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A review by badken
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
5.0
My one-line review for Old Man's War: a space grunt's tale channels Heinlein.
One thing that bothers me about a lot of recent sci-fi is that it's so oppressive. Old Man's War is poignant without being oppressive, which I love. It lacks a strong overarching narrative, but it doesn't need one. All it needs to do is tell the story of an old man leaving his life on Earth to be reborn as a colonial soldier, defending human colonies against hordes of unfriendly aliens. Scalzi's characters are so loveable you want to keep reading just to see what they do next. In fact the whole novel reads more like a series of short stories, or a novel that was released episodically in an SF pulp magazine. It works.
Just as there is no heavy plot, there is no deep theme, no hidden meanings, no moral with which the author is subtly or unsubtly worrying the reader. In that sense it is unlike much of Heinlein, and in this case that's a good thing. The book never delves into the complexity of galactic politics, though it hints at it. Earth is physically and technologically isolated from its colonies. The colonies are the real human force in the galaxy, up against dozens of alien species in a violent race for expansion. Technology is only explored to the extent that it serves the story. A well-written, engaging story. Sometimes that's all you want, or all you really need.
So now I add yet another author to the list of authors whose work I want to explore further.
One thing that bothers me about a lot of recent sci-fi is that it's so oppressive. Old Man's War is poignant without being oppressive, which I love. It lacks a strong overarching narrative, but it doesn't need one. All it needs to do is tell the story of an old man leaving his life on Earth to be reborn as a colonial soldier, defending human colonies against hordes of unfriendly aliens. Scalzi's characters are so loveable you want to keep reading just to see what they do next. In fact the whole novel reads more like a series of short stories, or a novel that was released episodically in an SF pulp magazine. It works.
Just as there is no heavy plot, there is no deep theme, no hidden meanings, no moral with which the author is subtly or unsubtly worrying the reader. In that sense it is unlike much of Heinlein, and in this case that's a good thing. The book never delves into the complexity of galactic politics, though it hints at it. Earth is physically and technologically isolated from its colonies. The colonies are the real human force in the galaxy, up against dozens of alien species in a violent race for expansion. Technology is only explored to the extent that it serves the story. A well-written, engaging story. Sometimes that's all you want, or all you really need.
So now I add yet another author to the list of authors whose work I want to explore further.