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
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. John Scalzi is a prolific journalist, columnist, and
non-fiction writer whose books include "The Rough Guide to the
Universe" and "The Book of the Dumb." His web journal The Whatever
is one of the longest-established and most widely-read weblogs on
the net.
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
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.
"Solid . . . [Scalzi] sidesteps most of the cliches of military
science fiction, delivers fast-paced scenes of combat and pays
attention to the science underpinning his premise."--"San Francisco
Chronicle"
"Scalzi's imagined interstellar arena is coherently and
compellingly delineated . . . His speculative elements are
top-notch. His combat scenes are blood-roiling. His dialogue is
suitably snappy and profane. And the moral and philosophical issues
he raises . . . insert useful ethical burrs under the military
saddle of the story."--Paul Di Filippo, "The Washington Post"
"Thought-provoking!"--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Smartly conceived and thoroughly entertaining, Old Man's War is
a splendid novel."-"Cleveland Plain Dealer"
"When humanity reaches the stars, it discovers that it must
defend its claim to new planets against alien races with similar
expansionist tendencies. To ensure the expertise of its soldiers,
Earth creates the Colonial Defense Force, an army of men and women
otherwise classified as senior citizens, who give up their lives on
Earth for an uncertain and perilous future among the stars.
Scalzi's first novel presents a new approach to military sf,
boasting an unusual cast of senior citizens as heroes. A good
choice for most libraries."--"Library Journal"
"Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently
continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalzi's
astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by
the late grand master . . . This virtuoso debut pays tribute to
SF's past while showing that well-worn tropes still can have real
zip when they're approached with ingenuity."--Publishers Weekly
"(starred review)"
"Gripping and surpassingly original. It's "Starship Troopers"
without the lectures. It's "The Forever War" with better sex. It's
funny, it's sad, and it's true."--Cory Doctorow
"John Scalzi is a fresh and appealing new voice, and "Old Man's
War" is classic SF seen from a modern perspective--a fast-paced
tour of a daunting, hostile universe."--Robert Charles Wilson
"I enjoyed "Old Man's War "immensely. A space war story with
fast action, vivid characters, moral complexity and cool
speculative physics, set in a future you almost want to live into,
and a universe you sincerely hope you don't live in already."--Ken
MacLeod
General
Imprint: |
Tor Books
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
2007 |
First published: |
2007 |
Authors: |
John Scalzi
|
Dimensions: |
173 x 107 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Mass Market
|
Pages: |
318 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-7653-4827-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Science fiction
|
LSN: |
0-7653-4827-6 |
Barcode: |
9780765348272 |
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