John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against more advanced species. Citizens volunteer for the Colonial Defense Forces after retirement, in exchange for which they have their consciousness transferred into a young body, cloned from their DNA but enhanced. If, against the odds, they survive two years of combat (or 10 years if things aren't going well, which they're not), they get another body and enjoy a fresh start on a colony. This is Scalzi's first novel, and it creates a future he will revisit in subsequent stories.
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 …
John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about a future Earth engaged in an interstellar war against more advanced species. Citizens volunteer for the Colonial Defense Forces after retirement, in exchange for which they have their consciousness transferred into a young body, cloned from their DNA but enhanced. If, against the odds, they survive two years of combat (or 10 years if things aren't going well, which they're not), they get another body and enjoy a fresh start on a colony. This is Scalzi's first novel, and it creates a future he will revisit in subsequent stories.
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.
Scalzi's book starts from a well explored premise: the abundance of life in the universe makes its finite resources a scarce commodity, and therefore the space-faring species are engaged in battles to share them. The metaphor to the way humans must learn to share Earth's finite resources is obvious but not gratuitous. The interesting take is on what makes us human: what is the relationship between our consciousness, our experience, and our body? Well written and engaging, a bit too humorous at times, but nevertheless a very good read for lovers of SF.
It's a good and well written book, the only thing that really keeps me from getting hooked is an ultimate goal, there seems to be no end to this war and what follows is a never ending story. This doesn't have to be the case, it is also a short book and as such could very well be just a build up to some ultimate goal to come in a sequel.
I'm not generally one for the colonialist war type Sci-Fi, but I really enjoyed this. Easy to read and to drop into, with enough, ah that's novel, type futurism. Will be buying the next one to read what happens next.
Found as EN "boxed set" and read the trilogy (with The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony) in less than a week (nights mainly).
Many interesting ideas.
Tras leer un par de novelas del autor me animé con esta saga y no defrauda. Muy al estilo de Starship Troopers, tocando temas interesantes como la colonización o qué nos hace humanos cuando podemos transferir nuestra consciencia o mejorar nuestro cuerpo y mente a través de genética y tecnología. Como en otras obras, el estilo de Scalzi es muy divertido y fácil de leer incluso en inglés.
I plan to keep reading the series, as it's very engaging and the pages go by fast. On top of that, the world feels massive with so much left to explore. With that said, the main character falls a bit flat. We don't see much of his life pre-war and as a result the affect it has on him isn't a very strong dichotomy.
