John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" (open spoilers)

Cafe Society
1

Not wanting to resurrect this zombie thread: Scalzi's Sci-fi Novel ("Old Man's War" a.k.a. "Vin Diesel Naked and Green") - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board

After having this book on my to-read list for a few years, I finally picked up a used paperback… and just raced through it. Wow! I really liked it. Scalzi owes a lot to Heinlein’s Starship Troopers and Haldeman’s The Forever War, of course, but updates and reinvents the military scifi genre in a very fun, very readable way. I thought it was great, and now I look forward to getting started on the sequels.

Favorite moments:

  • The soldiers get their new bodies and immediately start rediscovering sex
  • The BrainPal orientation
  • The drill instructor finds something to hate (clog dancing?!?) about every one of his recruits… but one
  • The drill instructor reveals his tattoo and explains why he got it
  • Perry gets to ask four questions of the Consu
  • He learns about the Ghost Brigades

And you?

2

I kinda almost lost it when the protagonist was going all Godzilla on the planet of one-inch-tall people, but Scalzi made the scene as absurd to the participants as to us. Good writing.

3

Paraphrased:

“You have selected Asshole as the name of your BrainPal. Many other CDF soldiers have also chosen this name. Would you like to chose another?”

I want to have John Scalzi’s babies. That is all.

OK, and Zoe’s Tale was motherfucking awesome (I jsut finished it) and really filled out The Last Colony (which I originally thought was kinda weak when I first read it).

4

I loved this book. Thanks for the reminder to read the other books in the series!

5

I first read Jon Scalzi (The Android’s Deam, I think?) almost exactly one year ago, and immediately read every other book of his I could get my hands on. He is one of those authors who make me very frustrated that I can read so much faster than he can write.

6

I noticed one of my Goodreads friends reading this book the other day. I’ll put it on my list - I like military sci-fi. Although I still have several Honor Harrington books to go through if I’m going to finish that series.

7

I hadn’t picked up Zoe’s Tale, partly because, while I enjoyed The Last Colony, it didn’t leave me dying to read more (as Old Man’s War did), and partly because I’d heard it didn’t add that much. Now I’ll have to search it out after all.

I almost bought Agent to the Stars last week, but it’s available for free on Scalzi’s website. Of course, I still haven’t read it, either. Which I should.