- On: 2nd Feb 2025
- Category: Reviews
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, first published in 2005.
When Old Man’s War was recommended to me by my uncle & cousin, the premise immediately sounded interesting. After I’d read the blurb, I definitely wanted to read more, and I was hooked after the opening line!
This was the first time I’d read one of John Scalzi’s books and the first time I’d read a military sci-fi novel. I really enjoyed the story; its fascinating ideas and interesting world-building created a captivating read. I’ve seen it compared to Forever War (which is still in my to-be-read pile), and I thought that it has guns straight out of Judge Dredd, and many an echo of Starship Troopers (this being more intentional as Scalzi has openly talked about how Old Man’s War is modelled after Starship Troopers in several ways).
I thought the story was stronger in its first two-thirds, with the last third being weaker overall (I couldn’t entirely pin down why it felt this way). Despite this perceived dip in the story, I enjoyed the story as a whole – it toys with interesting ideas, such as primarily using septuagenarians as soldiers (enticed by the promise of youth … but how do they do it?😉), Earth technology feeling stagnant whilst the Colonial Union is off conquering colonising the universe, and a wider alien-filled universe all competing for the same planets and resources. The world-building alludes to many deeper mysteries, and there are questions raised that I hope will be explored further across the other six books in this series. There are some delightfully human moments throughout the story – such as the ah … ‘revitalised’ soldiers immediately becoming horny young adults, and the same individuals all but immediately becoming frustrated with their computer assistants and, when required to give them personalised names, calling them by vulgar names – and subsequently referring to them as such through the rest of the story. I certainly look forward to reading further and uncovering more of this universe’s secrets.
Spoilers ahead, so read on with fair warning!
To touch further on some points I mentioned above, Old Man’s War plays with some really fascinating ideas. When the story takes place isn’t clear, nor is it ever explicitly stated (to my recollection), and Earth’s technology feels very stagnant and similar to the present day. Despite this, the Colonial Union maintains a space elevator, colloquially known as the ‘beanstalk’, in which characters discuss the implausibility of given Earth’s current technology and allude to the use of some unspecified alien technology.
The space elevator tech isn’t the only advancement the Colonial Union (CU) has made and keeps to itself – add to the list skip drives (Old Man’s War’s answer to FTL travel), consciousness transfer and genetically engineered (possibly with alien DNA) super-soldiers. They’ve gone to great lengths to ensure all of this stays out of the hands of broader humanity, running disconnected shell companies on Earth that managed recruitment for CU and the Colonial Defense Forces (private security). Their super-soldiers aren’t just genetically engineered, though – they’re also cybernetically enhanced with a suite of technology that just screams corporate marketing department: SmartBlood™, CatsEye™, UncommonSense™, HardArm™, and BrainPal™ (you’ll have to read the story to learn what these actually are 😉). Where the CU got many of their advancements, why they’re so set on not sharing with Earth, and what, if any, consequences are there from privatised space colonisation? Hopefully, the sequels will provide answers!
I’d absolutely recommend this story to fans of sci-fi and military fiction and fans of stories like Starship Troopers and Forever War. I, for one, look forward to continuing John Perry’s story in book 2 – The Ghost Brigades.
Background image by Fred Moon on Unsplash