# John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369 "2008-12-31T16:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/1 "2008-12-31T16:32:24Z")
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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=150776) 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? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/2 "2008-12-31T17:52:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/3 "2008-12-31T18:01:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > - The BrainPal orientation 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). ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/4 "2009-01-01T19:21:26Z")
I loved this book. Thanks for the reminder to read the other books in the series! ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/5 "2009-01-01T23:46:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/6 "2009-01-02T06:00:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-scalzis-old-mans-war-open-spoilers/479369/7 "2009-01-02T07:22:25Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > 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). 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.