rooted in anything resembling reality that it just took the whole book down a notch for me.The universe in general isn't believable at all, particularly the aliens. I'd have to give this one 3 stars. It's an entertaining book but there were certain things about it that made me wonder about all the 4- and 5-star reviews. It wasn't even something he had mixed feelings about.Maybe I just had the wrong expectations going into it, or didn't have enough familiarity with the other books that inspired it, but I just can't see giving this one more than 3 stars and really don't get the 5-star ratings and awards.
It's actually refreshing to have characters that don't wallow in self-pity and are good at sucking it up and soldiering on when bad things happen, but it would be lot more entertaining (and less annoying) if they had a much better sense of humor. Jokey dialogue works better when it's funny.Also, it was weird that he seemed to be drawn towards Jane, whereas I think most people in the same situation would be creeped out and disturbed by the experience of meeting their dead wife's clone (or whatever), with none of the memories or personality. Also, the idea that people living on Earth are kept in a self-imposed quarantine (while still being subject to the Colonial government) just doesn't make sense.The jokey dialogue was mostly corny (sometimes to the point of being really irritating when it went on too long). I just can't buy it.
I just couldn't quite get into the tone of it- it's too serious for satire, but too over-the-top and comical (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not) to take seriously. The political situation wasn't very credible either- all of these different races, at roughly the same level of technology, in a mad scramble to colonize as much of the galaxy as possible. It's a very fast-paced page turner, and not overly long (possibly even too short given the scope of it). The different alien races almost seemed like the sorts of things a 5-year-old would make up.
I mean, it's science fiction and all, but if I'm not reading pure fantasy or pure comedy then I have to be able to maintain SOME suspension of disbelief. I haven't read much Heinlein or Haldeman, so maybe part of the problem is that I don't have any warm and fuzzy memories of the types of books that this one is clearly an ode to. Still, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for light and fun beach reading.*** Spoilers ***The inch-high aliens were the point where it really went too far for me.
He then proceeds to act and behave in absolutely every way like R. I just wanted to see it tied in more. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket, up to and including, you guessed it, giving the MC his grudging respect in the manner which he already specifically called out as being stereotypical and unrealistic. On the other hand, if you accept it for what it is--an author having fun with super-soldiers fighting aliens--you'll find yourself sucked in and having fun right alongside Scalzi. That said, I had some major issues with it as a book. I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars on this one, but ultimately I decided that as a pure pleasure read, it deserves 4. Old Man's War is fast and entertaining; it's quick to grip you and it never lets go. While Scalzi briefly glides pasts issues of identity and the complexities underlying war and peace, his surface-level treatment does more harm than good to a meaningful discussion.
In the beginning, he goes through a lengthy speech about how he seems like a typical mock drill sergeant but really isn't, including a section about how they will not earn his grudging respect because the real world is not like that, etc. I also wanted to see a convincing explanation of why old folks would be good recruits for this war, but the paragraph or two of throw-away explanation just didn't make much sense to me in context, particularly in context of the as-yet-unexplained (though there is a sequel on point) Ghost Brigades.In sum, don't be fooled by the Hugo nomination or any of the other praise-- if you're expecting something with complex and realistic characters addressing complicated issues without flinching from their ramifications, prepare for disappointment. Lee Ermey, and it's a lot of fun to read. And Scalzi has a lot of fun. Sure it provides a few somewhat-forced plot complications towards the end, but in general, the majority of the novel would have been the same if they'd all started out at 20, or maybe 30 to give some leeway. Moreover, the reality is that all of the characters are fairly close to identical in their tone and voice (apparently, everyone in the future will be extremely flip), and mostly undeveloped in the few areas that are supposed to make them distinct. At the same time, the character is still a two-dimensional stereotype, no matter his, and perhaps Scalzi's, protestations to the contrary.I was also a bit dissapointed that the central conceit of the novel, the fact that the soldiers were old, played very little role outside of the first few chapters. For anyone who loves military SF or is just in the mood for a Heinlein-esque romp, I highly recommend it.
All of this is actually okay, because Scalzi does a really good impression of R. The other main example, equally charicaturish but not derided, is the drill sergeant, who I think best exemplifies my feelings towards the book as a whole. My biggest problem was that given the accolades the book has received, I expected a little more substance. The primary exceptions to this are the few characters you're not supposed to like, who are universally groan-inducing charicatures, such as the bloviating, peace-loving senator who waltzes across one chapter to show us that we can feel good about all the mindless killing because peaceniks are dumb and deserve to die.
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