Old Man’s War #6–The End of All Things: Finished Reading *Spoilers OK*

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Have you finished reading The End of All Things by John Scalzi, Book 6 in the Old Man’s War series? What did you think of this book, and of the series?

Spoilers OK here!

[Chris, Moderator]

I thought this was a good end to the series, and I was happy to see some of my favorite characters returning. The book is told episodically, similar to the fifth book, but in novellas rather than short stories. I think that helped the story cohesion.

My idea about the Consu being the mysterious opposing force was wrong, but I thought the real enemy was even more insidious. I was never a fan of the CDF; I've always been disturbed by their rush to battle and their propensity to keep secrets from the people of Earth. But despite all of their fine words, Equilibrium was personally power hungry and prone to chaos. I'm glad we ended with a more truly balanced solution; it seems a good place to end the story.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

9/10
The End of All Things is, in fact, a perfect ending to the Old Man’s War series. The four connected novellas, each from a different POV character, come together to wrap up the story of Earth, the Colonial Union/Colonial Defense Force, the Conclave, and the shadowy Equilibrium. Of the four, I liked Hafte Sorvalh’s novella the best, but Rafe Daquin’s was compelling and Harry Wilson’s was, of course, where The End of All Things happened.

Like Chris, I had assumed the Consu were involved with or even running The Equilibrium. While it was apparent that humans and several member races of the Conclave were involved, I suppose leaving the actual makeup and internal politics of the Equilibrium was fine in terms of the overall series. They were really just a lever or a catalyst for the major parties (Earth, Conclave, and Colonial Union) to finally do something to resolve their conflicts by formalizing a stalemate. We really didn’t need to know more than what was revealed about the Equilibrium, even if we were curious.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finally was able to find time to finish this, and I liked it better than the last one. Agreed that the longer episodes make for a more cohesive story, despite the shifting POV. Rafe Daquin’s story was my favorite, I think, but I enjoyed them all. I like how Scalzi portrayed the growing unrest in the segment narrated by Heather Lee - it was just long enough to be effective, though it wasn’t central to the plot. If it had gone on longer it would have been too much, and I love how Heather walked away from it all in the end. That was a nice touch, and it sort of brought it around full circle to John Perry’s emerging disillusionment way back in book one.

[Ryan]

I'll join the unbroken string of 4 stars! The book had pretty effective storytelling; I really liked the way the Equilibrium plot was revealed in conversations. However, I think it is a weakness of the book that it was almost entirely dialogue, not unlike books 3 and 5. If I recall correctly there was more non-dialogue narration in books 1 and 2.

[Ryan]

Also, note that this may, in fact, not be the end of the series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZG7B...

[Ryan]

Does anyone recall exactly why the Colonial Union was so opposed to joining the Conclave? I know there were problems from the Conclave's side (most members distrusted humans) but I seem to recall that the CU was strongly opposed for its own reasons, thus the Roanoke sabotage. I know the CU was against the Conclave's policy of not allowing any new colony expansions, but there must have been other reasons.