Title: Old Man's War
Author: John Scalzi
Series: Old Man's War #1
Received: Library
Rating: 4/5
Author: John Scalzi
Series: Old Man's War #1
Received: Library
Rating: 4/5
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Synopsis: 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 willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.
Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.
John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger.
Initial Thoughts:
I picked this up because I was participating in the biannual bibliothon and one of the challenges was to pick a book from a genre you normally do not read and Adult Science Fiction absolutely applies! My boyfriend initially recommended it to me and I have also seen tons of great things about this all over booktube!
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 willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.
Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.
John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger.
Initial Thoughts:
I picked this up because I was participating in the biannual bibliothon and one of the challenges was to pick a book from a genre you normally do not read and Adult Science Fiction absolutely applies! My boyfriend initially recommended it to me and I have also seen tons of great things about this all over booktube!
“What is it like when you lose someone you love?" Jane asked. "You die, too. And you wait around for your body to catch up.”
― John Scalzi, Old Man's War
― John Scalzi, Old Man's War
What I liked:
I was 100% expecting to hate this book! I did not expect to relate to the characters or their situation but that was definitely not the case! The main character John was extremely relatable not to mention witty and sarcastic!
I have to commend Scalzi on his writing style, a lot of books that I read from first person do not sound like the character himself speaking.! It really feels like I was sitting in a room with John Perry and he was telling me his life story!
Because my boyfriend read this before me I knew most of the plot points and they intrigued me but not enough the get me to be like "I will read this book and love it". Although when I read it I found myself soaking up all the information I could about the world because it was so unique and captivating!! The details around old men and women going into war in a spoiler so I won't give it away but, Man is it cool!!!
“Damn real live people, getting in the way of peaceful ideals.”
― John Scalzi, Old Man's War
― John Scalzi, Old Man's War
What I Didn't Like:
In its simplest form this is a sci fi war novel and that is just not my thing and that is really the only reason I gave it a 4/5! That being said for me to enjoy this boom that much is really saying something!
In its simplest form this is a sci fi war novel and that is just not my thing and that is really the only reason I gave it a 4/5! That being said for me to enjoy this boom that much is really saying something!
Would I recommend it?
Yes!! I would recommend this to any lover of science fiction and to anyone who wants to branch out into the science fiction genre it is a great start! I know, because it is where I started!!
Yes!! I would recommend this to any lover of science fiction and to anyone who wants to branch out into the science fiction genre it is a great start! I know, because it is where I started!!
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