Old Man’s War etc.

By John Scalzi.
Being, Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony.
Begun c. Aug 2008; finished c. Nov.
Review originally written 18 Dec 2008.

John Scalzi knows how to spin a good yarn. His so-called “OMW” series — comprising Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, and Zoe’s Tale (which I haven’t read yet) — remind me of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series in many ways. It is a straight-up military/adventure series, filled with humour and wit, lots of action and adventure, a clever storyline focused on plot action, a fascinating setting with technology that makes sense, and a light upbeat atmosphere punctuated with moments of quiet introspection. They are technically science fiction stories, but I’d prefer to call them adventure/military stories set in a SF future. If you’re looking for something intelligent, humorous and light-hearted, the OMW series is a winner.

The setting is simple: humanity is the relatively new kid in the galactic neighbourhood, seeking to claim some planetary real estate. But habitable planets are in short supply, competition is fierce, and the alien neighbours at best have no desire to share, at worst are openly hostile. Thus humanity is at perpetual war over planets, and colonization is a tough business. The first book, Old Man’s War, follows John Perry (in first-person narrative) as he enlists in the Colonial Defence Forces and leaves Earth to become an footsoldier in a rough-and-tumble galactic neighbourhood.

What makes Old Man’s War distinctive is that it essentially asks the question: what if senior citizens were drafted into the army instead of young people? Firstly, why would that be done? And, how different would the training of seniors be compared to youths, and what kind of challenges would they face? How would seniors treat this second chance at life, albeit one with high mortality risks? Furthermore, the SF technology in the OMW series adds new twists to this notion: advances in cloning and biotechnology have enabled geriatrics to regenerate youthful — and superhumanly augmented — bodies. What would a senior citizen’s response be, if he had a second chance at physical youth, albeit one built for warfare and ultimately expendable?

Old Man’s War examines these questions, through John (who is 65 in the beginning) and his friends and compatriots as they join the army, receive their regenerated bodies, and fight a potentially endless string of brutal battles. Scalzi is primarily telling a story, and John is a thoughtful but not deeply introspective character, so all the characters function primarily as studies of the various scenarios and struggles suffered by soldiers with youthful bodies but mature minds, and the reader is left to ponder about the moral, metaphysical and practical implications of this. But I can see that Scalzi wrote the story with these issues already well thought-out.

Also addressed are the implications of warfare without any end in sight, and the worm’s-eye view from a footsoldier who doesn’t know the big picture of war and the significance of his battle, and knows virtually nothing about the alien enemy save that it is an enemy of the human race that must be vanquished. In Old Man’s War we see many strange alien races manifesting various degrees of hostility, but we are just as in the dark about their civilizations and biologies as John is. Indeed, we see his struggle with the toil of warfare, his lack of knowledge about the aliens he battles, and also with his ignorance about the significance of his role in the big scheme of things.

All thoughtworthy issues for sure, but Scalzi never pontificates or takes a moral stand, not even through John. He is concerned with the story — and what a wonderful story he tells. The chars are all memorable and engaging, the story is filled with action and purpose, the plot moves briskly and is simple to follow (ie. few subplots, all tight and purposeful), and yields some surprises. In the backdrop of the story is the universe of Scalzi’s design, which is gradually revealed in first-person-sized snapshots. We eventually learn about humanity’s position in the galactic neighbourhood, the Colonial Union and the Defence Forces, and the intelligence, intrigue and manoeuvring that comes with inter-species politics and warfare. This universe has been thoughtfully, rationally and creatively crafted; everything is very plausible. Even after John’s story in Old Man’s War ends, I get the sense that Scalzi’s universe is very much bigger, and I would gradually discover more of it as the series grows.

Indeed this is so, and The Ghost Brigades is a direct continuation of the broad-brush story begun in Old Man’s War. The story switches to third-person narrative and revolves around Jared Dirac, a soldier in an elite branch of the Colonial Defence Forces. Jane Sagan and a few other chars introduced in Old Man’s War also make appearances.

Scalzi raises more thought experiments in this novel, backed by his SF technology. Old Man’s War examined seniors placed in youthful bodies. The Ghost Brigades explores the opposite question (which was allude to in the first book): what would it be like for a child to be given an adult body, and be required to think, operate and respond in adult settings? What would the challenges be for a person who has a child’s mentality and life experience, but is adult in every other way? Jared, Jane and their peers face the same wars as John Perry did, and even lead an even more intensive military life. Just as in Old Man’s War, we read about the chars and their myriad experiences (quite different from John’s) as they fight in battles and lead soldiering lives, and we’re left to ponder the greater implications of their identities.

On top of boot camp, battle missions and Jared’s story (which I haven’t written about but is most interesting) and so is the “bigger picture” story of humanity’s politicking, plotting and warring with other species, and a betrayal that threatens the fate of all colonists and humankind. More of Scalzi’s universe is revealed in The Ghost Brigades; I eagerly read it all and wanted to learn more. In particular, I enjoyed every encounter with the fascinating aliens and their civilizations; even the obligatory “godlike” species of the Consu (who are light years ahead of all other species in technology and progress, and are clearly Scalzi’s deus ex machina) was believable and definitely not called upon too much.

Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades should be read together, for they examine both sides of the coin concerning the impact of war and biotechnology upon humanity young and old, and the story of war and colonization from both a personal and global scale. Scalzi balances the personal story skillfully with the “big picture” story — transitions of perspective are handled deftly, many different chars provide information to the reader without getting mired in exposition, and the story’s logic is never upset. In other words: I couldn’t find any inconsistencies in the narratives at all. A mark of a skilled storyteller.

(Side note: I thought the opening scene of The Ghost Brigades was very cleverly written — I didn’t realize the setting for what it really was until its end, but I can be slow like that. A great way to start the novel.)

Readers expecting The Last Colony to be like like the first two books may be disappointed. I certainly found it a little inferior: it is straight-up adventure SF, and doesn’t raise the same metaphysical issues as the other two books. Those books had set very high standards, and The Last Colony didn’t quite make them.

Nevertheless, The Last Colony is a respectable and enjoyable story in itself; stylistically it’s recognizably Scalzi. It picks up from where both Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades ended, and merges their storylines together. This time, John and Jane are discharged from the army and lead civilian lives, until they are called to start a human colony on a new planet — and eventually discover that they are pawns in a huge political gamble. The story is told in John’s droll and down-to-earth, first-person voice.

The plot was as logical, consistent and finished neatly as I’ve come to expect from Scalzi, but on the whole the details lacked the same substance and depth of thought as the previous two books. Many subplots are pursued in the story — the colonists’ struggle to establish themselves on their planet, the Colonial Union’s political manoeuvring, human planets fending off alien attacks, and John and Jane navigating the quagmire (or complete lack) of misinformation regarding their colony’s role in inter-galactic politics. Many threads, but I felt that Scalzi did not pursue them far enough. The big picture was dealt with quite well, but the story on the ground was inferior; I was especially disappointed that the colonists’ struggles against their planet’s native fauna was so cursorily addressed. It seemed that Scalzi was putting John and Jane through a laundry list of possible challenges a colony and its leaders would encounter, without actually giving weight to those challenges.

I’m sure Scalzi could’ve done better here, so I’m a little disappointed at The Last Colony. I suppose a story about colonists isn’t as action-packed as a military story, but I think a colonist would have many unique challenges worth writing about. I didn’t see as much of that as I’d hoped. Nevertheless, I still recommend reading it as a nice conclusion to the saga begun in Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades. It is also the set-up for Scalzi’s latest book, Zoe’s Tale, which is about John and Jane’s adopted daughter introduced in The Ghost Brigades, who has led an interesting upbringing, including being the darling of an entire alien race. I will read Zoe’s Tale soon, for it proves to be a fascinating story. Here’s hoping that the quality is better!

On the whole, I recommend this series by John Scalzi. They are well-written, thought-provoking, intelligent, action-packed and very fun to read. They are good stories — and that’s what matters most, right?