The Shattering Peace

It's been a long wait to return to John Scalzi's Old Man's War universe, but we slip back in without missing a beat in The Shattering Peace. It's been 10 years since an uneasy peace was brought about by an agreement between the Conclave, the Colonial Union, and Earth.
Gretchen Trujillo is a diplomat for the Colonial Union when she is called in for a secret but crucial mission. The mission and the mystery at its heart have consequences for all three parties to the peace agreement. When it turns out the Consu are involved, the consequences take on epic proportions. The Consu are so far more technically advanced than either humans or any member species of the Conclave that they might as well be magic. And the Consu are having an internal show more disagreement. This could get tricky fast!

Revisiting this universe is as much fun as you could hope for. The characters are mostly new, but one of the best things about this series is how relatable they are. Scalzi's characters are funny, impulsive, exasperating, and very, very clever. Gretchen is a great character from a previous book, and the Obin are one of the most fascinating species in the series. Spending time with her and her Obin assistant is responsible for much of the heart and humor in this book.

The Consu have always been a critical component of this universe, in part because much of the technology used in this future has either been gifted by the Consu or stolen from others to whom it has been gifted. The Consu as a race have always sought to help alien races advance through combat, even though their reasons for doing so are merciless and murky. Humans and members of the Conclave are seeing for the first time division among the Consu that is tantamount to civil war. The consequences for the rest of the universe are potentially immeasurable.

Scalzi's writing immediately and comfortably immerses you in his universe with a setting and characters that are easy to understand. Then he introduces the politics of the situation that are both understandable and vexing. This is where the book really levels up and makes you think about what actions are appropriate and necessary, and also makes you examine them from different points of view. This leads to action and excitement in the moment and gives you something to contemplate afterwards.

The Shattering Peace resolves its story in this book, but also leaves open the possibility of further exploration of this storyline and the Old Man's War universe. Here's hoping to more books in this series!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. show less

I enjoyed this latest installment of the Old Man's War series very much, and am very happy that Scalzi keeps finding ways to extend this series.

This installment has moved a decade or so since we encountered Gretchen Trujillo. The daughter of a diplomat in the Colonial Union, she is now the grown-up former best friend of Zoe, the adopted daughter of John Perry and his wife, Jane Sagan.

As someone who grew up on a colony and is the daughter of one of its managers, Gretchen seems a natural choice for an ambitious assignment - to find out what happened to a newer colony that has mysteriously disappeared.

There are enough references to characters from the first few books of the series to tie them together, but this story is all its own. show more There is the usual Scalzi humor, some mind-bending science and technology, and enough good old fashioned space adventure to keep the book fast-paced and very entertaining.

The way this book ended could signify the complete wrapping up of the series...or not at all, maybe just a tease for a different area of the Universe for subsequent action. I'd be ready to go along for that ride.

Definitely recommend for any Scalzi fan, or fan of the Old Man's War series.

As an aside, I came across this bit from Scalzi on his blog:

"...I write better than “AI” can or ever will, and I can do it with far less energy draw. I don’t need to destroy a watershed to write a novel. I can write a novel with Coke Zero and snacks."

John Scalzi, I ❤️ you. show less

The Shattering Peace is not so much a sequel to Old Man’s War as it is to The Last Colony and Zoe’s Tale. The story keeps a tight focus on Gretchen Trujillo, Zoe’s best friend. Gretchen is now a seasoned diplomatic analyst with special close combat skills. She and Ran, her Obin bodyguard, investigate the disappearance of a large space habitat. And yes, the Consu have something to do with it. No surprise there.

The book’s best moments are in the banter between Gretchen and Ran, as Ran struggles to mimic humanity. Ran tells Gretchen that when she is upset at his gaffes, she makes a face:

“What face?”
“I cannot show you the face, my face can’t make that face.”

Even Ran’s kindest gestures don’t go well. Do you really want show more a “healing hug” from a gray, rubbery, expressionless Obin?

The Shattering Peace builds in enough backstory to remind you who is who in the series. If you have read at least one of the Roanoke Colony books, you are ready for this update. show less

This science fiction story is the seventh book in the Old Man's War series. Ten years have passed since the events of the previous book (and in real life too.) Gretchen Trujillo is a mid-level diplomat working in the Colonial Union bureaucracy. She's the expert on the Obin - one of many alien races humans have met in their journeys to expand into space. Her father is a higher-level diplomat.

When Gretchen's father gives her the assignment of trying to determine what happened to Unity Colony - a hollowed-out asteroid circling a planet the Obin had intended to colonize. The existence of Unity Colony comes as a surprise to Gretchen since one of the conditions of the tripartite agreement which ended the war was that there was a moratorium on show more founding new colonies.

Unity Colony was intended as a test case to see if citizens of the Colonial Union, the Conclave and Earth could live together peacefully in a single environment. Now the colony has disappeared, and the Colonial Union wants to know why. Gretchen's father was instrumental in the formation of the colony and one of her oldest friends is among the colonists.

An expedition is formed to find out what happened to the colony. When they arrive at the site where it was supposed to be, the colony is gone with no evidence of where it could be. What is there is a prism containing a single Consu. The Consu are a very superior sort of alien immeasurably advanced compared to all the other species. They have a nasty habit of messing with other species to further their goal of "perfecting" all species. They also rarely condescend to speak to other species, but this one that Gretchen names Kitty does speak to her and has a task for her. After which, he will tell her what happened to the colony.

Gretchen soon learns that the Consu are facing a civil war in which one faction wants to destroy the colony and Earth to "perfect" humans. The runaway Consu has developed a new kind of physics of spaceflight which could make the Consu even more powerful and dangerous to humans and aliens. It is up to Gretchen to out-think the aliens, save the colony, and save all the aliens from Consu interference.

This was an engaging space opera with a great main character. Gretchen is smart and mean and tricky enough to win over the dreaded Consu. I think it works well as a story whether or not you have read the previous six books in the Old Man's War series. I enjoyed the story despite my reservations about the efficacy of Gretchen's final solution. show less

Having only recently found John Scalzi's Old Man's War series, I did not have to wait years for the release of book seven, THE SHATTERING PEACE. This is both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, the details of the entire series are still fresh in my mind, thus I had no issues recalling past events that Gretchen and her father mention throughout the story. On the other hand, this hasn't been the easiest series to complete, with different narrative forms and Mr. Scalzi's timeline playing. I dare say I am reaching the point of series fatigue.

THE SHATTERING PEACE is most definitely a game-changer for the series, although I have no idea if there are any more stories left or if it ends in a way that makes sense for the characters and the show more series in general. I enjoyed the opportunity to see Gretchen Trujillo again and to see how much of her time with Zoe and Zoe's bodyguards on Roanoke influenced her adult self. In particular, Gretchen and Ran's relationship is truly special, a definite high point in the story and the series.

However, I struggled with the Consu, their actions, their lack of action, and the science behind almost everything that happens in the story. I get multiple timelines/dimensions. I get time travel. I even understand how Mr. Scalzi makes his galactic travel possible. I am much less clear on the Consu science. Considering it is a huge point of the book, I view this as a bit of Mr. Scalzi's failure to better explain his new method of traveling the universe.

THE SHATTERING PEACE is not my favorite book in the Old Man's War series, but it isn't the worst one either. Gretchen has always been a formidable friend, unfazed and unflappable. She's grown into a very capable woman and a fun heroine for the story. If the rest of the story is less enjoyable, well, I'll blame it on the aliens and their alien technology. show less

Returning to the setting that "made his bones" as a writer, this time around Scalzi is dealing with the implications and side-affects of the deal that saw peace "breakout" between the Human polity, and the "alien" Conclave, with the short version being that things could be going better. However, things are further complicated by an intervention of the Consu; everyone's favorite "superior" elder race (the Consu certainly think so). This is a roundabout way of saying that if you've liked the previous books in this series, you should also like this one, without giving away the punch line.

It’s a Scalzi. That’s for sure. I mean, I have nothing new to say about him at this point. This is another book in the Old Man’s War universe, but it’s more of a sequel to Zoe’s Tale. I mean, it’s a standalone like all the OMW books, but readers of Zoe’s Tale will get the most out of this. Like all his books, it’s plot-heavy, but emotion-light. Meant for entertainment, which is all I ever ask of a book.