A virtuosic debut novel in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein
Old Man's War
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'Clever dialogue, fast-paced story and strong characters.' -- The Times
Book Description
With his wife dead and buried, and life nearly over at 75, John Perry takes the only logical course of action left: he joins the army. Now better known as the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), Perry's service-of-choice has extended its reach into interstellar space to pave the way for human colonization of other planets while fending off marauding aliens. The CDF has a trick up its sleeve that makes enlistment especially enticing for seniors: the promise of restoring their youth. After bonding with a group of fellow recruits who dub their clique the Old Farts, Perry finds himself in a new body crafted from his original DNA and upgraded for battle, including a brain-implanted computer. But all too quickly the Old Farts are separated, and Perry must fight for his life on various alien-infested battlegrounds. 'Scalzi's astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master, Robert A. Heinlein' Publishers Weekly 'Delivers fast-paced scenes of combat, and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise' San Francisco Chronicle
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It has taken me a long time to get round to reading this. It has an odd reputation, some regard it as a SF classic and yet others as piece of very superficial military SF. I fall between the two, I read it fairly quickly as it is a very easy and undemanding read with some interesting ideas. Having said that they are not necessarily fresh and it is not a pure classic like Forever War that has stuck in my head years after having read it.
So, here we have geriatrics being recruited to undertake some changes and regain their youth provided they become soldiers in wars being fought a long way from Earth, an Earth they will never return to.
It's easy to be critical because this does lack real depth, but it does remain an easy and entertaining read. It explores some issues about youth, love, marriage and policies of aggression but within a fast moving environment packed full of action.
So I quite enjoyed it and may pick up the sequals, but I am in no rush to do so,
So, here we have geriatrics being recruited to undertake some changes and regain their youth provided they become soldiers in wars being fought a long way from Earth, an Earth they will never return to.
It's easy to be critical because this does lack real depth, but it does remain an easy and entertaining read. It explores some issues about youth, love, marriage and policies of aggression but within a fast moving environment packed full of action.
So I quite enjoyed it and may pick up the sequals, but I am in no rush to do so,
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By C. Johnston
Format:Paperback
This novel begins brilliantly, setting up an intriguing situation and some likeable characters. But it fails to maintain this early promise and it turns into a very average shoot'em up with some very silly B-movie alien nasties. It reminds me a lot of that Starship Troopers movie. The idea that genocidal wars between races are natural and inevitable is rather unpleasant too (the only character in the book to disagree with this comes to a bad end, and it's pretty clear that the hero thinks this serves him right).
I hope I'll like this author's future books more. He is being compared to Heinlein, but I'd say he still has a lot of work to do yet before you can honestly compare him to the master.
I hope I'll like this author's future books more. He is being compared to Heinlein, but I'd say he still has a lot of work to do yet before you can honestly compare him to the master.
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By M. J. Farncombe
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Faced with a choice between dying of old age and being given another life, what would you do? What Perry, the hero of "Old Man's War" does is to take the new life and be reborn from a sick 75-year-old body into a new, young fit one. The little catch is that he has to enlist for 10 years in the military where his mission is to explore the universe, meet strange new life and civilistions... and then blow them to bits.
The personal stuff to do with his enlistment into the military is well-handled, the combat excellent and the tone of the book darkly funny. The best bit is the diversity and sheer alien-ness of the aliens. The book plays out well, and although it ends a bit abruptly, there is a sequel.
Don't understand why this isn't topping the sci-fi best seller lists - it's really very good.
The personal stuff to do with his enlistment into the military is well-handled, the combat excellent and the tone of the book darkly funny. The best bit is the diversity and sheer alien-ness of the aliens. The book plays out well, and although it ends a bit abruptly, there is a sequel.
Don't understand why this isn't topping the sci-fi best seller lists - it's really very good.
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Patrick Shepherd
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
After reading about ten pages of this, I had to go back and check the title page for the author, sure that it would read Robert Heinlein, not John Scalzi. Mr. Scalzi has obviously spent some time and effort analyzing Heinlein's methods and style, and the result here is an excellent novel that reads just like a brand new Heinlein.
The opening paragraph grabs: "I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army." Simple, direct, and immediately intriguing. And from this idea of geriatric soldiers the entire story unfolds: how these advanced age people are given new, enhanced bodies, interfaced with a remarkably effective internal computer, and sent to fight the baddies of the universe. Why they must fight. What the reasons are for living. Where the human race is heading. The problems with making assumptions about other life forms - and the effect that has on diplomacy.
Plot wise, this is a series of incidents and battles in the life of a soldier, without any strong goal or endpoint in mind. But as the scenes unfold, the person that is John Perry comes into clearer and clearer focus, a quiet, unassuming man who nevertheless can think on his feet, is not dismayed by radically new things, a natural leader with seventy-five years of experience to back up his decisions and actions, a man capable of deep love. Most of the people around him are not so well realized, but they really don't need to be.
Comparison is obviously invited with Heinlein's Starship Troopers with its similar theme and environment. But where Starship Troopers is very much a coming-of-age story, this is an adult trip into the land of survival.
... Read more ›33 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By David Roy
Format:Paperback
John Scalzi's debut novel, Old Man's War has an intriguing premise, some interesting science fiction concepts, and a complete ability to ignore military SF cliches that usually turn me off from this kind of book. It's a wonderful little book, violent but not overly graphic (though there are a couple of scenes that go beyond that), and it's certainly worth all of the accolades that have been heaped on it. Only the fact that it's a bit slow to get to the meat of the action drags it down even a little bit.
Earth has reached the stars, and been slammed back into isolation. Humans are out there colonizing the galaxy, but Earth itself is cut off from it, becoming almost a backwater in comparison to everything else. The Colonial Defense Force (CDF) insures that this remains so. On the other hand, once you turn seventy-five, you can enlist in the CDF, go out and see the universe, and kill lots of aliens who are out to kill you too. You'll just never see Earth again. John Perry has decided to take this route, and Old Man's War tells the story of this decision, and what he runs into when he gets out there. What he learns when he gets there is beyond what he could ever have imagined. He gets a new, grown body (green and all) that will make him young again (even if he's not completely human any more) and the extreme possibility of dying out in the mean universe. But he could be dead in ten years anyway, in a broken down body, on Earth, so why not go out where his death means something? Will John be a successful soldier, not only surviving but rising in the ranks? Or will he just be more cannon-fodder for the human colonies?... Read more ›
Earth has reached the stars, and been slammed back into isolation. Humans are out there colonizing the galaxy, but Earth itself is cut off from it, becoming almost a backwater in comparison to everything else. The Colonial Defense Force (CDF) insures that this remains so. On the other hand, once you turn seventy-five, you can enlist in the CDF, go out and see the universe, and kill lots of aliens who are out to kill you too. You'll just never see Earth again. John Perry has decided to take this route, and Old Man's War tells the story of this decision, and what he runs into when he gets out there. What he learns when he gets there is beyond what he could ever have imagined. He gets a new, grown body (green and all) that will make him young again (even if he's not completely human any more) and the extreme possibility of dying out in the mean universe. But he could be dead in ten years anyway, in a broken down body, on Earth, so why not go out where his death means something? Will John be a successful soldier, not only surviving but rising in the ranks? Or will he just be more cannon-fodder for the human colonies?... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of best SciFi books i have ever read
Loved this book from the first page to the last. The story development is excellent but moves at a nice pace the book you start reading is not the one you end up finishing. Read more
Published 11 days ago by SlosshyDolphin
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Sci-fi
Good old fashioned classic sc-fi, didn't blow my mind but was still a good read and will be reading more Scalzi in the future
Published 1 month ago by Ben Shephard
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good story and an interesting view on getting old
I was very impressed with this book and the story is well written. This is the best so far I have read by this author as his other books (the ones i have read), although they are... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Allan Mckenzie
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid and fun and entertaiing but not a SF classic
Read on its own and not in the context of all the similar books that have proceeded it, this is a fun, military SF novel, about mankind in a universe filled with nasty aliens that... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chess Quant
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beats Starship Troopers hands down
Plausible and exciting account of what it might be like to fight as an infantry soldier in a future conflict against alien races. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dave Coupland
4.0 out of 5 stars
great read
Nice idea, fast paced. I found I just couldn't put it down. Reminds me of Harry Harrison. Like the idea of a universe where everyone is out to get you.
Published 2 months ago by dinkatron
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable but has some issues
"I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army."
Isn't that a great way to open a book? Intriguing, it draws you in. Read more
Isn't that a great way to open a book? Intriguing, it draws you in. Read more
Published 3 months ago by latepaul
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pensioners go to war
Good sci-fi idea, humorous dialogue and well developed characters
An enjoyable read that has led me to download other books by john Scalzi
An enjoyable read that has led me to download other books by john Scalzi
Published 4 months ago by dimart65
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just a great read!!
If you like nil sci-fi, you'll love this.
Tore my way through this at a speed I have not known for years. Am on to the next in the series.
Tore my way through this at a speed I have not known for years. Am on to the next in the series.
Published 4 months ago by Mr Anthony Vicente
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars :)
After just first three sentences i was hooked :) fresh and captivating from the start, brilliant read for anyone appreciating a good SF.
Published 4 months ago by S. Kopycinska
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