Part 1

[Kitty G Books]

This thread is for discussion of all of part 1 of the Old Man's War book. Please don't leave spoilers for any other sections later in the book!

What do you like/dislike so far?
Is it what you thought it would be?
Do you like the world-building/setting?
Do you like any particular characters?

[TS]

My goodness - this book had so far been hilarious!!

It's such a joy and breeze to read and I loved how they built up the anticipation of what the 'physical overhaul' entails.

Also some of the sciences seem quite relevant especially when Harry was describing how the beanstalk seemed to defy the basic physics.

Can't say I feel any investment to a particular character yet aside from our main POV.

[Jmlima]

I'm moving forwards, now on Chapter 5. I like the way he writes, without using any pretentious techno-babble. I like the way he set the book in an (yet?) unknown date in the future. The only hint of a date is the mention of the Cubs and the world series, but even that is vague since you do not know if it has passed 200 years since they won, or if took them 200 years to win, or even if this refers to their first spell without winning.

I'am a bit dubious when on Chap 4 he reveals what they do with the 75 yo. It leaves more questions that it answers.

The mention of the atomic war with India is bizarre, as in really bizarre. But who knows.

Even more bizarre is the concept that Scandinavia would have problems maintaining its population levels, but the US would not. This defies everything we can see about predicted population trends.

Overall, not a bad read.

[Michael]

@Jmlima - regarding the Scandinavian bit - I suspect that this is Scalzi trying to (without going overboard) throw our understanding on its ear; the world is different and all that. I think that is the same reason why the timing is ambiguous.

[Michael]

@TS - I'm not really vested in any character other than John either. In fact, I'm not really vested in the war/larger plot yet. It might sound like a contraction, but despite that I am really enjoying the book and concept of old people being young again.

I'm sure we will get to treachery and grim warfare soon. I have a feeling that our mysterious tech will be someone incorporated into some evil / political plot... Then again, it might not.

[Michael]

Also - I think the green skin is kind of genius. Basically the body is supplemented by solar power!

[Christina]

I was blown away by how cool the sci fi elements of this book are! I don't think I've ever read anything like it before. Scalzi doesn't an excellent job of explaining all the sciency stuff where it's actually enjoyable for a non-science person like me to understand.