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A review by sashaknits
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
4.0
I got this as part of the first Humble eBook Bundle so it was a bit of pot-luck that I had it on my Kindle, rather than a specific decision to buy it. Luckily, I was more than pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
The main premise of the story is that in a future where the human race has spread widely into space looking for new planets to colonise, Earth needs extremely specialised armed forces in order to claim or maintain their presence on many alien worlds. This problem is solved by inviting pensioners to sign up for service (on the understanding that they may never return to Earth) and then... well I shan't spoil it for you ;)
What struck me strongly about the book was the believability of the main characters, even when they were put into such extreme and speculative circumstances. The book had a great sense of humour, mainly evidenced through our hero's affectionately sarcastic outlook on life, and was painfully touching in places as well. A great emotional rollercoaster.
The only problem was that it was over too soon! I'll definitely be looking up some more of Scalzi's books in future.
The main premise of the story is that in a future where the human race has spread widely into space looking for new planets to colonise, Earth needs extremely specialised armed forces in order to claim or maintain their presence on many alien worlds. This problem is solved by inviting pensioners to sign up for service (on the understanding that they may never return to Earth) and then... well I shan't spoil it for you ;)
What struck me strongly about the book was the believability of the main characters, even when they were put into such extreme and speculative circumstances. The book had a great sense of humour, mainly evidenced through our hero's affectionately sarcastic outlook on life, and was painfully touching in places as well. A great emotional rollercoaster.
The only problem was that it was over too soon! I'll definitely be looking up some more of Scalzi's books in future.