The Last Colony (Old Man's War, #3)

by John Scalzi

The story of how I left Huckleberry begins—as do all worthy stories—with a goat.

On the other hand any public servant is likely to tell you that just a few annoying people in their community will take up the vast majority of their time.

“I don’t think I know any cute guys,” I said. “That’s more your department, teenage daughter.” Zoë crossed her eyes and gave a mock sneer. “Thanks, ninety-year-old dad. If you had let me finish speaking, you would have heard the clue that tells me you might actually know him. Which is that he’s also green.”

“I never knew any religious people at all before I got to Huckleberry,” Jane said. “And Hinduism didn’t do much for me. Although I can appreciate Shiva.”

Teenagers can be idiotic and stupid, but teenagers also model their behavior from the signals they get from adults.

When you control communication, you can hide anything you want.”

And for the first time in my life I knew my life was more than what was directly in front of me. I learned to see the constellations, not just the stars.

Empires of conquest don’t last, Administrator Perry. They hollow out from within, from the greed of rulers and the endless appetite for war.