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What Members Thought

Armand
I am surprised this was so acclaimed. I was underwhelmed. Honestly, I've come to find that I don't like books that are mostly about training and / or boot camps. If you are going to write a book about fighting aliens, just get on with the fighting. I read almost half the book before I gave up and they were still in boot camp. ...more
Susanne
Apr 06, 2012 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: sff
Fuck yeah, Scalzi! I don't know why it took me so damn long to read this, but now that I have, I am here to tell you that this? Is an AWESOME read. Think Ender's Game with old guys. Think Heinlein but much easier to digest. Think funny and touching yet military SF.

It's hard to do this justice without spoilers, so I'll just play SF bingo:

- post-colonialistion: check. Interestingly, Earth seems to be pretty shut off from the rest of the universe. There's no space travel until you leave - and once
...more
Alice Lee
May 27, 2010 rated it liked it
Shelves: science-fiction
This was very good. Just about everything a good scifi novel tend to be - engaging, interesting, and easy to read. There's no real feat of language here, but that's not the point of the novel. It's here to tell you a good story, and it does exactly that. None of the characters were particularly deep, but I liked all of them. The story touched upon a few interesting philosophical topics that have tremendous potential for elaboration and deeper thought, but it doesn't go into any of them. Which is ...more
Liz
Jun 23, 2013 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
I really like John Scalzi. He has this amazing talent to get me to read books that are usually far out of my ordinary interests (I say I don't like military sf. We ignore my obsession with Miles Vorkosigan when I say this).
He's also funny. Not in a Douglas Adams sense, but in the sense that his characters have great senses of humor and he is brilliant at the subtle deadpan. Okay, so maybe a little like Douglas Adams.
But there's a deeply interesting story at the heart of the book and an adventuro
...more
Heath
Apr 07, 2011 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
This was a 2nd or maybe a 3rd reread. Still enjoying and funny. Onward to the rest of the series (bit by bit) between new books.
Frank Taranto
A good quick space opera. Interesting characters and ideas make this a fun book to read. Action aplenty and a love story to boot. I'd highly recommend it to any fan of Hard SF and any Heinlein fan.

...more
Lindsay
Nov 29, 2011 rated it really liked it
Shelves: scifi-fantasy
Fast read reminiscent of Heinlein and Card's Ender's Game . ...more
Sandi
First in a science fiction series that had an interesting set-up, likable characters, and lots of space opera type action.
Allison
Jan 04, 2024 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: 2024
3.75/5 stars. ⭐️
Rachael
A fun romp.
Brian
Jun 28, 2009 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: novels
Shane
Jan 05, 2010 rated it really liked it
Hali
Jan 09, 2010 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Lucy
Dec 31, 2010 marked it as to-read
Vj
May 19, 2011 marked it as to-read
Dov
Dec 26, 2011 rated it really liked it
Shelves: sci-fi
Kristy
Sep 13, 2012 marked it as recommended-by-goodreads
Damien Marquess
Jan 01, 2013 rated it it was amazing
David
Oct 16, 2014 rated it really liked it
Shelves: sci-fi
Barb
Feb 22, 2015 rated it really liked it
Dylan
Feb 26, 2015 marked it as to-read
Kristine (fezabel)
Apr 28, 2015 marked it as to-read
Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy
Michael
Feb 21, 2016 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: science-fiction
Amy
Jul 19, 2020 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Linda
May 01, 2025 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
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