Old Man's War

Sci-Fi literature has fallen in popularity in the last several years. Space operas and adventures do not seem to interest people unless it is wrapped around a familiar universe like Star Trek or is led by a super hero. I wonder how much longer before people tire of the dystopian young adult love triangles. Anyway, John Scalzi has penned a modern Sci-Fi novel with plenty of space action, futuristic tech, and of course, evil aliens.

Old Man's War interested me because Scalzi begins his story with old people. The Colonial Defense Force recruits people who are old. Once you join up, you will never return to earth again. You will be fighting aliens on distant planets in the hopes that humans will be able to settle there. Of course the question remains - how can old people with limited mobility and impaired health hope to do this? I won't spoil that part of it. Though if you have read or watched lots of sci-fi, the idea will not be entirely unexpected. I found this to be the most interesting part of the story.

The remainder of the book is essentially about the war between the aliens and humans. Characters die. Battles are won and lost. In the end, you get an inkling that there is more to the battles and motivations of the Colonial Defence Force than you initially believe. Though answers to those questions are left for later stories.

I enjoyed reading a real Sci-Fi novel again. The story would be rated a hard PG-13 and contains content that you might expect to see in any Sci-Fi movie including sex and violence. I am curious enough about where the author will take the rest of the story that I may pick up the next in the series.

Book Rating: 4 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.