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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
4 stars. It’s been a while since I read The Last Colony, so I remember the broad plot but few details. Zoe’s Tale is a retelling, but given the substantial differences in location and life experiences between the two protagonists of their respective books, there’s enough fresh plot to merit the retelling. I found it consistently enjoyable. I just would have liked to see a bit more of the wider political machinations going on behind the scenes, and more on the werewolves.
Another episode in the Old Man's War! Excitement, danger, adventure... teenage-girl drama? Whodidiwhatinow?
For the fourth book, Scalzi takes on pretty much the same exact story from Book Three, only this time from the eyes of another character in the plot. Initially, a do-over of a story, especially one told from the point of a teenager, did not sit well with me. It felt like a bit of a cop-out.
But, teen angst aside, Scalzi's new peek into an old story gave a lot of new insights and sets up a lot more meaning to human and alien relationships in this universe.
And the teen angle ended up not being so bad after all. Scalzi channels the inner snark of his young characters pretty well. The dialog was funny and meaningful, reminding me a lot of Brian Michael Bendis' work.
For the fourth book, Scalzi takes on pretty much the same exact story from Book Three, only this time from the eyes of another character in the plot. Initially, a do-over of a story, especially one told from the point of a teenager, did not sit well with me. It felt like a bit of a cop-out.
But, teen angst aside, Scalzi's new peek into an old story gave a lot of new insights and sets up a lot more meaning to human and alien relationships in this universe.
And the teen angle ended up not being so bad after all. Scalzi channels the inner snark of his young characters pretty well. The dialog was funny and meaningful, reminding me a lot of Brian Michael Bendis' work.
It certainly stands alone and is awesome at it, but it makes infinitely more sense having read the first three books. Especially I would recommend reading The Last Colony and Zoe's Tale in quick succession, because the story is so much fuller that way.
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December 2008: This novel is the story of Zoë Boutin Perry, a teenager who is part of the first colony of colonists — where her planet was settled by people from Earth, she and a bunch of people from other planets are settling a new one. The problems start when the Colonial Union, who is sanctioning this colonization, informs the travellers that they are being hunted by a group called the Conclave who don't want anybody but themselves colonizing anything.
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December 2008: This novel is the story of Zoë Boutin Perry, a teenager who is part of the first colony of colonists — where her planet was settled by people from Earth, she and a bunch of people from other planets are settling a new one. The problems start when the Colonial Union, who is sanctioning this colonization, informs the travellers that they are being hunted by a group called the Conclave who don't want anybody but themselves colonizing anything.
read more...
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed seeing events from Zoe's PoV. Her voice felt very distinct from Perry's and I enjoyed how much Zoe apparently knew that her parents thought she was ignorant of, much like any bright observant teen.I loved being able to finally see the assassination attempt play out and more of the relationship between Zoe and Hickory and Dickory.
adventurous
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
If John Scalzi has no fans, I am dead
Pretty good retelling of the events in The Last Colony and fills in some of the gaps. Fun, quick read.
lighthearted
There's some emotional stuff towards the end that had me tearing up and it's nice to see Zoe's perspective, but the book loses a lot of its impact for basically going over a plot that I've already read about.
Like, there was definitely stuff missing about Zoe's perspective from the previous book that this addresses and fills in the gaps for. But a lot of the early stuff in the book, the important stuff is vague and background, which for Zoe it is realistic for it to be, but makes for frustrating instead of compelling storytelling
Like, there was definitely stuff missing about Zoe's perspective from the previous book that this addresses and fills in the gaps for. But a lot of the early stuff in the book, the important stuff is vague and background, which for Zoe it is realistic for it to be, but makes for frustrating instead of compelling storytelling