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, 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 …
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, 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.
Mass Market Paperback, 355 pages
Langue : English
Publié 26 janvier 2007 par Tor Science Fiction.
It's a fun read, with Scalzi's humor hauling most of the weight. There are some interesting technological ideas, but there's not much philosophical depth. The characters are serviceable but not memorable.
It's a good and well written book, the only thing that really keeps me from getting hooked is an ultimate goal, there seems to be no end to this war and what follows is a never ending story.
This doesn't have to be the case, it is also a short book and as such could very well be just a build up to some ultimate goal to come in a sequel.
I'm not generally one for the colonialist war type Sci-Fi, but I really enjoyed this. Easy to read and to drop into, with enough, ah that's novel, type futurism. Will be buying the next one to read what happens next.
Found as EN "boxed set" and read the trilogy (with The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony) in less than a week (nights mainly). Many interesting ideas.
Tras leer un par de novelas del autor me animé con esta saga y no defrauda. Muy al estilo de Starship Troopers, tocando temas interesantes como la colonización o qué nos hace humanos cuando podemos transferir nuestra consciencia o mejorar nuestro cuerpo y mente a través de genética y tecnología. Como en otras obras, el estilo de Scalzi es muy divertido y fácil de leer incluso en inglés.
I plan to keep reading the series, as it's very engaging and the pages go by fast. On top of that, the world feels massive with so much left to explore. With that said, the main character falls a bit flat. We don't see much of his life pre-war and as a result the affect it has on him isn't a very strong dichotomy.
