Product Description

With his wife dead and buried, and life nearly over at 75, John Perry takes the only logical course of action left: he joins the army. Now better known as the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), Perry's service-of-choice has extended its reach into interstellar space to pave the way for human colonization of other planets while fending off marauding aliens. The CDF has a trick up its sleeve that makes enlistment especially enticing for seniors: the promise of restoring their youth. After bonding with a group of fellow recruits who dub their clique the Old Farts, Perry finds himself in a new body crafted from his original DNA and upgraded for battle, including a brain-implanted computer. But all too quickly the Old Farts are separated, and Perry must fight for his life on various alien-infested battlegrounds. "Scalzi's astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master, Robert A. Heinlein" - "Publishers Weekly". "Delivers fast-paced scenes of combat, and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise" - "San Francisco Chronicle".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1185 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

The Times
'Clever dialogue, fast-paced story and strong characters.'

Synopsis
With his wife dead and buried, and life nearly over at 75, John Perry takes the only logical course of action left: he joins the army. Now better known as the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), Perry's service-of-choice has extended its reach into interstellar space to pave the way for human colonization of other planets while fending off marauding aliens. The CDF has a trick up its sleeve that makes enlistment especially enticing for seniors: the promise of restoring their youth. After bonding with a group of fellow recruits who dub their clique the Old Farts, Perry finds himself in a new body crafted from his original DNA and upgraded for battle, including a brain-implanted computer. But all too quickly the Old Farts are separated, and Perry must fight for his life on various alien-infested battlegrounds. "Scalzi's astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master, Robert A. Heinlein" - "Publishers Weekly". "Delivers fast-paced scenes of combat, and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise" - "San Francisco Chronicle".

About the Author
John Scalzi is an author and online writer, known for his blog Whatever, at which he has written daily on a number of topics since 1998. Old Man's War, his first novel, was a finalist in the Hugo Awards.

Customer Reviews

First Rate Sci-Fi
Ignore the cover of this book. It is a truly terrible cover; a horribly old fashioned, space ships in flight painting and pseudo-B-movie, shiny typeface effort that makes this book feel like an Alan Dean foster effort from the mid-1980's. You should ignore it because it is not worthy of the book behind it.

I picked up Old Man's War on a whim because I like the sound of the precis on the back. It struck me as an original concept, sending retirees off in the universe to be rejuvenated and fight for humanity, and I wanted to know where the author would go with it.

Where he takes it is not at all what I expected, even though I had no real preconceptions going in. Not only does he craft a hugely exciting story from his central idea, he also manages to imbue it with sly humour, a dash of satire (but not too much. Starship Troopers this isn't) and bags of very real emotion and humanity.

This gives the book depth that in turn elevates it above straight up space opera. Yes, there are battles and there's new technology on display (but as with the satire not too much. Just enough to serve the plot), but there are also real people in extraordinary situations who you can sympathise and empathise with. John Perry, the lead and the book's narrator, is a fabulously entertaining guide to the wider universe, and the other characters we meet through his eyes are equally well conceived and drawn, even if we only meet some for a few pages or less.

By giving readers characters they can really associate with, Scalzi provides both a compelling hook that keeps you reading and a anchor point to cling to when the more fantastical elements of the story come into play. This in not some stark vision of the future where gadgets and technology are more important than the people using them and as a result is a far more successful book than some other sci-fi efforts I have read.

I cannot recommend Old Man's War highly enough. Whether you're an ardent sci-fi fan or are happy to dip into the genre from time to time like me I suggest trying it on a whim.

redeemed by optimism
This was quite a mixed book for me. I found the writing to be fairly poor (actually, I find the writing of most science fiction to be poor). The style is very easy to read, but almost amateurish. The choice of names (Jane, John etc) and the informal style of writing grated on me a bit as did the vulgar names chosen by each person for their "brainpal" (a computer put into their brains).

The story is quite good fun, even if it does have strange fascist overtones. The basic ideas is that when people get to about 75, they are eligible to join the CDF (colonial defence force) who give them new bodies (with green skin and cat's eyes!) and then they go to fight lots of aliens to preserve the human colonies. I laughed out loud as the book then described how all the previously old people had non-stop sex for a fortnight after getting their new bodies! Very funny almost at the level of fantasty, but also quite cliched I think.

The interesting theme for me was the interweaving of the main character's relationship with his wife (new and old). This is definitely worth a follow up, and i'll probably check out the sequel just to follow that aspect.

The endless desctruction of alien empires worried me a bit. This is described in some detail, and reminded me a bit of starship troopers, but without the satirical elements. He does feel a bit guilty when he's crushing buildings created by aliens an inch high, so that's ok then...

An easy read with some fun ideas. Not great literature by any means, though.

Excellent
I really enjoyed the book (and am now reading the next in the series). I found the book very easy to read. I find some books take an age to get "into" as you have to become familiar with the variety of characters from the start (not bad but can make a boo harder to get started on). I was totally involved after the first few pages. The characters are rich and varied but you don't have to struggle through many chapters to get to know them.

To recommend a books is difficult as different people like different types of book. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed it and am currently thoroughly enjoying the next in the series (and ordering the 3rd and intending to read more of the same author).

Ian