It was difficult to know what to make of this when I first started it. There was an element of comedic humour which was quite refreshing and dry. However, it quickly reveals the loss of madness of war generally. This is space opera with a unique twist, but not necessarily unique characterisation. I’m not sure whether I’d get any further books in the series, but I enjoyed this one well enough ( )

This is a classic science fiction story. You can tell it's written by someone who loves Heinlein and the other old school writers. Yet he also brings in plenty of up-to-date elements, like nanobots.

The storytelling is compelling and the pace never lets up. This is all out war, after all. The main character is likable and somewhat memorable. I found it enjoyable to be along for the ride as he discovers a whole new world out there in interstellar space. But I found it hard to keep track of all but a couple of the secondary characters. They all blended into a faceless blur as the story rushed by. They probably needed more distinct names and distinctive features.

Of course, all of the technology is fantastic and so are the aliens. Thankfully, the aliens are not just humans with funny bumps on their faces. And some of them are positively inhuman.

All-in-all this is a very enjoyable book. Recommended. ( )

I really enjoyed this and feel stupid that it sat on my bookshelf unread for so long. Excellent space adventure summer reading. ( )

pick up with Chapter 4

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Old Man's War series; there are six books in this series. I borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: I really loved the concept of this book and, right from the beginning, it was different from what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be more of a straight military sci-fi, but it's so much more than that. I love the idea of giving old people new bodies and sending them out to protect humanity from the rest of extraterrestrial existence. Previous to reading this I have read a number of Scalzi books (I am not going to list them all here because I have read a lot). I should have known his sharp sense of humor and irony would be just as present in this book as it is in his other books.

This book follows a man named John Perry who signs up to join the Colonial Defense Force (CDF) after the death of his wife. He's declared dead on Earth and is committed to carrying out his new duty of protecting humanity from everything else that is out there.

I enjoyed the first part of this book the most, watching John make the transition from Earth to CDF was incredibly entertaining. Some of the middle parts of the book were a bit slower; lots of John traveling from battle to battle. I enjoyed the action but not the repetition. Then things get incredibly interesting again towards the end of the book when John gets involved with the Ghost Brigade.

There's a lot of humor and action in here but I was surprised by the amount of food for thought as well. This was effortless to read and highly entertaining. The characters feel very real and are engaging. I spent a lot of time laughing out loud. I definitely plan on continuing the series. I can understand why this is one of Scalzi's most popular series.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall this was a ton of fun to read and I really enjoyed it. If you are looking for a humorous, thoughtful, action-packed sci-fi read I would recommend this. It's not strictly military sci-fi, although there is a lot of that in there as well. I loved some of the concepts presented and am eager to see where the story goes in the second book, "Ghost Brigades" ( )