I first read Old Man’s War about 8 years ago and it was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. I am only 2 years younger than him, and I feel like the SF that motivated him in his debut novel was similar to what I read. I read Starship Troopers multiple times, enjoyed Friday for its strong female lead (I know that Heinlein is problematic in some ways but to have a female lead at that time seems astonishing to me). Old Man’s War reads a lot like a combination of those two books, but includes a more modern perspective and, frankly, a sense of humor that I really like and appreciate. The story is engaging, and just like last time, I had a hard time putting it down.
This time, when I did, though, I was able to pick up the 2 sequels and read them in short order. I really savored the Ghost Brigades. It is a very similar type of story, about interstellar war, but told from the perspective of the special forces troops.
Finally, I started the Last Colony. I viewed this book with some trepidation at the outset, and let me explain why. The first two books to me were very much like Ender’s Game. I first read that book as the short story only a few years after it came out, and I read the Ender’s Game novels multiple times through my childhood. But the 2nd-4th books in that series always were less interesting and engaging to me as a young person. I really identified with young Ender in the first book, but the latter 3 books are much more like political intrigue and slower paced and I didn’t like them originally. I have since come to like the later books more than the first. Well, I thought that, based not the jacket and synopsis, that the Lost Colony was going to be more like the latter Ender’s Game books. I wasn’t wrong, but I also am quite invested in the world, and like I said, I love his writing style, and I found no problems reading the book. It is more of a political intrigue book, and less an interstellar war book. There is a lot more focus on interpersonal relationships, but it has its share of extreme violence too. In the end, I really liked it.
One thing that I noticed in these three books is the occasional plot point that is revealed to the characters but not the reader. Something like “the three of them went into the room, and outlined the plan. ‘Oh, so that is how its going to go, then,’ character a stated.” I guess it doesn’t /bother/ me, per se, but I noticed it. I guess I would prefer to read the story and know what the characters do. An omniscient perspective. Well, Scalzi is a multi-book author with a huge contract, and I’m unpublished, so I probably shouldn’t complain too loudly. But I guess that style isn’t for me.
The last thing I will say is this. There are multiple times in the books where a character is revealed but you don’t know their gender or race. And then it is revealed, and I found myself surprised by it, or at least, I found myself more engaged when I found out that “Sergeant X” was a woman. I feel like I am a pretty progressive person (strike that, I know I am) and still I have quite a bit of unconscious bias. This actually came up on his Twitter feed last week and, obviously, it was intentional. And it reveals a lot about my expectations and my biases. it is something I will keep an eye on in my own reading and in my bigger life. It was interesting to see it come up in an SF novel for me.
I purchased books 4-6 in this series (and also books 1-2 in the Emperox series) last month but I am going to hold off on reading more Scalzi right now. The next book I’ve chosen is out of character for me but I did it on purpose. You can read my review when I finish it.