Old Man's War
February 3, 2025 9:57 AM - Subscribe
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.
Written by MeFi's own jscalzi.
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 alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going 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. Everybody knows 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 two years 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.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Old Man's War, and in anticipation of September's release of book 7 of the series The Shattering Peace, let's revisit this SF mainstay with one post a week for the next 6 weeks.
This is a 'Reread' post, comments that touch on future events in the series are most welcome.
Written by MeFi's own jscalzi.
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 alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going 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. Everybody knows 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 two years 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.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Old Man's War, and in anticipation of September's release of book 7 of the series The Shattering Peace, let's revisit this SF mainstay with one post a week for the next 6 weeks.
This is a 'Reread' post, comments that touch on future events in the series are most welcome.
It makes sense why they're so horny! And what happens to those who don't...quite...make it to their new bodies at 75 year olds.
It's a violent new world that they're trapped in in this book, it's probably amazing how they adapted so well when you think about it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:29 PM on February 3
It's a violent new world that they're trapped in in this book, it's probably amazing how they adapted so well when you think about it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:29 PM on February 3
I read this a long time ago and I really like it. To be honest, I really like everything Scalzi writes and he is as close as I come to being ridiculously in awe of a writer. I exaggerate but not by much.
posted by ashbury at 4:38 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]
posted by ashbury at 4:38 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]
I dug the hell out of this thing when I read it a while back, and I still think about it pretty often. I think I read the next two, until I ran into my old habit of not buying books in hardcover, and didn’t keep up with the series. Maybe I should jump back in.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:27 PM on February 3
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:27 PM on February 3
I just read these for the first time after getting an inexpensive bundle of 30-ish jscalzi ebook titles. My take at the first one was that maybe our jscalzi was writing an extended F U to Orion Scott Card - OMW as response to and refutation of Ender’s Game.
posted by janell at 6:34 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]
posted by janell at 6:34 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]
I loved this book. I think it makes an interesting companion/comparison to Joe Haldeman's "Forever War," too.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:05 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:05 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]
I remember there being something that jscalzi said about it being his commentary on the Heinlein juveniles and/or Starship Troopers; really, it's a great commentary on the whole mil-SF subgenre. Twenty years, holy crap. I'm a lot closer to being "eligible" for that deal myself, and I tell ya, it's looking better and better, even knowing what happened to most of the recruits that we met in the early chapters.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:38 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:38 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]
I loved this book. I think it makes an interesting companion/comparison to Joe Haldeman's "Forever War," too.
I’ve read both. Enjoyed both. And continually confuse the two LOL.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:02 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]
I’ve read both. Enjoyed both. And continually confuse the two LOL.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:02 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]
(Also, I had not heard about the new book, which SQUEEEE.)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:58 AM on February 4
posted by wenestvedt at 6:58 AM on February 4
This is, by far, my favorite of the series, and one of my personal favorites, period.
As he always does, Scalzi creates great characters with good depth through dialog and interactions. By the time the Old Farts are a thing, we know a lot about John Perry and his friends. I felt their deaths, and was touched by the long-term friendship John and Harry form.
I also appreciate how the old SF trope of "humans are the best" is largely turned on it's head. Human's are very middle-of-the pack in this universe, something that REALLY matters in the next few books, but even here we can see just where we live in the pecking order.
I usually like my SciFi a little 'harder,' but this is Scalzi, and that's not really his thing. A lot of the SF here is pretty much magic. I can't think too hard about how the CU and it's enemies develop their tech, what they use for energy sources, and where exactly they're getting all the raw materials. They just all kinda have whatever they need to move the plot forward -- something that continues into the series, and become much more pronounced as the CU/Conclave war heats up.
But it's the characters, the humor, and the dialog I keep coming back to, and fill me with joy. Eagerly anticipating the new book!
posted by Frayed Knot at 10:46 AM on February 4 [5 favorites]
As he always does, Scalzi creates great characters with good depth through dialog and interactions. By the time the Old Farts are a thing, we know a lot about John Perry and his friends. I felt their deaths, and was touched by the long-term friendship John and Harry form.
I also appreciate how the old SF trope of "humans are the best" is largely turned on it's head. Human's are very middle-of-the pack in this universe, something that REALLY matters in the next few books, but even here we can see just where we live in the pecking order.
I usually like my SciFi a little 'harder,' but this is Scalzi, and that's not really his thing. A lot of the SF here is pretty much magic. I can't think too hard about how the CU and it's enemies develop their tech, what they use for energy sources, and where exactly they're getting all the raw materials. They just all kinda have whatever they need to move the plot forward -- something that continues into the series, and become much more pronounced as the CU/Conclave war heats up.
But it's the characters, the humor, and the dialog I keep coming back to, and fill me with joy. Eagerly anticipating the new book!
posted by Frayed Knot at 10:46 AM on February 4 [5 favorites]
> it makes an interesting companion/comparison to Joe Haldeman's "Forever War," too.
I faintly remember reading somewhere -- maybe the introduction to a recent edition? -- that Scalzi hadn't read "Forever War" when he wrote this. I think it's much better than "Forever War," which got really weird about halfway through.
Scalzi's books are my comfort reading on my Kindle, for times when I'm in bed and the book I've currently got from the library isn't working (too grim, usually, a danger I often face as a mystery reader). They go down easy but there's a lot of thought in them, too. I think about "Lock In" all the freaking time, not so much the plot but the setup.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:34 PM on February 5 [1 favorite]
I faintly remember reading somewhere -- maybe the introduction to a recent edition? -- that Scalzi hadn't read "Forever War" when he wrote this. I think it's much better than "Forever War," which got really weird about halfway through.
Scalzi's books are my comfort reading on my Kindle, for times when I'm in bed and the book I've currently got from the library isn't working (too grim, usually, a danger I often face as a mystery reader). They go down easy but there's a lot of thought in them, too. I think about "Lock In" all the freaking time, not so much the plot but the setup.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:34 PM on February 5 [1 favorite]
The first book from Scalzi I read, and the one that made me a fan.
In particular I loved how he turned the "drill instructor dismissive of recruit's civilian occupation" on its head by having the soldier's eyes fill with tears, tell the protagonist that the art he created had literally saved the drill instructor's life, then lift his sleeve to show a tattoo of the cartoon character that the recruit had drawn.
That's when I knew this was an author worth following.
posted by seasparrow at 9:32 AM on February 9
In particular I loved how he turned the "drill instructor dismissive of recruit's civilian occupation" on its head by having the soldier's eyes fill with tears, tell the protagonist that the art he created had literally saved the drill instructor's life, then lift his sleeve to show a tattoo of the cartoon character that the recruit had drawn.
That's when I knew this was an author worth following.
posted by seasparrow at 9:32 AM on February 9
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Overall fun world building that leave much mysterious at the end of the book, and good writing in that there's plenty going on such that you aren't left constantly thinking about what the heck is the deal with Earth Colonies.
posted by midmarch snowman at 10:49 AM on February 3