Krieg der Klone (2005)

How can one not like a book that starts with "John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army."

It didn't disappoint. Everything was fresh and unexpected for me. And I loved the literary style. Scalzi can write. He is witty and elegant even when he writes about such geeky stuff that would normally led you to expect much less subtlety. Reminds me of Heinlein's style, sometimes. ( )

Fínasta vísindaskáldsaga. Aðalsöguhetjan skráir sig í nýlenduherinn 75 ára að aldri. Geimflotinn vill helst ekki ungt fólk í herþjónustu heldur eldra sem hefur reynslu. Ágætis húmor og pælingar um framtíðartækni. ( )

I kept looking for a climax. I kept expecting the story to coalesce. I kept expecting the meaningful and emotional events to happen in a timed structure that would reveal a pattern in what was going on. My expectations were silly.

When I was nearing the end of the novel, I remembered that Scalzi was attempting to write in the style of Heinlein when he wrote this. I remembered that he had been congratulated on multiple occasions for achieving that goal. And then I remembered the only Heinlein book I've ever read, [b:The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress|120273|The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress|Robert A. Heinlein|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1171822059s/120273.jpg|1048525]. I say again, my expectations were silly.

Once I abandoned them, I was able to look back on my reading and notice that I had enjoyed every minute of it. As a self-described grumpy old man, I related to John Perry, and cared about what he was going through as he adapted to his new life and new surroundings. When he got thrown across the mess hall by special forces, I couldn't stop myself from muttering, "Rut roh, Shaggy." I now intend to track down the sequels, devour them, and get them signed, in whichever order presents itself.

While I didn't have any problems putting the book down, I greatly enjoyed the ride. ( )

A good book. I found it in a free library, took it home, and read it over a 5 hour period. Apparently I've also read Lock in, although don't remember it. It's a pretty exceptional debut novel (and he's gone on to show how good he is).

It's hard to not compare it to Enders' game. Bringing in older protagonists is a nice touch since they're so well developed. And the world-building is very cool. But the 2nd and 3rd book of the Ender trilogy is incomparable to the first (and I read somewhere that Scott Card wrote Enders' game as a way of preluding the 2nd/3rd). I hope future Old Man's War books also treat aliens with such compassion, as it hinted he would.

I don't know what I expected from the ending but it was a little saccharine and a little too fast. It seemed to be setting up future books to focus in on the Ghost Bridages, although I admit I find them a lot less interesting than the aliens.

And although it was acknowledged, the squashing and killing of other species I don't think was treated that well. If everyone who feels guilt is just following orders until they climb the ranks, and all of them die, then no one will ever question it ( )

Opened well and had some okay ideas, but ultimately I found this uninvolving, and by the end I just want it to be over. ( )