Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Title: Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Pages: 311.

How it was obtained: I picked it up at Books-A-Million.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 0 days.

Days spent reading it: 2 days.

Why I read it: I saw Zoe's Tale come out a few months ago in hardback and liked the cover. So I checked into the original book in the series, which was Old Man's War. After doing some checking into it, it sounded like a book I might actually like a lot. So I picked it up and bought it before I took off for Thailand to pass a few nights reading.

Brief review: I absolutely loved Old Man's War. John Scalzi is a witty writer. Sure, he borrows many ideas from Ender's Game, Starship Troopers, and other classic sci-fi books, but that does not make his own book inferior. It is going to be a classic on its own one day, I'm pretty sure.

The plot is simple. We meet our hero at the ripe age of 75 as he is about to enter the military for a 2-10 year stint. Yes, you read that correctly. In this book, military service (in space) is for the old who have already retired. They are taken into space and rejuvenated (I'll let you read the book to find out how). We follow Poole through his training and career in the military (and it's a pretty exceptional career). It is a fun romp that is over all too soon. The pace and point of view reminded me heavily of Starship Troopers (which was written by the master of science fiction Robert Heinlein). But some of the ideas and concepts were pure John Scalzi.

I'm glad I picked this book up, and I look forward to reading the other books in the series (and perhaps Scalzi's other works). He is a great writer and I find him very fun to read.

Favorite quote:

"You may refer to me as Ambassador, unworthy though I am of the title," The Consu said. "I am a criminal, having disgraced myself in battle on Pahnshu, and therefore am made to speak to you in your tongue. For this shame I crave death and a term of just punishment before my rebirth. It is my hope that as a result of these proceedings I will be viewed as somewhat less unworthy, and will thus be released to death. It is why I soil myself by speaking to you."

Stars: 5 out of 5.

Final Word: Refreshing.