Zoe's Tale

Zoe’s Tale parallels the narrative of The Last Colony from Zoe’s point of view. Think Ender’s Shadow and Rogue One. Or if you are a literary type, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

It is a coming-of-age story told in the manner of the best Heinlein juveniles. Her adoptive parents, John Perry and Jane Sagan, take minor roles. Zoe, her teenage friends, and her Obin bodyguards, Hickory and Dickory, dominate the action as they discover their roles in the complex and violent galaxy of The Old Man’s War. It will make you laugh and cry and occasionally say, whoa, I didn’t expect that.

Scalzi is one of the most professionally accomplished writers in science fiction these days. He gives all the characters unique voices and show more develops minor characters just enough. Even if you are allergic to young-adult fiction, you will find things to like in Zoe’s Tale. show less

Much like Orson Scott Card did when he revisited the events of Ender's Game from a different viewpoint with Ender's Shadow, John Scalzi uses the fourth volume of his Old Man's War series to retell the plot of The Last Colony. I like to think that Scalzi pulls it off better than even Card did, mainly because the whole same-story-from-different-perspectives thing works even better with first-person narratives, and Scalzi's narrators couldn't be much more different: a 90-year-old (mentally) ex-soldier, and—in this book—a 17-year-old girl.

It's the teenage-girl viewpoint that gets this book labelled as "YA", I guess, so it amuses me that it's by far the longest book in the series. (To be fair, the language is toned down considerably from show more previous books, but that comes from being about a bunch of teenagers instead of adults and ex-soldiers.) Speaking as a middle-aged dude, I think Scalzi pulls of the "voice" of a teenage girl quite well. And indeed, it's being able to connect with the main character through her narrative that makes this book work—even more than in previous volumes. Presumably you know the plot of the story already, having previously read The Last Colony, so that plot takes much more of a background role in this book, while the story here focuses more on the characters and their relationships with each other. And it works, it really does. Even when I knew what was going to happen, Scalzi keeps things fresh by not rehashing territory covered in the previous book; choosing instead to show what transpired in-between key events, or what Zoe was up to "off-camera".

Now, if you haven't read TLC yet—or previous books, for that matter—I think Zoe's Tale will work for you. Scalzi puts in enough detail, I believe, for the reader to make sense of what's going on. But I'll go out on a limb and guarantee that you will get much more out of this book having already read that one. Likewise, I find myself appreciating TLC much more now that I've essentially read it again, but from another perspective and with some of the gaps filled in. The two books together make for a more fulfilling reading experience than either one of them by itself.

It's not a perfect book by any means, but it's nice to get to know a number of characters better that were more or less peripheral in TLC, and to have some plot-related things explained a little better. And apparently Scalzi is incapable of writing something that's not an absolute page-turner. [4 out of 5 stars] show less

Though the events of this book have already played out in The Lost Colony, the reader is not bored by this due to the fact that the story is told from the perspective of the teenaged Zoe Boutin Perry, daughter of the traitor and adopted daughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan. A lot goes on that our adult protagonists were unaware of and, of course, it was a real treat to find out what happened when Zoe goes to visit General Gau.
I just loved Zoe's voice and Scalzi does a particularly good job of writing from the POV of a teenager without overdoing it on slang and attitude. Zoe and her friend Gretchen come off as a bit precocious, but that's almost to be expected considering who their parents are. I loved, loved, loved the further show more revelations about the Obin and their connection to Zoe as well as their history with the Consu. Great book. Can't wait to read the rest. show less

Somehow I managed to start reading this without even glancing at any of the cover blurbs, so at first I didn't realize this novel was set in the world of [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346671475s/51964.jpg|50700]. In fact, it's apparently a retelling, from a different perspective, of the third book in that series (of which I've only read the first so far). As it turns out, that didn't matter at all.

This is a great story of interstellar colonization, politics, and war, narrated by a smart and snarky teenaged girl. It is, by turns, gripping, moving, and laugh-out-loud funny. At first I thought this is a YA book; maybe it is, but if so, it's a very *smart* YA book, like some of Heinlein's show more best.

Apparently that third book had some problems for a number of people, because the events described here were in the author's head, but not laid out for readers. That's not a problem here; everything hangs together, even without the context of the series. A few bits might have more resonance if you're familiar with the other books, but it seem to me that it stands up just fine on its own.

Now I'm going to make sure that the other books are on my to-read shelf. show less

Summary: Zoe's Tale is a companion novel to (or a retelling of) The Last Colony. While The Last Colony told the tale of the colonization of the planet Roanoke from John Perry's point of view, Zoe's Tale is narrated by his adopted teenage daughter, Zoe. The Last Colony focused more on the political, tactical, and military-technological aspects of the colonization, while Zoe's Tale is a lot more concerned with the personal, and the familial. Because Zoe is girl with a lot of family: apart from her adoptive parents, John and Jane, she also has the Obin - an entire race of aliens that regard her biological father, Charles Boutin, as their savior, and thus revere his daughter. Zoe's always accepted the Obin's presence in her life, but as she show more grows up, she's starting to become tired of being a symbol, and when her human family is put in danger, she has to decide who she really is, and how much she's willing to risk to save the ones she love.

Review: This book was wonderful. It must be incredibly difficult to re-write one of your own novels from a different point of view while simultaneously staying true to the perspective of your character and not getting repetitive, but Scalzi pulls it off with flair. I don't know if I'd consider Zoe's Tale a novel that's complete in and of itself - because of the lack of repetitiveness, there are a lot of plot points that are glossed over pretty quickly, under the assumption that readers have already read The Last Colony. But, on the other hand, Zoe's Tale fills in the gaps of a lot of things that The Lost Colony glossed over (at the top of the list: what happened with the fantie-hunters, and what happened to Zoe during the time she left the planet), so the result is that they complement each other perfectly, each book picking up where the other left off.

Another thing that Scalzi does wonderfully is Zoe's voice. I've commented before on his range when it comes to protagonist voices, but he absolutely nails the POV of an intelligent, good-natured, snarky, but basically still teenaged girl. Even for events in the story where both Zoe and John are present, and are therefore in both books, Zoe's got her own unique take on things, and she never feels like less than a 100% authentic, real teenager.

As a result both of how real Zoe felt, and of her unique relationships, Zoe's Tale had me getting sniffly multiple times over the course of the book. That's mostly a good thing: I didn't feel like the story was being emotionally manipulative, but was rather genuinely affecting, and all of its drama was well-earned. However, having to wipe away tears every fifty pages or so is decidedly inconvenient when one is reading this in company after Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully everyone else was so absorbed in the football game that they didn't notice how absorbed I was in this book. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I don't know how well this book would stand alone; it's so bound up with The Last Colony that I can't say whether it would work separately from the rest of the series. But it's a great book, and the series as a whole has been hugely enjoyable, so definitely recommended. show less

When I started this book I had a few misgivings: the previous one in the series, The Last Colony, had been a very enjoyable but not stellar read, at least compared to its predecessors, so I was afraid that a return to the same scenes, although from a different point of view, would prove less than interesting. Well, I was wrong.

Zoe's Tale fills very well the untold sections of its "parent" book, and does it in a consistent and believable voice, that of a teenager girl who never sounds contrived or cliché. John Scalzi did a great job in fitting the pieces of this puzzle with the previous one's, giving us a fresh look on known events and even offering new angles and insights on them. In the afterword the author speaks about his own doubts show more and difficulties in facing this kind of project, and in light of the successful outcome of this endeavor I must say that he truly outdid himself. Not doubting him again, no way...

Through Zoe's eyes, the characters of John Perry and Jane Sagan gain new facets: we see them as successful, well-balanced parents who go from raising a daughter to caring for an entire colony – which led me to think that raising Zoe might indeed have been a sort of dry run for the larger effort... What we learn about them, both as individuals and as a couple, comes from their daughter's clear-headed reflections, and gives them a more rounded – and more human – dimension that makes me like them even more.

What I most admired in the writing is how Mr. Scalzi approaches the feelings and turmoils of a teenager (and her friends): he keeps a light touch, sprinkled here and there with his trademark humor, and can deal with young emotions in a way that's both believable and engaging – either in happy and sad circumstances. Yet, despite this light touch, there was a moment when he had me in tears: the scene in which the hundred volunteer Obin offer, one by one, their allegiance to Zoe was such a powerful moment, for all its understated simplicity, that I felt overwhelmed.

Well done, well done indeed. And damn you, John Scalzi, for making me cry :-) show less

For a story that is essentially the retelling of a previous novel, ZOE'S TALE by John Scalzi manages to avoid duplicating any part of that earlier novel. While I wasn't expecting Zoe's story to cover the same events as THE LAST COLONY, I'm impressed that at least we didn't have to rehash the same scenes and dialogue. Of particular interest were Zoe's interactions with her Obin bodyguards and later with the Obin and Consu in general. My only issue with ZOE'S TALE is that for a seventeen-year-old, she exhibits a very mature self-awareness. That is definitely not my experience with seventeen-year-old girls. However, I can make a certain allowance for Zoe's maturity to be a result of her unique position with the Obin, the Colonial Union, show more and as the adopted daughter of her two famous parents. Still, it strikes me as a little too mature for a teenage girl, especially one who spends so much of her tale questioning authority and ignoring the limitations in place for her protection. All in all, ZOE'S TALE serves to fill in certain gaps in THE LAST COLONY and proves more entertaining than I expected it to be. show less