Old Man's War (Old Man's War, 1)
Perfect for an entry-level sci-fi reader and the ideal addition to a veteran fan’s collection, John Scalzi's Old Man’s War will take audiences on a heart-stopping adventure into the far corners of the universe.
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.
Old Man's War Series
#1 Old Man’s War
#2 The Ghost Brigades
#3 The Last Colony
#4 Zoe’s Tale
#5 The Human Division
#6 The End of All Things
Short fiction: “After the Coup”
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Community Reviews
In the future Earth has various space colonies that need to be protected from other alien species that also want the same space.
Earth's solution is to offer people a chance to join the Colonial Defense Force (CDF). How does on do this? People announce their intention to join the CDF and upon their 75th birthday they are allowed to join the CDF. Since a 75 year old person is way too old to be a combat soldier, the person has to and transfer their memories into a genetically enhanced body. Legally dead on Earth, they are now the property of the CDF.
Scalzi does a good job in describing life in the new CDF bodies. He also has some really fascinating non human alien characters.
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