Old Man's War (Old Man's War, 1) - Hardcover

Scalzi, John

4.24

196,537 ratings by Goodreads

9780765394859: Old Man's War (Old Man's War, 1)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0765394855 ISBN 13: 9780765394859

Publisher: Tor Books, 2017

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A perfect for gift for an entry-level sci-fi reader 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 to the stars. 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.

Responsible for protecting humanity, the Colonial Defense Force 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 a hard-won planet light-years from home.

John Perry is taking that deal. He thinks he knows what to expect. But the actual fight is far, far harder than he can imagine―and what he will become is far stranger.

“Gripping and surpassing the 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 new.” ―Cory Doctorow

“Smartly conceived and thoroughly entertaining, Old Man’s War is a splendid novel.” ―The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

“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.” ―Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular and acclaimed SF authors to emerge in the last decade. His massively successful debut, Old Man’s War, won him science fiction’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Redshirts, which won 2013’s Hugo Award for Best Novel, and Lock In. Material from his widely read blog, Whatever, has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

“In this room right now are 1,022 recruits,“ Lt. Colonel Higgee said. “Two years from today, 400 of you will be dead.”

Higgee stood in the front of the theater, again. This time, he had a backdrop: Beta Pyxis III floated behind him, a massive marble streaked with blue, white, green and brown

“In the third year,“ he continued, “another 100 of you will die. Another 150 in years four and five. After ten years -- and yes, recruits, you will most likely be required to serve a full ten years -- 750 of you have been killed in the line of duty. Three quarters of you, gone. These have been the survival statistics -- not just for the last ten or twenty years, but for the over two hundred years the Colonial Defense Forces have been active.”

There was dead silence.

“I know what you’re thinking right now, because I was thinking it when I was in your place,“ Lt. Colonel Higgee said. “You’re thinking -- what the hell am I doing here? This guy is telling me I’m going to be dead in ten years! But remember that back home, you most likely would have been dead in ten years, too -- frail and old, dying a useless death. You may die in the Colonial Defense Forces. You probably will die in the Colonial Defense Forces. But your death will not be a useless one. You’ll have died to keep humanity alive in our universe.”

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.