A review by raelindenberg
Old Man's War by John Scalzi

adventurous funny hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book was good - I’m interested enough to read more in the series. Although two drawbacks include the:

  1. 1. Everyday “normal guy” is good at nearly everything he tries. 

  3. 2. Leans pro-military or at least military sympathetic. The aliens make it easy for our brains to be okay with constant warfare since it’s not human deaths, and there is a character who’s interested in interstellar peace who is killed in his attempts to foster it. I don’t know, as someone who fully understands the narrative trope of “killing non-humans means violence is justified or desensitizes us to it” I was a little annoyed...this is a classic move to imbue military concession in our understanding of “this is how the world works.”

Nevertheless, this book had a good pace, good sense of humor, and doesn’t necessarily shy away completely from the notion that war has psychological implications and maybe a better way to co-exist should be found and utilized.

Overall, if you’re able to put aside being annoyed with how militarized a lot of space lit is, you’ll actually have a good time with some well-written characters and an interesting world to explore. Gonna have to see how the rest of the series pans out.