Reviews

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

Only show reviews with written explanations

gooeykablooie's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Perfectly mediocre. This series has been about light, fun reads for me and it falls into that category. Not especially heavy on the fun, but enough of the light to keep me going. Not sure I'll go any further in the series and if that's your plan you'd be excused if you passed on this one too.

bat754's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

chinney's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Mostly political plot twists. Excellent story telling, and unexpected outcomes from very respectable characters. Wish I knew what happened to the werewolves.

dliebl's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

metalphoenix's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

With the third book in the Old Man's War series, there's finally some significant discussion about the Colonial Union and their monopoly on human colonization. Having spent two books just accepting the CU's pretty dictatorial decisions without any push back, I was pleased with characters in the story beginning to question that setup. Scalzi handled it well, being pretty balanced on both sides of the argument and not forcing any long discussions on the moral positives and negatives. These books are still fun, light reads after all, even while talking about heavier subjects.

I think the book could have been better if not from John Perry's point of view. One of things I enjoyed more about [b:The Ghost Brigades|239399|The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War, #2)|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729668s/239399.jpg|18279845] over [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346671475s/51964.jpg|50700] is that it jumped POV in order to better develop the story. I wanted to know more of what Jane was thinking, or the other colonists on Roanoke, or higher ups in the Colonial Union, or especially members of the Conclave like General Gau. Also, Perry feels a little too perfect to me;

Spoiler

he's able to outsmart armies, manipulate and circumvent planetary governments and treaties, be the only non-modified human to stay alive in direct conflict with aliens (twice), and he's even told in text that "it's [his] job to save humanity." And all with a wry, charming sense of humor.

I really like where Scalzi ended the book. It leaves us with a million possibilities, which seems just the right sort of way to end a story about space exploration.