3.5 stars. The Last Colony by John Scalzi completes the trilogy begun with Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades (but it is certainly not the last of the books set in this universe). This time the focus is less on those wonderfully old-school battle scenes and more upon the consequences of playing politics with people's lives. The Last Colony is a book that is focused on imperialism and expansionist politics. What happens when we (humans) try to colonize other planets? How would other intelligent species respond?

John Perry and Jane Sagan — he the formerly heavily-modded supersoldier of the Colonial Defense Force, she the super-dupersoldier genetically designed right from the lab — have retired to an unassuming agricultural colony with fresh, unmodified bodies and an adopted daughter, Zoe (remember her from The Ghost Brigades?), now a teenager. An unwelcome visit from a former commanding officer leads to an offer that their innate wanderlust makes it hard for them to refuse. They become the administrators of a new human colony, Roanoke. But, Trouble manifests itself quickly....

It doesn't take long to learn that the colony is little more than a tool for politics. The Colonial Union, representing spacefaring humanity away from the isolated Earth, is openly defying a decree by the Conclave, a consortium of alien worlds that have forbidden any colonization efforts by non-Conclave worlds, and have the combined military might of each of those worlds to back it up. It's a huge game of chicken between the Conclave and humanity, with the Union, seeing humanity's very existence threatened, hoping to use Roanoke to goad the Conclave into a military trap. Meanwhile, the only people who seem to care about the lives of the actual men, women, and children on Roanoke are Perry, Sagan, and the colonists themselves.

I didn't feel that this book quite lived up to its predecessor (the plot often seemed a little thin/unbelievable to me) but still it was nice to see the return of John Perry, and an interesting convergence of story-lines from the first two books. I honestly enjoy spending time with John, Jane, and Joe and I think that is a credit to Mr. Scalzi for writing such lovely and snarky characters. I might need to revisit this one in the near future to truly appreciate it.

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The Last Colony by John Scalzi is the third book in his science fiction series entitled Old Man’s War and I am finding that these books just keep getting better with every entry. This book draws the first two books together and we find John Perry and Jane Sagan retired from the Colonial Defense Forces and living on the planet Huckleberry. They re accompanied by Zoe Boutin as their adopted daughter and she in turn is accompanied by Hickory and Dickory, two Obins. Zoe is greatly revered by Obins because of her father, and these two are with her to protect her. John and Jane are approached by the CDF and asked to be the leaders of a group that is going to colonize a new planet. While they realize that there is probably more to the story than they are being told, they agree to join the expedition to the planet of Roanoke.

Once they arrive, they realize that nothing is as it seems. In fact, even the planet is not the one they were originally shown. It turns out that this new colony is a play in a complex power struggle between the CDF and the Conclave, a large alliance of species who are determined to regulate the galaxy’s growth and endless wars over territory. In simple terms Roanoke is being used as bait. What follows is an exciting and appealing story that has the reader rooting for the survival of Roanoke.

The Last Colony is an engaging, smart and very enjoyable addition to this series. I am already looking forward to the next book. ( )

John Perry and Jane Sagan have 'retired' from the Colonial Defense forces and along with their adopted daughter Zoe, have been tasked with overseeing a new colony. However, the sneaky underhandedness of the CDF has conspired to leave them stranded on this new planet, unable to utilize any electronic technology lest they be discovered by The Conclave, a new alliance of 405 alien races who plan to keep all the good planets for themselves.
Perry and Sagan continue to be delightful characters as they struggle with their situation as well as the political machinations and just plain stupidity of the colonists as well as the situation the CDF has put them in. Zoe is a refreshing delight and I love, love, love her Obin "bodyguards" Hickory and Dock. This world continues to build and Scalzi keeps the reader guessing as to who can be trusted and who the 'bad guys' are. A very deft line to walk indeed. Excellent work. ( )

More similar to the first book than the second, each chapter reveals enough to satisfy you as it foreshadows to future events. ( )

Fast paced, fun and simple reading. ( )