Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Old Man's War (2005)

By John Scalzi 

My Rating: 3.5/5 🥴🥴🥴

Genre : Space Opera, Science Fiction, Military, War, Future.

I liked this book just ok.

 I liked the different variants of alien creatures and their capabilities envisioned by the author. I liked the idea of a continuing consciousness for humans who are old/dead and the ways of using it productively. 

I thought the story/plot started on a very promising note and some hilarity even. As the story progressed, I found I could skip over several lines of the text and not miss much. There is a lacking of emotional connection and investment a reader makes as he gets involved in the fate of main character(s). The ruthlessness and the brutality on display as the different species try to win and invade is a bit troubling. What is there to enjoy in endless war,right? 

Old people at a future point of time have the capability to reverse their age - in a way. Their consciousness is transferred into young and highly evolved bodies. Humans have colonized other planets in space. They have extended themselves far and wide in space. They formed a Colonial Defensive Forces (CDF) unit to take over alien occupied planets through invasion or to fight invasions from foreign forces against occupied planets. 

 John Perry, a writer from earth enlists the force as a recruit and rises to the post of a captain through several accomplishments. He fights in wars with different varieties of aliens. He invents new techniques to overcome resistance from opponents like the highly evolved and technically advanced Consu. He beats and steals damming technology from Rraey who killed millions of CDF and specialist forces of humans. This is his story in his first person narrative!