Scalzi takes the classic space opera war stories of Heinlein (Starship Troopers) and Haldemen (The Forever War) and tries to breathe new life into them. On the whole, he is successful, but at times it feels like he reigns his writing style in a little too sharply in order to remain faithful to the source material.
The book follows the typical progression of a war narrative from life before war, though training, and finally to the war itself. The life before war chapters, however, are filled with contrived conversations no one would be having if it were not for the author's need to infodump his setting on the reader in a hurry. The book feels forced in these early chapters. But then you arrive at basic training and it's there that Scalzi hits a stride that carries you though quite handily to the end. There are also a lot of themes in this book that may have been intended to be thought provoking but that, frankly, were not; and he develops several of these themes in tandem but does so without developing a central thread until quit late in the book. And yet, in spite of these little foibles, the book is quite worthwhile, especially if you have a penchant for the old school space opera.
I highly recommend the audio book read by William "Farmer Pickles" Dufris; he does an excellent job handling the voices and hits on exactly the right amount of acting for each role. On the other hand, audible.com's use of DRM makes the experience of obtaining and listening to audiobooks so damn frustrating that I would rather they not receive any reward for their efforts to screw their customers.
The book follows the typical progression of a war narrative from life before war, though training, and finally to the war itself. The life before war chapters, however, are filled with contrived conversations no one would be having if it were not for the author's need to infodump his setting on the reader in a hurry. The book feels forced in these early chapters. But then you arrive at basic training and it's there that Scalzi hits a stride that carries you though quite handily to the end. There are also a lot of themes in this book that may have been intended to be thought provoking but that, frankly, were not; and he develops several of these themes in tandem but does so without developing a central thread until quit late in the book. And yet, in spite of these little foibles, the book is quite worthwhile, especially if you have a penchant for the old school space opera.
I highly recommend the audio book read by William "Farmer Pickles" Dufris; he does an excellent job handling the voices and hits on exactly the right amount of acting for each role. On the other hand, audible.com's use of DRM makes the experience of obtaining and listening to audiobooks so damn frustrating that I would rather they not receive any reward for their efforts to screw their customers.