John Perry did two things on this 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it to interstellar space. The bad news is that planes fit to live on are scarce and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. Fr from Earth, the war has gone on for decades: brutal, bloody, and unyielding. We fight to defend Earth from our new enemies and to stake our claim to planetary real estate. On Earth, the bulk of the resources are in the hands of the ...
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John Perry did two things on this 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it to interstellar space. The bad news is that planes fit to live on are scarce and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. Fr from Earth, the war has gone on for decades: brutal, bloody, and unyielding. We fight to defend Earth from our new enemies and to stake our claim to planetary real estate. On Earth, the bulk of the resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defence Force. Only those of retirement age can join the CDF: they want people who carry the skills from decades of living. CDF members are taken off Earth to serve two years at the front. If they survive, they're given a generous homestead on hard-won colony planets, never to return to Earth. John Perry is taking that deal with only the vaguest idea what to expect.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. This is a hard cover book: Used-Acceptable: All pages and the cover are intact, but shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may include limited notes, highlighting, or minor water damage but the text is readable. Item may be missing bundled media.
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Fine in fine dust jacket. Signed by author. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 320 p. Old Man's War. Audience: General/trade. Signed first edition with complete number line. Flat signed by the author on the title page. Reasonable offers considered. Photos available on request.
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Donato. F-/F- 316 p. 1st edition hardcover from Tor, 2005. SIGNED BY JOHN SCALZI! FINE MINUS with apparent remainder dot to top page block in FINE MINUS DJ. Donato jacket art.
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Donato. NF/F. 316 p. 1st edition hardcover from Tor, 2005. SIGNED BY JOHN SCALZI! NEAR FINE (some edge wear, mostly at spine heel) IN FINE DJ. Donato jacket art.
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Near Fine in Fine jacket. Book. Signed by Author(s) 1st ed/4rd printing, SIGNED by the author on the title page. This book is square, solid, and unread; the boards are solid and unblemished, and the lovely dustjacket is in a protective Brodart cover. No price clippings. When this humdinger arrives at your door, you'll beam up, you'll beam down, and you'll shake it all around with a happy cry of "Live long and prosper! NOTE: Light evidence of handling to the sides of the pages, and a small remainder dot the page bottoms.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Fine jacket. Book. Signed by Author(s) 1st ed/4rd printing, SIGNED by the author on the title page. This book is square, solid, and unread; the boards are solid and unblemished, and the lovely dustjacket is in a protective Brodart cover. No price clippings, no remainder marks. When this humdinger arrives at your door, you'll beam up, you'll beam down, and you'll shake it all around with a happy cry of "Live long and prosper! NOTE: Light evidence of handling to the sides of the pages.
"Old Man's War" launches a series which has continued for a total of six books by this date, Oct 9, 2016. In this volume the author creates a truly unique story line, and he has worked it successfully through all the succeeding books. His characterization is believable, and the characters are generally easily visualized, even the intelligent but weird space creatures. Snappy dialog. The overall setting is multi-galaxy wide, but the specific story lines are localized. The SciFi innovations are mainly in bio-adaptation, especially after the first book.
Stewart H
Oct 17, 2013
Great book
I'm not sure some of the concepts in this book are too far off. There is already talk of saving one's mind/personality and growing a body for it so who's to say what is coming.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book a lot and would suggest it to my friends of like mind.
Stewart
Vaughny
Oct 16, 2011
Awesome
The most fun I've ever had with a science fiction novel. I wouldn't call it art, but it is high entertainment at it's best.
phs3
Apr 29, 2010
A Stunning First Effort
If John Scalzi never wrote another word worth reading, he'd have nothing to apologize for. (But he has written a lot since, and it's also excellent!)
Spiritual cousin to The Forever War, OMW is less informed by Vietnam and more by new millennium memes, but belongs in the same pantheon. Entertaining yet poignant, full of action while making one think, it's as perfect a book as one could wish for, as I remember when I reread it every six months or so.
Anyone serious about SF should read OMW, along with Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero, and Haldeman's The Forever War.
epoch620
Jul 22, 2008
Scalzi's First Book, and it's Entertaining
If you are a sci-fi fan, then this book should make you smile. It is full of adventure, derring-do, and great escapes. It is not overly crass either, though the bulk of the book, as the title suggests, is centered around a prolonged war. While reading this, it easy to make comparison's to Heinlein's Starship Troopers, and for those of us that have been in the service, though the setting is drastically different, boot camp seems eerily the same no matter the circumstances. Although here in Old Man's War, there is a bit of a twist. You don't enlist at 18, you enlist at 75. That changes things, as now you have all of that experience in your core characters. They aren't at a loss to explain the world (in this case universe) or overly naive, and that makes for an interesting take on this futuristic war. I found this book to be a quick read, and full enjoyable. I would be up until 2AM engrossed in this novel, well knowing that I had to be awake again at 630 to go to work. This is definitely not the most profound work out there, don't come in thinking it is going to change your life. It is, however, one of the better books that you can pick up, read, and thoroughly enjoy.
