My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Zoe's Tale (Old Man's War #4)
by
John Scalzi (Goodreads Author)
How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history?
I ask because it's what I have to do. I'm Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old.
Everyone on Earth kno
Mass Market Paperback, 464 pages
Published
April 28th 2009
by Tor Science Fiction
(first published August 19th 2008)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,730)
Zoe Boutin-Perry, teenage colonist and idol to the Obin race, gets stranded on Roanoke along with her parents, John Perry and Jane Sagan. While the Roanoke Colony survive with the Conclave breathing down its neck?
Zoe's Tale is a retelling of the previous John Scalzi book, The Last Colony, from Zoe's point of view. Instead of being a pointless rehash, Zoe's Tale ends up being an emotional tale and completely worth the effort.
Re-telling The Last Colony from Zoe's point of...more
Zoe's Tale is a retelling of the previous John Scalzi book, The Last Colony, from Zoe's point of view. Instead of being a pointless rehash, Zoe's Tale ends up being an emotional tale and completely worth the effort.
Re-telling The Last Colony from Zoe's point of...more
view 1 comment
John Scalzi returns to his popular "Old Man's War" universe with a parallel novel to the last entry, told from the perspective of Zoe Boutin Perry. Covering the same time frame as the previous entry, "The Last Colony," "Zoe's Tale" examines the ins and outs of the story from Zoe's perspective as a teenage girl and the lynchpin of peace agreeement between several interstellar races.
Hearing how Zoe thinks and reacts to things is fascinating and even tho...more
Hearing how Zoe thinks and reacts to things is fascinating and even tho...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I had the best time reading this! The narrative voice really worked for me. Zoe's was a voice that I greatly enjoyed hearing in my head. The pacing really worked for me too, the tale kept moving right along neither dumping me into thickets of endless description nor rushing through mad action scenes like a roller coaster without giving me any time to look around or think. Its not a book thats gonna particularly change my life but for a good strong bit of storytelling that doesn't insult my i...more
Mmm, brain candy. And I don't mean that in any kind of bad way. This isn't hard SF, it's easy to read, easy to follow, nothing too complicated. It's more about people. I think I liked this more than I liked The Last Colony, though I gave that a similar rating -- it was good to get into Zoe's head, good to see things from a different perspective, and this way you could get to know the Obin a little better, and see what happened behind the scenes, so to speak.
I love Enzo's character, a...more
I love Enzo's character, a...more
This inter-galactic science fiction about a teenage girl who is destined to save her planetary colony from certain destruction has a promising start. But I ultimately lost interest due to the fact that every bit of information was conveyed through dialogue, including scenes that would have been better served being experienced first hand by the reader through descriptive action sequences--like battle scenes and explosive attacks. After awhile I grew tired of just hearing about what happened throu...more
This is a parallel book to The Last Colony, retold from the viewpoint of Zoë, the adoptive daughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan. If you’ve read The Last Colony, you know the basic framework of the story. The colony of Roanoke is established as a secret holdout (and bait) against the Conclave. The Conclave must be stopped, but the Colonial Union isn’t playing fair.
I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second. Zoë is a bubbly, sassy teenager with a sharp wit. Scalzi excels...more
I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the second. Zoë is a bubbly, sassy teenager with a sharp wit. Scalzi excels...more
Much like Orson Scott Card did when he revisited the events of Ender's Game from a different viewpoint with Ender's Shadow, John Scalzi uses the fourth volume of his Old Man's War series to retell the plot of The Last Colony. I like to think that Scalzi pulls it off better than even Card did, mainly because the whole same-story-from-different-perspectives thing works even better with first-person narratives, and Scalzi's narrators couldn't be much more different: a 90-year-old (mentally) ex-sold...more
Along with legions of others, I'm a fan of John's blog, The Whatever. (Well, it's actually just Whatever, but for some stupid reason it amuses me to say THE Whatever. Anyway.) And, when you read someone's blog, you're entitled to refer to them on a first-name basis. I don't know why I feel this way, but it just seems right, doesn't it? Anyway.
So, me and John go way back. Like four months. And for all of that time, I've been curious to get my hands on one of his books and see ...more
So, me and John go way back. Like four months. And for all of that time, I've been curious to get my hands on one of his books and see ...more
one of those books that's just bad enough to not want to read, yet just good enough to not quit.
well, i liked Scalzi's other books. and, while i cant say that they were amazing, i definitely thought that they were entertaining--even though i had some issues with the content. i tell my friends that its "sci-fi lite".
but this wasnt very great. but, as i said, its just good enough to make you want to not quit--which is extremely annoying. i guess that's the best w...more
well, i liked Scalzi's other books. and, while i cant say that they were amazing, i definitely thought that they were entertaining--even though i had some issues with the content. i tell my friends that its "sci-fi lite".
but this wasnt very great. but, as i said, its just good enough to make you want to not quit--which is extremely annoying. i guess that's the best w...more
Danielle
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who had issues with lack of explantions from Last Colony
First impressions: This DEFINITELY reads like a YA book, even though it was shelved in the adult section of my local library. Zoe is an annoying little wench. Everyone just has the perfect retort for every comment. The weird part about it being a YA book is that it's not a stand-alone novel; if I hadn't already read the entire Old Man's War series, I don't think this would make sense. Or at the very least, it would come across as trite.
Many of the initial chapters say things l...more
Many of the initial chapters say things l...more
Scalzi writes like Heinlein in his prime. I love courageous authors who are willing to step out of their comfort zone and write from a different perspective. Told from the viewpoint of a teenage girl, (which Scalzi definitely is not) this adventurous tale takes Zoe who has had a very event filled life to a new colony with her adoptive parents who are to lead the colony. En route something goes wrong and they end up orbiting the wrong planet but must make do. Because they are the targets of a con...more
Scalzi retells the events of The Last Colony from the perspective of Zoe Boutin Perry, who is John and Jane Perry's adopted daughter and near-goddess to the alien Obin (who were given consciousness by Zoe's real father). Since much of The Last Colony, especially the ending (which was on the deus ex machina side), depends on Zoe's actions and choices, it seems reasonable to retell from her perspective.
Scalzi does a reasonably good job telling a complementary story without repeating t...more
Scalzi does a reasonably good job telling a complementary story without repeating t...more
OK, read the cover blurb CAREFULLY. This is a redo of the previous book in the "series" (it's not realy serial anymore, is it?) The Lost Colony. Redone from Zoe's point of view with more detail and clarification on two topics: the intelligent wolf-things, and what Zoe did while she was offworld in order to come back with the momentum sucking device. Furthermore, it's targetted at teen-ages, both because it's from Zoe's perspective and because the type face is big.
So I'm pretty di...more
So I'm pretty di...more
http://tinyurl.com/83rjdax
Ok, THAT'S why this book seemed so darn familiar. I get to the end and read the Acknowledgements. This book is essentially a remake of the end of the true trilogy, The Lost Colony, only told from Zoë's point of view, about what she did to help save the colony, how she met the werewolves, and what the Obin are really like.
And it's a load of romping fun because Scalzi got to write in his own voice, and by that I mean his blogger voice. Plus, I will adm...more
Ok, THAT'S why this book seemed so darn familiar. I get to the end and read the Acknowledgements. This book is essentially a remake of the end of the true trilogy, The Lost Colony, only told from Zoë's point of view, about what she did to help save the colony, how she met the werewolves, and what the Obin are really like.
And it's a load of romping fun because Scalzi got to write in his own voice, and by that I mean his blogger voice. Plus, I will adm...more
Zoe is a strong female hero in this book set in the universe of Scalzi's OLD MAN'S WAR, part of a colonizing force that's struggling to survive its new world and attacks from old enemies. I particularly loved the point at which the kids, who have lived with electronics much like cell phones all their lives, have to do without or risk detection by their enemies! This is the kind of new science fiction we need!
I would have given this book 4 stars but it covers the same events/time period in Scalzi's Lost Colony, and I hate that type of thing. I want new stuff, not the same story from a different perspective.
That being said, I enjoyed this read. Good characters. Zoe might be a little too precious, but it's a good story and if it had been the only account of these events, I would have liked it more.
That being said, I enjoyed this read. Good characters. Zoe might be a little too precious, but it's a good story and if it had been the only account of these events, I would have liked it more.
I'll admit; I was hoping that this book was going to be about an older Zoe, making her own story in the universe. I got the latter bit and not the former, and that is definitely ok. I didn't realize that there was so much more going on with this character than what had been presented in The Last Colony.
I appreciated Zoe's teen voice and found the narrative engaging for the first 2/3 of the book but it lagged for me at the end and it became much harder to believe all of what this teen girl was able to accomplish in her negotiations with various alien races.
I’m not an unreserved Scalzi fan overall, but I enjoy his work. This one is interesting – a parallel version of events in The Last Colony, explaining a bunch of things that happened from the perspective of Zoë, teenage adopted daughter of the heroes of the other “Old Man’s War” series. It holds together quite well as an independent novel, though. A lot of it revolves around Zoë’s peculiar relationship with the alien Obin – those who’ve actually read all the Old Man’s War series (which I found...more
Another excellent read in the Old Man's War universe. I am sad that this is the last tale of it because I enjoyed all four books. Hopefully one day Scalzi will revisit it.
Highly recommended to all sci-fi fans (but read them in order!)
Highly recommended to all sci-fi fans (but read them in order!)
Just like the previous three in the series, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Despite being the same story as The Last Colony, switching to Zoe's perspective have Scalzi an opportunity to correct a couple of the annoyances in that book -- a little more on the native species (although it still doesn't explain it fully to my satisfaction), and how Zoe acquires a helpful bit of technology. The writing style continued to be great, and the humor and sarcasm made the book that much funnier. The death of...more
I really liked the first three books in the "Old Man's war" series, and hence picked up this book without a thought. Was disappointed as I started reading the book, only to find out it's the previous story re-told from an another point of view. To the author's credit he was clear from the beginning, that he is using the tactic from Orson Scott Card's Ender Shadow retold series.
The story is set in the same universe as Old Man's War , we get to see the events from Last Colo...more
The story is set in the same universe as Old Man's War , we get to see the events from Last Colo...more
John Scalzi personally coerced me into taking an autographed copy of this book from him, under threat of being hunted down by Wil Wheaton. No, seriously, that's a true story. I’m glad he did; even though this probably wasn’t the best starting point for the Old Man’s War series, it’s a tight and fun read that promises even better stuff from his other books.
Zoe’s Tale is a retelling of the previous Old Man’s War book, The Last Colony, from the perspective of teenager Zoe Boutin-Perry. ...more
Zoe’s Tale is a retelling of the previous Old Man’s War book, The Last Colony, from the perspective of teenager Zoe Boutin-Perry. ...more
Only two stars not because the writing is bad: on the contrary, it's fairly decent. However, this is a parallel tale to The Last Colony, and the author fails to add anything actually New until the last, say, 20% of the book. Until then, we just have exactly the same events as the former book as seen through Zoe's eyes, and since she's a 15 year old girl, her perspective is necessarily more limited. Sure, we get more detail on Enzo and the werewolves. And admittedly the last couple of chapters...more
The whole of the Old Man's War series is really quite excellent. It takes a look at a number of fantastical issues, and some that aren't so removed from reality, but it holds to a sense a humor and, I think, realism. Let's be honest: given the opportunity to name a computer that's suddenly chatting, loudly, directly into one's brain, the name Asshole or Bitch does tend to spring to mind. Especially if one then get to assign an activation phrase like "Hey, Asshole" or "Yo, Bitch"...more
I confess I actually skipped the 3rd book in this series -- the one this book is supposed to be shadowing (blasphemy?). I was meaning to read it, but then this one was sitting right there on a family member's bookshelf, calling to me. Who was I to resist?
Even though I can't really comment on how it compares to The Last Colony, it's clear that it's a bit of a departure from Scalzi's earlier books. As befitting a story narrated by a 17-year old, there's a lot of listening in on "...more
Even though I can't really comment on how it compares to The Last Colony, it's clear that it's a bit of a departure from Scalzi's earlier books. As befitting a story narrated by a 17-year old, there's a lot of listening in on "...more
Zoe's Tale is a science fiction story told from the perspective of the adopted teen daughter of semi-retired military leaders, Jane and John. It's the story of life on other planets, planet colonization, wars and treaties with alien nations, and military/government intrigue. Jane, John, and Zoe live happily and peacefully on the planet Huckleberry, a quiet earth-like planet. Their lives are similar to life in 1950's America--the economy is largely agricultural, and the pace of life is slow. John...more
Looking back over this series and its characters who have kept me entertained these past several weeks, the most appropriate thing I can say is: "Thanks"!
This story in particular takes place in parallel time to John Scalzi's earlier The Last Colony. Scalzi' "tips his hat" to Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card and to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead for their inspiration.
Then Scalzi acknowledges how writing a parallel time novel...more
This story in particular takes place in parallel time to John Scalzi's earlier The Last Colony. Scalzi' "tips his hat" to Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card and to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead for their inspiration.
Then Scalzi acknowledges how writing a parallel time novel...more
In Old Man's War, John Scalzi brought us a new future, vast in scope, amazingly advanced and yet horribly familiar at the same time. Humans have spread out through space, snatching up habitable planets as fast as they can and setting up new colonies to thrive or perish. Back on Earth, most of the population is fed just enough information about the greater universe to ensure a steady supply of colonists and soldiers, but not enough to make them aware of all the cool stuff they're missing.
...more
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
John Scalzi, having declared his absolute boredom with biographies, disappeared in a puff of glitter and lilac scent.
More about John Scalzi...
Share This Book
2 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
