Old Man’s War - John Scalzi

Tor, Copyright 2005, 311 pages

ISBN: 978-0-765-34827-2

Read: March 2012, at age 33

From the back cover:

John Perry did two things on his seventy-fifth birthday.  First he visited his wife’s grave.  Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it to the stars.  The bad news is that, out there, planets fit to live on are scarce – and alien races willing to fight us for them are common.  So, we fight.  Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater.  The bulk of our resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Forces, and everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join up.  The CDF doesn't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living.  You’ll be taken off Earth, never to return.  You’ll serve two years in combat.  And if you survive, you’ll be given a homestead of your own, on one of our hard-won planets.

John Perry is taking that deal.  He thinks he knows what to expect.  But the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine – and what he will become is far stranger.

Brief reactions after the break.  Nothing much for spoilers.

Overall:

I liked the tone, the voice, and the story.  I think the setting wouldn't hold up to overmuch scrutiny (Could you really keep that massive a war effort secret from everyone on Earth?) but it didn't matter.  Like in my favorite science fiction, the future is scary and different, but mostly exciting.  And… I sure hope they get some of this tech by the time I’m 75.  I’m not sure why only 75 year old Americans were taken for the military, and everyone else got taken as colonists, and there were some other bits that didn't immediately make sense (other than rah USA). But overall, I loved it.

Rating: 5