John Scalzi - Old Man's War

Pros: For all those who think science fiction isn't what it used to be.
Cons: Not for those who think science fiction shouldn't be what it used to be.

Old Man's War< i>, by John Scalzi, 2005< b> John Perry visits his wife's grave on his 75th birthday. Then he joins the army. Enlisting is a mysterious process. Old people are taken by the Colonial Defense Forces and never seen ...

Pros: Good characterization, not the annoying kind of military SF
Cons: Just a couple of minor issues, nothing affecting my enjoyment.

John Scalzi's debut novel, Old Man's War has an intriguing premise, some interesting science fiction concepts, and a complete ability to ignore military SF cliches that usually turn me off from this kind of book. It's a wonderful little book, ...

Pros: Tightly paced, plenty to think about.
Cons: Perhaps a touch too dirivative of Starship Troopers.

I first started to encounter science fiction when I was a wee brat. It was all my mother's faults, naturally, she being an aeronautical engineer with a severe itch for rockets, and leaving books laying round the house. I first started off with Clarke and ...

Pros: A remarkable debut.
Cons: Perhaps a touch on the short side?

Heinlein's Starship Troopers was ostensibly a book about humanity waging an interplanetary war against nasty alien creatures. It took a squad of raw recruits and showed their brutal training and induction into military life. It's become a ...

Pros: Creative premise, great protagonist, ethical questions posed, interesting science
Cons: None that I noted

Premise: In the future, humanity has colonized many planets, and discovered other intelligent species in the galaxy. Sadly, everyone is into the colonizing thing, creating competition, also called "war". Humanity's answer is the Colonial Union (CU) ...