Open Books Chicago discussion

Part of my reading resolution for 2013 is to read more plot-driven fiction. I tend to gravitate toward books that focus on character development, internal struggle, questions of personal identity/responsibility, and other themes of what it means to be human. I sometimes forget that a well done genre novel or straight-line narrative can offer just as meaningful and thoughtful reflections on the very same themes.

Old Man's War is a first novel that operates on many levels. At its core, the narrative follows John Perry, who has just turned seventy-five years old. Without a wife to share his life with and a failing body, he doesn't have much to live for. Fortunately, human-kind needs him. Beyond the atmosphere of John's lifelong home, the Colonial Defense Forces wage a war against alien races in order to secure humanity's home beyond Earth. With several races clamoring and clawing to secure their extended empire in the stars, the CDF needs more than just able-bodied men...they need experience. More specifically, they need the experience of someone who has lived a full life.

John Perry decides to enlist. He will be given a new body with new chemistry and super-human abilities and asked to serve two years in some of the most dangerous conflict humanity has ever seen. If he survives, he will be given a new homestead where he can live out the rest of his renewed life in luxury and peace. Unfortunately, in this brutal war, most soldiers don't survive.

Wisdom of older men and women is prized in this new era when agile and able bodies can be created in labs, but the military faces the challenge of stripping away lifetimes of bad habits and neuroses to create perfect soldiers. The encounters that John Perry will have as a reborn soldier will stretch beyond his imagination, but it is the familiar that may be his most difficult challenge.

Scalzi writes with ease and masters the language and pacing of the genre. The first of a series of books, Old Man's War shuffles themes of aging, personal identity, responsibility, ability, and the morality of militarism into a near-perfect deck. With allusions and homage to Heinlein, Scalzi creates a fantastic world full of believable dialogue, character, and thought -- all while providing you with many of the standard tropes of the Science Fiction genre *and* prompting further thought and discussion.

Whether you like your Sci-Fi to be a bit "thinky" or just someone who wants a fun and fast-paced space romp, Old Man's War succinctly includes everything that makes a good SF book great.

Thank you for welcoming me back to genre fiction, Scalzi. If only it could all be this pleasant to read.