false 31715209 899665 51964 0765348276 9780765348272 460 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170383915m/51964.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170383915s/51964.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51964.Old_Man_s_War 4.13 2420  
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.]]> 4763 3.97 7638 1296 2005 Finished 0 2008-12-30T17:53:26-08:00 216062 320 2008-12-30T17:53:26-08:00 Perry asking four questions of the Consu 0 2008-12-30T12:52:21-08:00 215172 276 2008-12-30T12:52:21-08:00 Starting Chapter Fifteen - Corporal Perry is now a liason to the Ghost Brigades and returning to Coral 0 2008-12-30T08:47:28-08:00 214276 262 2008-12-30T08:47:28-08:00 Middle of Chapter Twelve - retaliation for Coral Massacre 0 2008-12-30T04:20:03-08:00 213581 202 2008-12-30T04:20:03-08:00 Starting chapter 10 - first battle a cake walk or so Perry is told 10 0 2008-12-29T19:13:12-08:00 212784 162 2008-12-29T19:13:12-08:00 Starting Chapter 9 - no longer recruits 9 0 2008-12-29T16:54:51-08:00 212354 149 2008-12-29T16:54:51-08:00 Starting Part II - training and master sergeants 0 2008-12-29T10:15:56-08:00 211004 114 2008-12-29T10:15:56-08:00 First Order - "Have Fun!" 0 2008-12-29T08:38:13-08:00 210657 102 2008-12-29T08:38:13-08:00 Starting Chapter Three - John and the Beanstalk, Arcurian cows and CU giants. 0 2008-12-28T19:17:07-08:00 209299 36 2008-12-28T19:17:07-08:00 Starting Chapter Two - Scalzi's sense of humor reminds me of someone else's sense of humor 0 2008-12-28T16:31:26-08:00 208852 21 2008-12-28T16:31:26-08:00 4 5 true Tue Dec 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Sep 01 06:58:15 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 08 16:10:58 -0700 2009 1
Our point of view is through the eyes of John Perry. We meet him on Earth, as a seventy-five year old widower living in Ohio. It's his birthday and it's time for him to report for duty. He (and h...more...]]>