Book review: Old man war series
John Scalzi
Sci-Fi author
OK right well there are actually more than the four books mentioned in the title, BUT i’ve only read the first four so hence this review etc etc, the actually full list is as follows:
Old Man’s War is book number one, The Ghost Brigades, the sequel to Old Man’s War; The Last Colony, book 3, Zoe’s Tale, the fourth book in the series. The Human Division, the one i haven’t got round to yet and The End of All Things, the sixth book which has so far escaped my eyes.
So as ever – well maybe more accurately, like i often do. Im going to review the serval books at once, in the is case four.
SO book one kicks it all off —
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.
He got a new body and signed up to defend the earth.
The book is engaging from the outset and the character believable and also realistic whilst also delivering just-about-possibly-believable technology. Sometime you think its stretching the limits somewhat but then, thats most good sci-fi isn’t it? trying to push boundaries. The story supports this and swims along nicely, punctuated by some wry humour which is often devoid from current science fiction writing and makes a nice change.
Old Man’s War is a nice page turner, nothing too heavy but plenty to keep you going and wanting to read the next book!
The next three books — Ghost Brigades builds on the success of the first book and expands the series into new plot lines and ideas, many of which will be played out in the next few books. If you enjoyed Old Man’s War, you’ll bound to love this book as well, well I did for certain. The third novel The Last Colony finds John Perry and Jane Sagan as colonists, mired in politics and human survival on many aspects. Its a good book and markedly different from the first two, perhaps not quite as engaging as the first two, but well worth continuing on with the series – well I think so anyway. Book four Zoe’s Tale continues onwards with the family story, of alien reverence and political in-fighting. I liked in particular, the sarcastic bent of Zoe’s dialogue which helped the story roll onwards, I look forward to eventually getting round to reading book 5!
