Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, Book #1 of the Old Man’s War series
Introduction
In Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, two things have happened to John Perry recently. His wife had unexpectedly passed away and he decided to join the army. It’s not just any army. The Colonial Defense Forces will only take recruits on their seventy-fifth birthday. All recruits are taken off of the earth and are never heard from again. The novel opens on his seventy-fifth birthday at the gravesite of his beloved wife. He says goodbye to her and heads to the CDF recruitment office. He has no idea what will happen to him next, but he has nothing left to keep him on the earth and so he enlists.
Summary
John Perry changes as part of the enlistment process. He must succeed to graduate boot camp. The recruits serve a term of ten years, but the survival rate is less than 30 percent. He is very practical and advances in the CDF by using his wits and a lot of luck. At the end of their term, the recruits can become colonists on a new planet or re-enlist in the CDF. The CDF protects the colonies. This novel follows John Perry at the beginning of his term of service.
Recommendation
To me, this novel is a mixture of many military science fiction novels of the past mixed up with new ideas making a great new novel. It takes the themes of pro-militarism and the boot camp to soldier coming of age from Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, But, there is also a sense of loss of humanity by the protagonist and the conflict of fighting the other from The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. I was also reminded of Deathworld by Harry Harrison for the “anything can kill you” mantra of the CDF members. I highly recommend this novel and intend to read the many sequels.
Links
I received this novel from a Tor.com newsletter. Tor sends one free e-book every month to newsletter subscribers. I have copies of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and A Fire on the Deep by Vernor Vinge.
The Tor.com newsletter is at http://read.macmillan.com/tordotcom/newsletter-signup/
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36510196-old-man-s-war
This is the link to my review of Lock In by John Scalzi. FBI agent Chris Shane has Haden’s Syndrome and interacts with the world through an android. Chris must solve a murder caused by an android.