Ahira's Hangar

originally posted by duchess of malfi at: Posted: 25 Nov 2006 11:54 Post subject: John Scalzi

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This morning I began reading Old Man's War.

I am about halfway finished, and this book is blowing me away.

It's filled with deep things such as human aging, death, war, etc. - but it is not "preachy" so you can choose to think about the deeper issues or not, as you wish.

It's really funny. I cannot remember the last time I read a book and ended up hugging my tummy as I literally shout and fall over with laughter.

The closest things I have ever read to this would be Starship Troopers, The Forever War, or Armor as it deals with most of the same themes, but this has much better sex scenes - and hell, yes I will say it even though I am risking the wrath of a lot of science fiction fans - this is a much more enjoyable and better written book (thus far - I hope the quality will hold through to the end) - than all three of those science fiction classics.

What is it about? It is about a widower from Ohio named John Perry, who turns 75 and joins Colonial Defense Corps army. In this future, the Earth itself is a rather ignorant backwater, and there is a bloody decades long war to defend the Earth and its colonies from a myriad of other intelligent races who also want to found colonies on compatible planets. And the CDF does not want youngsters to serve in its armed forces - they want good minds tempered and formed by decades of living and learning and using skills in their army.

You must be 75 to join. If you join you are never allowed to go to Earth again. If you are one of the few survivors you will be given a generous homestead on a colony world. But going in, you have no idea of what is going on, and only the vaguest of ideas of what you will be doing. And you have no clue as to what you will become!



Duchess of Malfi
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Posted: 26 Nov 2006 01:35 Post subject: John Scalzi

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Oh, it was good from the first page to the last. Plenty of action, plenty of laughs, plenty of sadness, plenty of depth but not preachy - heartwarming as anything in the end!

One of the coolest galactic civilizations (though not human friendly at all) I've run into since I first read Brin's Uplift books.

Oh, it was a wonderful book!

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The UnTitled


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Posted: 26 Nov 2006 23:37 Post subject: Re: John Scalzi

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Sounds good.

I never liked The Forever War I must say. Just couldn't get into it at all.

--A ____________________________________

A sense of the sardonic preserves a man from believing in his own pretensions. -The Sayings Of Maud'Dib




Duchess of Malfi
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Posted: 27 Nov 2006 23:49 Post subject: Re: John Scalzi

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The Forever War was a bit odd when it came to sex. Maybe a pro-homosexuality stance was ground breaking when it was written, but these days many people simply accept gayness as a way some people are born.

And those who do not are hardly going to be convinced by a science fiction novel. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell




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The UnTitled


Joined: 02 Aug 2006
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Posted: 28 Nov 2006 00:41 Post subject: Re: John Scalzi

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Haha, really? I don't even remember that it had homosexual overtones. The writing just didn't work for me.

--A ____________________________________

A sense of the sardonic preserves a man from believing in his own pretensions. -The Sayings Of Maud'Dib



Duchess of Malfi
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Posted: 29 Nov 2006 01:32 Post subject: John Scalzi

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If I remember the plot correctly, Forever War had a protagonist who is a soldier out in the starways. Because of time lapses caused by his travel, he would come back to a greatly changed humanity after each mission. After his final mission he comes back and pretty much every human is now gay. They keep a few token heteros in some reservations in case breeding stock is ever needed in case of huge disasters. Most people view heteros as perverts.

I felt sort of cheated by this. I had made it through the whole book to be preached at about gay rights, when I already believe in gay rights? Preachin' to the choir, baby!

Anyway, Scalzi just matter of factly has straight people and gay people and treats them the same. No big deal about one orientation or the other. Now that is much better, in my opinion. And the way the world should be - where people are just accepted as people.



Duchess of Malfi
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Posted: 09 Dec 2006 13:52 Post subject: Re: John Scalzi

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About to start The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi. It is a stand alone novel set in the same universe as Old Man's War. I leafed through it and it looks like it will be good.

Scalzi is rapidly becoming one of my favorite science fiction writers. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell



Duchess of Malfi
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Posted: 11 Dec 2006 12:47 Post subject: Re: John Scalzi

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Ghost Brigades is a more straight forward action story, revolving around the Colonial Defense Forces special units (nicknamed the Ghost Brigades). Still, lots of deep issues to think about if you want to.

So far it is a lot of fun.

I love this writer!!!!!!! ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell



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Posted: 16 Feb 2008 15:47 Post subject:

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John Scalzi is auctioning off a special edition of his latest novel Zoe's Tale for charity on ebay; while I cannot compete at bidding for this item (the auction will be lasting until the end of February and the item is already pushing a thousand dollars ) it is fun to watch the auction. And the proceeds will benefit military veterans.
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Duchess of Malfi
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Posted: 04 Mar 2008 13:02 Post subject:

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The winning bid on the charity auction for Zoe's Tale was for over $2,000.

Very cool.
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Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell