Old Man's War

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Perfect for an entry-level sci-fi listener 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.

John Scalzi's Old Man's War is a stunning novel of the long war for human survival—in a universe replete with hostility

©2005 John Scalzi (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award nominee, Best Novel, 2006

"Scalzi's imagined interstellar arena is coherently and compellingly delineated." (The Washington Post)

“Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalzi's astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master...This virtuoso debut pays tribute to SF's past while showing that well-worn tropes still can have real zip when they're approached with ingenuity.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Solid…[Scalzi] sidesteps most of the cliches of military science fiction, delivers fast-paced scenes of combat and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Gripping and surpassingly original. It's Starship Troopers without the lectures. It's The Forever War with better sex. It's funny, it's sad, and it's true.” —Cory Doctorow

great SciFi

All together too short, or perhaps a bit anticlimactic. That said I enjoyed it immensely and felt like a good introduction to the universe. Perhaps I will be satiated listening to the several more books in the series.

It’s pretty good.

I was sure what to expect. It was really good. It reminded me of Avitar in a way, but with a better story line. I am looking forward to the next book.

Great book in a small package

Scalzi is great at creating a rich story with developed characters in a short book. I'd recommend to young people who'd prefer an easier to digest but still intriguing space opera.

a surprising love story

the core of the story is the soul of a widower grieving his lost wife by choosing to live and fight for the loves and lives of others amongst the stars against impossible odds in a universe teeming with hostile aliens

because living in the face of oblivion is true heroism

excellent Scalzi Intro

If this is your first introduction to John Scalzi, it's a great choice. While good enough as a stand alone, if you enjoy it there are a few others. Nation by Dufris is fantastic and I will be looking at more works he has engaged in as well.

A great story!

both exciting and poignant. an intricate story well narrated. couldn't stop listening. well worth the time spent.

if you like sci fi, this is the story for you.

clones, aliens, space travel, all the elements of great sci fi in a neat little package.

Superb story. Outstanding performance. The Best!

Excellent story. Fantastic performance by reader. Great development of protagonist's character. But very annoying and altogether too often use of a style of literary method of constructing dialog as:

"Blah blah blah", said Jack.

Followed immediately by:
"Ladeedah Ladeedah", said Jill.

And so on ad nauseum.

When 3 or 4 way conversations took place this was confusing, annoying, and at times madness. Especially given the unparalleled voice acting of the reader who gave each character, male and female a unique voice, qualifying each character's dialog with their name each time was unnecessary.

There are less cumbersome ways to l do this. Hopefully the author improves that.

In all, though, I lived both this book and the performance and will purchase more works by both reader and author.

Absolutely Amazing

what an absolutely fantastic story. I hope we hear more about mr. Perry. too cool

highly recommend this listen

it was comical and witty, yet held a seriousness that seemed to mesh well with the overtone. I'm already on the second book as of this review and I can state it only gets better.