Old Man's War 1&2, John Scalzi

(Old Man's War)

#1 old man's war (c) 2005

#2 Ghost Brigades (c) 2006

by John Scalzi

space opera 

rated 7/10

Okay, I read #1 perhaps a year ago.

Now I have read / re-read them both, in the correct order. Which does help to understand what's happening...

These two can each be read out of order, or alone

... They make more sense when read in order.

Without really thinking, I just started reading. I thought I was reading an old book from, perhaps, the 1960s. Till it mentioned Terminators. I did a double-take. But really -- the style is very much Heinlein. The author admits to the influence.

It's a space war with super-tough heroes, super-powerful weapons, weird aliens.

Perhaps I should have noticed... there are also super-tough heroines.

So it's good fun space opera for a modern audience.

A central piece of science is the ability to transfer consciousness into a cloned body There is also a reasonable amount of examination of the psychological (and social) problems this may cause.

Although. Good grief. The characters are unreal. Or, possibly, very old stereotypes. There is a sweet little girl who is just too cute to be believed. Almost sickening.

Then there is the first-person hero who likes to make jokes. His "jokes" are more... macho, I'm-so-clever, stupidities. Which I would not have noticed if the hero had not pointed out that he was being "funny".

These are not great books. They are enjoyable and exciting. Set in a world that is entertaining and thought provoking.

Good, traditional, science fiction.

.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

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The stupid person says, "It's impossible". The smart person says, "It's possible, if we can get enough stupid people to do it." (Alfred E. Neuman)

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