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Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)

  • Book
  • Dec 27, 2005
  • #ScienceFiction
John Scalzi
@scalzi
(Author)
www.goodreads.com
Kindle
4.6/5 7.8k ratings
Kindle Audiobook Hardcover
See on Goodreads
4.23/5 48.6k ratings
3 Recommenders
3 Mentions
2 Asks
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.... Show More

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.

(From Goodreads)

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Number of Pages: 318

ASIN: B000SEIK2S

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Adam Dunn @afadunn · Jan 9, 2023
  • Answered to What are the best books with rapidly and unexpectedly changing technology?
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Old Man’s War by John Scalzi has both rapidly changing tech but also rapidly changing societal norms which I (and the protagonist!) found very interesting over a broad sweep of time. Check it out!
Tom McCormick @TomMcCormick_ · Mar 1, 2023
  • Answered to What are some must-read science fiction novels?
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Major General Mick Ryan @WarintheFuture · May 25, 2023
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A great series.
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