Old Man's War

No cover

John Scalzi: Old Man's War (2007, Tor)

Paperback, 318 pages

Published Jan. 5, 2007 by Tor.

OCLC Number:
758703981

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (8 reviews)

John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against more advanced species. Citizens volunteer for the Colonial Defense Forces after retirement, in exchange for which they have their consciousness transferred into a young body, cloned from their DNA but enhanced. If, against the odds, they survive two years of combat (or 10 years if things aren't going well, which they're not), they get another body and enjoy a fresh start on a colony. This is Scalzi's first novel, and it creates a future he will revisit in subsequent stories.

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races …

10 editions

reviewed Old Man's War by John Scalzi

A very large world, a very limited protagonist

4 stars

I plan to keep reading the series, as it's very engaging and the pages go by fast. On top of that, the world feels massive with so much left to explore. With that said, the main character falls a bit flat. We don't see much of his life pre-war and as a result the affect it has on him isn't a very strong dichotomy.

reviewed Old Man’s War by John Scalzi (Old Man’s War #1)

Review of 'Old Man’s War' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book is wonderful! It's one of the few modern books that has managed to make me really excited about current SF. Some have complained that this author[return]sounds a little bit too much like Heinlein (Starship Troopers, especially), but I don't at all see how that's a complaint; the world needs more Heinlein's.[return]Anyway, Old Man's War is better written and pased than Starship Troopers ever comes close to being. Yes, it starts slow, but come on. It starts out with[return]a bunch of 75 year olds; how fast do you expect things to move? Anyhow, it needs the slow start to build up important ideas that relate to the rest of[return]the plot. The characters are all interesting, the plot has some original twists, and the writing is as good as Heinlein's. What more do you want? I look[return]forward to seeing much more from this author in the near future.