Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
I first heard about Scalzi at Fractale Framboise where Christian was telling good things about this book. I started reading Scalzi’s blog, Whatever, shortly after and I still try to find the time to read a few post every week (I really don’t have the time to read everything John posts, nor do I read every comments that his army of readers leave on his blog.) I finally decided to get the book when Scalzi won the Campbell Award (a.k.a. the this-is-not-a-Hugo award.)
Old Man’s War is a very good science-fiction book if you are ok with the military sub-genre. The military aspect is not the bigger aspect of the book, so don’t get turned down if you never read military science-fiction before, but I know some people just dislike this genre. There are, in my opinion, two things that make OMW a unique book. First, the characters. Perry, the main character, is totally believable and very human. He has a great sense of humor and you quickly get to like him. John Scalzi did a wonderful job at fleshing him out and he stands out as a real hero.
But what I enjoyed the most from Scalzi’s book is the language he is using. The narrator is sarcastic and often uses figures of speech that are sharp, brilliant, and sometime weird or disgusting but always appropriate. If you enjoy Scalzi’s blog, you will love this book. I must admit, the voice in my head (the english-speaking one) found a friend.
This book is about Perry, a 75 year old man who decides to join the army, like many other old people from around the world. Intriguing, isn’t it? How can you build an army with men and women who sometime have trouble simply walking around? Well, you won’t know for a good chunk of the book. During the first part of the book, we follow Perry as he enter the army and get to the Colonial Defense Force (CDF) space ship. The second part of the book tells about Perry’s training as a soldier while the third part concentrate on a few of Perry’s mission.
The universe described in Old Man’s War is rich and interesting. As the story flows, you get to learn more about this world where human beings definitively aren’t the center of the universe. In this world where every alien species seems to be at war with each other, fighting looks like the only way to solve diplomatic problems. I really enjoyed the way the author played with concepts such as the Brain Pals ™. The Ghost Brigade is also a fascinating idea (I’m trying not to spoil too much of the book here, sorry if this sounds confusing.)
Old Man War is a complete story, with a beginning and an end, but John Scalzi already published a sequel to it: The Ghost Brigades. Actually, it’s more like another story set in the same universe, sharing some of the same characters. A third one, The Last Colony, should be hitting the shelves some time in 2007. I’m definitively keeping an eye on this promising author. If you like the genre, you probably should do that too.
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