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Old Man's War

Old Man's War

Author: John Scalzi

John Scalzi is one of the shining lights of today’s science fiction landscape. His first novel, Old Man’s War, was an incredible introduction, bringing Scalzi to international attention, as well as a Hugo nomination for Best Novel. The story of a fighting force comprised of genetically enhanced senior citizens fighting a war in space is an exceptionally fun bit of work, and takes so many classic science fiction methods. There’s incredible technologies, like a fun faster-than-light travel method, and neural implants, and excellent use of run of the mill genetic engineering and thought consciousness transfers. When you look at Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series, Zoe’s Tale, The Lost Colony, and other shorter works, they’re all a combination of 1960s and 70s science fiction ideas, the kind you’d get from Heinlein or Bester, along with seriously funny prose you’d find  from Vonnegut or Sturgeon. That marvelous combination, and the power of his plotting, is a major part of why Scalzi is seen as one of today’s most beloved, and highly awarded,  of all scifi practitioners! Why it’s on the list Old Man’s War is the best of both worlds, old time science fiction fun with contemporary prose styling!

Books in Old Man's War Series (7)

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Old Man's War was the first volume in an ongoing series consisting, to date, of The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, Zoe's Tale and The Human Division, with further novels promised. These follow the continuing adventures of John Perry and Jane Sagan, who was created from the DNA of Perry's dead wife. As conflict with varied alien races continues, the pair become increasingly disillusioned with the war, eventually learning that Earth has been kept in ignorance of what is going on, leading eventually to a new alliance with the aliens.

Just as Old Man's War contains echoes of Heinlein, Scalzi has played with ideas from other works of science fiction. Fuzzy Nation, for instance, reboots ideas from the Little Fuzzy stories of H. Beam Piper; while Redshirts, which won the Hugo and Locus Awards, is a comedy built around the idea that it is always the redshirts on Star Trek who die.