Old Man’s War by John Scalzi is the first in this military sci-fi series. It’s surprisingly good and you don’t have to a be sci-fi junkie to get the most of it! The theme of the series is pretty interesting and that’s what got me to pick it up. It’s not everyday that you get to read about 70+ year old people enlisting in the military to fight alien scums on different planets! The book captured me from the beginning and all the way till the end. Now, I must say that the “military sci-fi “go to X planet and destroy aliens” theme might be familiar to many veteran readers but if you’re not a hardcore sci-fi junkie like me, Old Man’s War is actually a pretty good introduction to the genre.
The theme here is simple: if you’re at an old age on Earth with pretty much nothing else going on for you in life, why not join up with the Colonial Defense Forces and battle alien scums in the universe? Not only will you help mankind grow but you’ll also get to live a second life by having a young body again. I have to say that this got me thinking a bit. Given the situation, would you have done what many other elderly citizen have done in the book? If you’re lucky, you’ll probably die of old age anyways. Your friends are in the same boat as you and it’s most likely that your sons and/or daughters and grand kids are off living their own life. What’s left to accomplish or prove? I’m not going to lie, joining the CDF does sound like an adventure.
Old Man’s War was how I expected it to be and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The main protagonist makes the trip off planet Earth, meets his comrades, gets completed transformed, complete basic training, fight aliens on other planet, finds out a big secret about the military, and so on. This series does have potential but of course, that always depends on which direction the author will take. I’m just hoping it doesn’t get dragged out.
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