John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-and aliens willing to fight for them are common. The universe, it turns out, is a hostile place. So: we fight. To defend Earth (a target for our new enemies, … our new enemies, should we let them get close enough) and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has gone on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.
Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force, which shields the home planet from too much knowledge of the situation. What’s known to everybody is that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You’ll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You’ll serve your time at the front. And if you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.
John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine-and what he will become is far stranger.
Old Man’s War Series
#1 Old Man’s War
#2 The Ghost Brigades
#3 The Last Colony
#4 Zoe’s Tale
#5 The Human Division
#6 The End of All Things
Short fiction: “After the Coup”
Other Tor Books
The Android’s Dream
Agent to the Stars
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded
Fuzzy Nation
Redshirts
Lock In
The Collapsing Empire (forthcoming)
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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One of the best Science Fiction novels I have had the pleasure of reading in my 70 years on this planet. The sequels are awesome as well.
All of the books in this series are a great read.
This entire series was wonderful. This book was great, but so were all the others!
Great Read
To say that John Scalzi is a great sci fi author is like saying Mozart is a great composer. The Old Man’s War series is truly a masterpiece. This book sets the stage, introduces the characters and the conflicts and tells a compelling story along the way. The books that follow are each great stories and together make a wonderful tapestry. I highly recommend all of Scalzi’s work to anyone interested in reading Science Fiction that measures up well to that of Isaac Asimov.
Military science fiction is one of the most popular and beloved subgenres in fiction. Titles like War of the Worlds and Starship Troopers continue to captivate readers to this day. Hollywood took notice, gifting us mega-hits like Aliens and Battlestar Galactica. The genre is jam-packed with weighted themes, pulsing action, and mind-bending tech that often provides new and interesting ways of thinking about the universe we inhabit.
Starship Troopers has been a personal favorite for years, written by the legendary Robert A. Heinlein. The book weaves its way through controversial topics with an eerie effectiveness, a testament to Heinlein’s enduring brilliance. His understanding of the military machine oozes from the page and sucks you into his character motivations. I thought for sure that this book would endure as my go-to measuring stick for the genre.
That is, until I read Old Man’s War.
John Scalzi is a New York Times bestselling author with a Hugo Award under his belt. Dude has some serious cred, so I went into the book with lofty expectations. Old Man’s War is the first of a six-book series that I plan to gleefully devour. The first book was in my to-read pile for quite some time, as the recommendation kept rearing its head in conversation. Once it reached the top, I actually felt a wash of relief. “Finally, I can see what all the fuss is about.” Several hours later, I put the book down and simply uttered, “Holy shit.”
Without giving anything away, as a happy husband in a two-decade relationship that is still going strong, this book hit me hard in the feels.
I was not expecting that from a military sci-fi novel, albeit one with an enthralling narrative voice. The “old man” part refers to an advanced version of Earth where retirees are the ones who join the Armed Forces. The idea is that a wealth of experience is far more valuable than youthful vigor. And when you live in a world where the military can provide you with a brand new combat-ready body (complete with green skin), it makes a hell of a lot of sense.
The story follows John Perry, a 75-year-old senior who lost his wife and is reaching the end of his days. He joins the military, because why not. He is promised a new and exciting life beyond the stars, fighting for … well, something. It doesn’t matter. He’s moving forward, and that’s all that matters. John makes new friends along the way and discovers that he is quite adept at his new life battling aliens from planet to planet.
Old Man’s War takes several dives into familiar themes, first and foremost, what it means to be human. Others include the role of advanced technology and the psychological stresses of war. But what Scalzi manages to do is frame them inside a new landscape (or hellscape more like it), one that paints foes as unbeatable and treats characters like members of a hive colony. In many ways, it’s a complete role reversal of books like Starship Troopers, which gives the reader a fascinating new perspective on personal relations and interstellar conflicts.
The book is engrossing up to the third act, at which point it rises to the rank of classic. It pains me to stay mum about it, but it would pain me more to spoil it for anyone else. Old Man’s War is not only my new favorite book in the genre, it’s also a new favorite all around.
The saga continues with The Ghost Brigades, which is exactly where I’ll be shortly after posting this review (with apologies to my to-read pile).
An engaging and interesting spin on space exploration and colonization. If you like engaging and interesting stories about interstellar war, this is a great book for you
My sci-fi book club read this and we all agreed it was entertaining and enjoyed the author’s writing style.
Old Man’s War is a science fiction work that established Scalzi, in my opinion, as one of the current greats of SciFi. Lots of action in many creative ways. What does one do when given the choice of dying of old age or maybe living if willing to fight someone else’s war?
This book is a throw-back to the likes of Robert Heinlein, touching on themes of immortality, body rejuvenation, and war, with a rookie learning the ropes of battle, while eventually becoming the hero. It was a fun, easy read, and reminiscent of Starship Troopers. The army is recruiting old people on earth, they agree never to return, and their bodies are then transformed into those of 18 year-olds, but enhanced with genetic features to make them super warriors. Then its time for boot camp where we meet a variety of characters who bond into a squad, then are sent to war on far flung planets. Fun to see the description of old minds going into new bodies. The battle scenes are good, and there is deception and treachery afoot. It’s the first book in a series but stands alone very well.
One of the Top 10 books of ALL TIME
Best book of the series
One of the great SF books.
Scalzi couldn’t write a bad book on a bet. This premise was refreshing and if not new at least I hadn’t read it anywhere. Whole series is phenomenally good.
What can I say? It’s the new standard for Space Opera. And snarky. So, so snarky. I loved it.
And it was refreshing to read the wizened voice of an elderly fellow. Reminded me of my Papaw.
The first line is a doozy. The rest of the book lives up to the promise.
The underlying themes speak to anyone who has looked back over their shoulder at their lives and muttered “If only…!”
Perfectly structured, and well written, the story flows super fast.
I have read the entire series. Creative, original and a fun read. John Scalzi is one of the best sci-fi writers. He draws you into the characters and the action, and you can’t put the books down. I re-read them and still find great entertainment and adventure.
“Ender’s Game” In reverse. While I know this is the first in a trilogy, I still felt that there was so much more we could have learned and experienced about John’s life in this first book. It probably deserves higher than a 4 star rating, but I don’t think it is quite a 5. You would not need to be a SciFi fan to appreciate this story as a well written adventure about an old man that wasn’t ready to die, and then found a new reason to live.
Very good world-building and characters very easy to read Scalzi writes books that are a real pleasure read
Scalzi’s unique vision of the future is vivid and engaging. I think this is one of his best works. After living to an old age on Earth, getting an awesome new body to fight humanity’s wars is a pretty good deal, until you realize that the power structure that makes it possible and sends you into danger is corrupt.