I couldn’t put this book down; I was hooked from the first page. The concept of transferring a person’s identity into a clone to make an advanced soldier fight aliens is not something I had encountered before, and I found it absolutely engrossing.
I found the irreverent and often humorous attitude of the main character amusing, which served as a prompt to keep turning the pages. In war, there is blood and gore, and this book has its fill of it. It is a reflection of what mankind does to preserve itself and expand into hostile space. When the story ended, I had much to think about and was tempted to read the book again someday.
Perfect for an entry-level sci-fi reader and the ideal addition to a veteran fan’s collection, John Scalzi's Old Man’s War will take audiences on a heart-stopping adventure into the far corners of the universe.
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 aliens willing to fight for them are common. The universe, it turns out, is a hostile place.
I dug out this gem from my library and sat down to read it again, a tumbler of bourbon at my side to lubricate the pages.
Written decades ago, the book uncannily reflects today’s use of the Internet and the creeping control by governments and media corporations on how we access information and what we’re doing with it. I sympathized with the main character’s struggle to establish his identity in an authoritarian society, using their tools against them. I was totally captivated by this prophetic story filled with vivid imagery and troubled relationships. I could read this novel over and over…and will!
He was the most dangerous fugitive alive, but he didn’t exist!
Nickie Haflinger had lived a score of lifetimes . . . but technically he didn’t exist. He was a fugitive from Tarnover, the high-powered government think tank that had educated him. First he had broken his identity code—then he escaped.
Now he had to find a way to restore sanity and personal freedom to the computerized masses and to save a world tottering on the brink of disaster. He didn’t care how he did it—but the government did. That’s when his Tarnover teachers got him back in their labs…
Strange moon dust...Earth faces destruction…people must evacuate, but where can they go? This is hard science fiction, which I devoured with relish before that dust devoured me.
The story is so real and plausible that I became caught up with the principal characters when everybody realized Earth faces doom. Broad in scope, the novel touched something deep within me when I considered the scenario. How would I make peace with myself and others when staring at death?
That is what this book brings into sharp relief: family against family, nation against nation, eager to exploit the ‘final solution’ against an enemy. Yet, amidst looming chaos, there is hope for mankind to conquer the Solar System…if it survives—an enchanting read.
Showering Earth with radiation and bizarre particles that wipe out all the crops and half the life in the oceans.
Suddenly, the ground itself begins melting into pools of dust that grow larger every day. For what has demolished Venus, and now threatens Earth itself, is part machine, part life-form - a nano-virus, dubbed Moonseed.
Four scientists are all that stand between Moonseed and Earth's extinction, four brilliant minds that must race to cut off the virus and save what's left of the planet.
Andrew Payne was dying and knew it. He had a great career as a virtual reality games designer, a woman he loved, and a promising future. Now, it was all gone. Too much sun, surf…and girls. That’s how he got a particularly nasty type of melanoma. His doctor told him he had five years to live, then twelve months, then four weeks.
His only hope was an experimental drug, and Andrew took a chance. He had nothing to lose. He recovered, but the drug had reset his internal body clock, and he was living in year one. With the prospect of a hundred years before him, the possibilities seemed endless. However, destiny had other things in store for him.
