Review of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

SFFaudio Review

Old Man's War by John ScalziOld Man’s War
By John Scalzi; Read by William Dufris
Audible Download – Approx. 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: macmillan audio / audible.com
Published: October 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military SF / War / Telepathy / Space Travel / Galactic Civilization /

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.

There’s an excellent subgenre of science fiction that produces a novel every dozen years or so. “Tributes to Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers“, I call it. First in this subgenre was The Forever War (1974) – a kind of anti-Starship Troopers novel. Second was Ender’s Game (1985) a kind of micro/macro version of ST. There was even a satire called Bill The Galactic Hero (1965), which parodied ST. The latest novel in this little branch of SF is Old Man’s War, a faithful ode to Heinlein’s original tale of Earther civilian turned hardened space soldier. The war of the title is both familiar and different. Gone are the powered armor and accompanying fission bomb launcher of Heinlein’s mid-twentieth century novel. In are genetically engineered soldiers and nanotech weapon systems. Another innovation in Old Man’s War includes is the BrainPal™, a neural implant that makes battlefield communication exacty like telepathy. Tech and lineage aside this is one hell of a story all on its own. All of the previous novels in this niche spent a great deal of time in training their protagonist. Same goes here, Old Man’s War has the requisite gruff staff sergeant of the “Colonial Defense Forces” who trains the hero, John Perry, and his fellow recruits. It also has the first shock of combat, a learning curve towards mastery and some twists and turns you can’t see coming. Old Man’s War also has the pure brutality of war, the comradely companionship a love story (of sorts). New to the series is a light touch of humor here and there, John Perry was writer before he joined the army. The alien enemies he fights aren’t bugs (nor “buggers”), but are memorable and varied. The Consu, for instance, are deeply religious, and though having a superior technology to every known alien race – including humans – will fight only with roughly equal technology to any species they encounter. The Salong, meanwhile, are a deer-like species that while appearing shyly doe-eyed, fight humans because they find us extremely tasty – a case of the hunters become the hunted. One scene of combat has Perry and his platoon stomping like Godzilla a city of lilliputian aliens that the Humans have somehow made a grudge with. Later in the book we discover that there are some soldiers in the CDF who don’t share the common background of Perry and his platoon. These “Ghost Brigades” as they are called, are a fascinating new twist all on their own, and judging by the title of the already written sequels (The Ghost Brigades, The Sagan Diary and The Last Colony) were going to be learning more about them. This is delightfully compelling listening, like any little genre it comforts with the familiarity of form and entertains with the variations on the theme.

Audible.com (and the iTunes Audiobook Store) has made itself a must-try service by the very exclusivity of this audiobook. If you want to hear this Hugo nominated adventure, you have to sign up with audible.com or iTunes to get it. Narrator William Dufris is his reliable self, injecting battalions of charm and humor into the voices of John Perry and his various companions. Old Man’s War is a righteous addition to Heinlein’s Troopers legacy. The name of John Scalzi can now stand in Science Fiction pantheon proudly beside the likes of Orson Scott Card, Joe Haldeman and Robert A. Heinlein.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals – Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

A substantial coup for Audible.com (and the iTunes Audiobook Store) this Hugo nominated and very popular novel is exclusively available as a download.

Old Man's War by John ScalziOld Man’s War
By John Scalzi; Read by William Dufris
Audible Download – Approx. 10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: macmillan audio / audible.com
Published: October 2007

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 of 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.

Review of Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

SFFaudio Review

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Enders Game by Orson Scott CardEnder’s Game
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle De Cuir, David Birney and others
10 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Fantastic Audio
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1574535145 (Cassette) – 1574535366 (Audio CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military / Space / Youth / Politics / Aliens /

Science Fiction Audiobooks - Enders Game by Orson Scott CardSpeaker for the Dead
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle De Cuir, David Birney, Scott Brick, and others
14 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Fantastic Audio
Published: 2002
ISBN: 1574535153 (Cassette) – 1574535609 (Audio CD)
Themes: / Science Fiction / Military / Space / Politics / Alien races / Religion /

Orson Scott Card wrote a pair of novels in the 1980’s that swept both the Hugo and Nebula Best Novel awards two years in a row (1986 and 1987 Hugo, 1985 and 1986 Nebula). These two novels are Ender’s Game and its sequel, Speaker for the Dead.

These books were released previously in abridged editions, which can still be found out there, but these Fantastic Audio unabridged editions completely eclipse those in both quality and content. They are multi-voice recordings, but not of the type where several actors take parts and speak for certain characters. Instead, the narrator changes with point-of-view changes in the novel, which occur chapter to chapter. I found this extremely effective with these novels. These unabridged editions also contain material read by Orson Scott Card, explaining the origins of the novels.

Ender’s Game takes place after a war between Earth and a race of aliens called “The Buggers” by most of humanity. Earth was saved during that war by the decisions of a brilliant military man named Mazer Rackham. The powers that be on Earth decide that the Buggers are definitely going to return, and immediately start searching for the next military genius. Ender Wiggin, 6 years old, is a boy they think might be the one.

Speaker for the Dead is a completely different kind of novel, both in subject matter and tone. Ender Wiggin is now a bit older, but still reeling from events in the previous novel. He visits a planet named Lusitania, where mysteries abound among the indigenous alien race on the planet and one particular family that studies them.

Both of these audiobooks are first-rate. The narrators do an excellent job telling the stories, which translate very well into unabridged audio. Though tastes certainly vary, Ender’s Game is consistently mentioned as one of the finest works of science fiction, and this audio version is an excellent way to experience it, or re-experience it.

Both of these audiobooks are available on audio cassette, audio CD, or for download at Audible.com.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson