Old Man's War - BOOK REVIEW

Here is my review of Old Man's War by John Scalzi. My opinion on this book may be unpopular...
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[@SMRMUSICATX]

My Dad served in Vietnam. He stated that he got word that a friend in another unit was killed. He stated he didn't mourn that death until after he got back home. While in combat he said there was no time to mourn, you had to keep your mind focused on the enemy ahead of you. That may be why John Perry didn't mourn the deaths of those friends

[@thomaswrites]

Thank you for sharing and that makes sense. I'm always very touched when I hear from others how books like Old Man's War speak to the experiences of real-life servicemen and women.

[@chrisowenssff4876]

It has probably been 15+ years since I read this, but from what I remember the book was highly readable. At the time, I kind of found the expand-or-die/conquer-or-be conquered a disturbing picture. I seem to remember a scene where the protagonist ends up on the planet where everyone is miniature and compared to them, humans are giant, and he is basically killing everyone unsettling. But now after finding myself enjoying grimdark fantasy, perhaps I'm ready to finish the series one day. Unfortunately, my reading backlog feels endless. This will probably end up on my maybe pile.

[@thomaswrites]

Yes the book is a pretty quick read which I appreciate. I also found that scene you're describing to be pretty messed-up and seems to be establishing the CDF as antagonists for the coming books.

[@joshsalwen]

I really enjoyed this book. Very simple, but cool ideas. The next was okay, but I didn’t finish the 3rd. I also enjoyed Redshirts

[@thomaswrites]

I've got Redshirts on my shelf waiting to be read. 😁

[@gitpicker9933]

Old mans war was such a breath of fresh air. Very straightforward, easy to read, very awesome, not convoluted like 3 body problem, not over flowered with smart sounding words nobody understands unless your an English lit professor. Like sesquipedalian...the road...ahem.. Who wants to read a dictionary while they read a book? Just finished ghost brigades, also awesome. The ghosts are SAVAGE in some pretty terrifying ways. Just started on lost colony last night, so far so good, story line seems to be coming around alil bit but presenting new content as well.

[@thomaswrites]

Makes sense. I may check out the sequels at some point as I've heard several say that they enjoy the sequels even more than the first one.

[@gitpicker9933]

@@thomaswrites u need to atleast check out ghost brigades, it's just WOW. Theres a couple short sections that get very difficult to understand, just muscle past em. It's not essential to understand an surprisingly it's more medical science rather than hard sci fi...the couple short lived difficult sections I mean.

[@thomaswrites]

Good to know! 👍

[@doberski6855]

Great review of an excellent book! I think your negatives were fair and mainly the product of the fact that Old Man's War is part of a series and not a stand alone. I will refrain from spoilers as well, but most of your issues will be dealt with in a way I think you will enjoy as you read the rest of the books. Scalzi has gotten better in later books with more rounded and fleshed out characters, as well as making even a book that is part of a series tighter and more complete, but yeah read any of his books, articles, or blogs and it is confirmed. He is a sarcastic SOB! His Locked In series is brilliant, funny, fast paced, and an excellent homage to oddball cop partners solving crimes. Scalzi also wrote a forward for a reprinting of The Forever War. If you have not read it, I think you will enjoy it if you can find a copy of it. Your review video of the Haldeman classic, made me get an ebook copy from my local library so I could enjoy it again. Included in it was a forward that Scalzi had written in 2008. 👍

[@thomaswrites]

Thanks! Yes Scalzi definitely gives me that impression. 😆 I do want to at least try the second book in the series to see how it develops and it's good to know that things get more fleshed out. That's awesome that he got to write a forward for The Forever War! I'm also glad my video encouraged you to pick it up again! 😁

[@havocmaverick]

I thought it was really good. The rest of the series was good also.

[@thomaswrites]

Nice! I'm thinking about covering the sequels in the future.