Zoe's Tale - Robin Riley's BookWyrm

LemmiSchmoeker reviewed Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi

An interesting experiment in perspective

4 stars

This is an interesting experiment: Scalzi tells the story of The Last Colony again, this time from Zoe's perspective. It reads a bit like the second half of a Director's Cut: scenes and thoughts that explain some parts of the first book, but ultimately didn't make the final edit.

Scalzi doesn't stop there, though: as he explains in the acknowledgments, he needed the book to stand on its own feet, so he also tells a story that is separate from the proceedings of the last book, and since it's about a teenager, he wraps it in a coming-of-age tale about finding yourself and standing up for what you've found.

This book may not have as satisfying a plot as the last one, but it seems very personal and can be quite touching. In the way it builds on The Last Colony it manages to add both to that book and …

This is an interesting experiment: Scalzi tells the story of The Last Colony again, this time from Zoe's perspective. It reads a bit like the second half of a Director's Cut: scenes and thoughts that explain some parts of the first book, but ultimately didn't make the final edit.

Scalzi doesn't stop there, though: as he explains in the acknowledgments, he needed the book to stand on its own feet, so he also tells a story that is separate from the proceedings of the last book, and since it's about a teenager, he wraps it in a coming-of-age tale about finding yourself and standing up for what you've found.

This book may not have as satisfying a plot as the last one, but it seems very personal and can be quite touching. In the way it builds on The Last Colony it manages to add both to that book and to the characters and the universe at large.

boum reviewed Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #4)

old girl's war

2 stars

it was okay. the author even wrote in the acknowledgments at the end it is a difficult task

in my view, he partially succeeded. probably because we know too much from the other books (mostly last colony). the novel could have been extra chapters there

not boring, not uninteresting, but a grade lower than the others

the author mentions ender's_shadow as the same kind of book. let's see if card does it better

Leaving_Marx@wyrmsign.org reviewed Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #4)

A 4th book in this series???

3 stars

This book follows up to the old man's war world and it felt a bit like I was working to finish it for the sake of completion.

It is the 3rd book told again from the perspective of the main characters daughter. It literally just covers the same timeline and plot points with a different narrator.

+: sometimes it read like space opera mean girls. It centers a women in the stories. There is a few moments that Zoe's perspective tells part of the story that didn't come up in the 3rd book.

-: You know the plot, twists and turns. It wasn't a good enough book for a second run.

Jorge Sanz reviewed Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi (Old Man's War, #4)

Un poco sorpresa

4 stars

No empecé muy contento con el libro pero he de admitir que me sorprendió todo lo que quedaba por contar en The Last Colony desde el punto de vista de Zoe.

reconbot reviewed Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi

A wonderful retelling of a fun story

4 stars

The previous book from the point of view of Zoe. Well told and a good reminder that you can excuse any retcon with teenagers not telling parents the whole truth.

In all seriousness it must have been written at the same time. Pages cut from the previous book perhaps. Which leads it to fit very well in the series.

Lots of fun and a good button to the series.