Fast-paced, gripping and filled with human moments and a witty, intelligent protagonist. I don't feel it's too beneficial to give too much information about the story of the book in a review as it's better taken without knowledge of what's coming up - even in a war book, there's plenty of intrigue and revelations to be had about the plot.

Highly recommend to any fan of sci-fi, and I will be picking up the sequel. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2024/02/2024030-old-mans-war-john-scalzi.html ( )

(2005) I finished this one, even though I did not enjoy it very much. I guess if you look at this as a metaphor for the whites slaughtering the indigenous (alien) population of the wild west in the name of colonization, then yes it makes sense. But just too much killing of alien species because they were in the way of humanity. Won't bother with the rest of the series or this author. Wikipedia:

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Old Man's War

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author John Scalzi
Country United States
Language English
Series Old Man's War series
Genre Military science fiction
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date 2005
Media type Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages 320
ISBN 0-7653-0940-8
OCLC 56128607
Dewey Decimal 813/.6 22
LC Class PS3619.C256 O43 2005
Followed by The Ghost Brigades
Old Man's War is a military science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, published in 2005.[1] His debut novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006.[2]

Old Man's War is the first novel in Scalzi's Old Man's War series. A sequel, The Ghost Brigades, was published in 2006, followed by two other books, The Last Colony (2007) and Zoe's Tale (2008). Another book in the series, The Human Division, was published as a serial and then collected in a novel (2013). The next book in the series, The End of All Things, was published in June 2015 as four novellas.[3]

It was optioned by Paramount Pictures in 2011.[4]

Plot
Introduction
Old Man's War is about a soldier named John Perry and his exploits in the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). The first-person narrative follows Perry's military career from CDF recruit to the rank of captain. It is set in a universe heavily populated with life forms, in which the spacegoing species compete for the scarce planets that are suitable for sustaining life. As a result, Perry must learn to fight a wide variety of aliens. The characters in Old Man's War have enhanced DNA and nanotechnology, giving them advantages in strength, speed, endurance, and situational awareness.

Synopsis
John Perry, a 75-year-old retired advertising writer, joins the Colonial Defense Forces who protect human interplanetary colonists. Volunteers sign letters of intent and provide DNA samples at age 65, which John and his now deceased wife Kathy had done ten years prior to the beginning of the story. After visiting his wife's grave to say goodbye (as volunteers can never return to Earth), Perry takes a space elevator to the CDF ship Henry Hudson, where he meets Thomas, Jessie, Harry, Alan, Susan and Maggie, fellow retiree volunteers. They dub themselves the "Old Farts".

Following a series of sometimes unusual psychological and physical tests, Perry's mind is transferred to a new body based on his genetic material. His new body is a younger version of himself, but genetically engineered with enhanced musculature, green skin, and yellow cat-like eyes. He now possesses enormous strength and dexterity, nanobot-enhanced artificial blood, enhanced eyesight and other senses, and most critically, a BrainPal?a neural interface that, among other capabilities, allows Perry to communicate with other members of the CDF via thought.

After a week of frivolity and libertinism in their new bodies, Perry and the other recruits land on Beta Pyxis III for basic training, during which the CDF's heritage in the United States armed forces is made clear when the recruits are taught the Rifleman's Creed. Perry's drill instructor, Master Sergeant Ruiz, adopts a tough and disdainful persona towards recruits, but discovers Perry is the creator of an advertising slogan Ruiz adopted as a personal mantra ("Sometimes you just gotta hit the road"). As a dubious gesture of respect, Perry is given the job of platoon leader during the weeks of training before he is shipped out to the CDF ship Modesto. His first engagement is with the Consu, a fierce, incredibly intelligent and religiously zealous alien species. Perry improvises a tactic which enables the CDF to win this first battle. This is soon followed by a number of battles with, among others, the bear-like Whaidians and the tiny Covandu. By the end of this last engagement Perry begins to suffer psychological distress over killing the Liliputian Covandu and accepts that he has transformed both physically and mentally.

Now a veteran, Perry participates in the Battle for Coral. The planet contains coral reefs valuable to the attacking Rraey, as well as a human colony (the Rraey also have a taste for human flesh). The CDF plans to rapidly counterattack with a small force before the Rraey establish their coral strip mining operations, but the Rraey are somehow able to predict the appearance of a space ship's skip drive (a feat that should not be possible) and use this knowledge to ambush and destroy CDF ships as they arrive in the Coral system. Perry's quick thinking allows him and his fellow soldiers on a transport shuttle to escape the wreckage of the Modesto and make for the planet's surface, but they are shot down. Everyone but Perry is killed in the crash; Perry is grievously wounded. Perry is left for dead by a Rraey search party (who find CDF soldiers inedible), and he is rescued by members of the mysterious "Ghost Brigades", the Special Forces units of the CDF. Perry thinks he has died when he sees a younger green version of his dead wife Kathy, who in reality is Jane Sagan, the leader of the Ghost Brigades rescue team.

After being repaired, Perry encounters Sagan, who turns out to have been grown based on Kathy Perry's DNA sample, as legally allowed by her letter of intent to join the CDF. Unlike John, Jane has no memories of Kathy's life, as she is only six years old, but after learning about Kathy, Jane seeks to learn more from John about being a "realborn" person and what kind of life one can have outside the CDF.

Sagan manipulates her chain of command to promote John to an advisory role (as a lieutenant) to gather information from the Consu during a ritualistic meeting to obtain information. Perry discovers that the Rraey had received the skip-drive detection tachyon technology from the Consu, which was used to set up the ambush at Coral. Perry also manipulates his chain of command to have the last two of his friends from the "Old Farts" transferred out of combat duty to military research. Sagan and Perry then participate in a Special Forces operation in an attempt to capture or destroy the borrowed Consu technology in advance of a major attack to recapture Coral from the Rraey. Perry is instrumental in the successful outcome of the battle by capturing the technical manual for the Consu detection system (which was destroyed in the fighting), and saving Sagan's life after she is severely wounded. However, he never sees her again after delivering her to a shuttle which returns her to the secretive Ghost Brigades.

At the conclusion of the book, Perry is promoted to captain following his deeds at Coral and, despite the separation, holds hope of reuniting with Sagan when their terms of service conclude.

This story is about a future where humans 75 and older enlist in the Colonial Defence Forces to defend the human colonies in space for the reward of renewed youth.

I loved the parts about the old souls in young, genetically modified bodies and learning about the new species found in the universe but was bored by the battle scenes. That's not the book's problem though, it's just what I found intersting, personally.

There are interesting things to consider about friendship, love and how much of a relationship is about the personality versus the body/DNA.

This is my 2nd book by Scalzi and both are funny, fast paced, sci-fi books with gooey, mushy centers about the love that exists within a marriage. It's a strange but wonderful combo, in my opinion. I will continue to read his work. ( )

A re-read via Audio. Loved it...again! ( )