Old Man’s War by John Scalzi appears at first to be an updated version of Joe Haldeman’s Forever War, but the take on it is much different. Scalzi is an internet favorite due to his long running blog Whatever (if you’re not familiar with his blog, google bacon cat) and Old Man’s War was serialized on his blog before being picked up by a publisher. It’s a different look at intersteller war and the start of a series (that’s up to 4 books now).

John Perry just turned 75. His wife died a few years ago and he’s spending his birthday joining the army. In Scalzi’s novel, there are people on Earth who have to stay on Earth, unless they join the interstellar army when they turn 75. After they going to the space station, they are subjected to dozens of tests: physical, emotional and mental. They are then thrown into a new body that looks like Adonis in the prime of his life (if Adonis had enhanced genes and green skin). The book starts with Perry going up, making friends and entering training.

After training, they are thrown into war with other civilizations. These wars are bloody and deadly. Over 70% of trainees don’t survive the ten-year enlistment. Perry is the hero and the main character, so you know he will survive. Scalzi also brings in the concept of Ghost Brigades, which are new personalities put into the advanced bodies (which will lead into the aptly named sequel(my review)). The book does a good of showing future war concepts, but the best part of the book is the characterization. Perry is an everyman who everyone (and I do mean everyone) likes and Scalzi shows us why. Perry is insecure and brave and forthright. The characters are distinct and interesting.

Overall Scalzi has created a fun universe to read about. Highly recommended.

This post is part of the thread: Old Man’s War – an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.