The Last Colony
Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.
That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game--as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.
The Last Colony Accessories
 The Ghost Brigades
Old Man's War
The Android's Dream
Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book 1)
The Sagan Diary
Fearless (The Lost Fleet, Book 2)
Valiant (The Lost Fleet, Book 4)
Courageous (The Lost Fleet, Book 3)
The Accidental Time Machine
Zoe's Tale
The Last Colony Reviews
Hamilton (who, btw, also writes great space operas and is one of my long favorites). I'll definitely miss John Perry and Jane Sagan, but I'll look forward to reading more about Zoe in the upcoming "Zoe's Tale". This is a great series, and John Scalzi is a great writer. I was wrong. Yet despite that, the books provided a rich experience. I'd like to add my own 5 stars to this amazing series that started in Old Man's War.
I thought it would be like the space operas of Peter F. They come highly recommended. I read each of the books in only short periods of time, neither getting confused nor getting tired (because I didn't need to access the deepest branches of my BrainPal often). While the writing style is relaxed and flows easily and beautifully. I have to say I didn't expect the story to work it's magic on me the way it had. The characters come alive with their own philosophical dilemmas not far from what we might experience.
It was profoundly more human - the plot is truly driven by the characters. The twists and plots were not convoluted as to lose the reader, but are nonetheless as exciting and surprising.
Last Colony catches up to John Perry, a 90 year old man in his remade body of a 30 year old, when he has retired from the Colonial Union army. John and Jane are happy in their retirement from army life on a colony when they are tricked into serving as the administrators of a new colony that is called Roanokelike the lost colony of America. the book takes off fast and travels furious from there and ends on a satisfying note, which is why I like Scalzi's books.
If you plan to read the this book, then start with the first book OLD MANS WAR.
He was recruited from earth, where they only accept you to travel offworld at the age of 75 and promise that your body will be rejuvenated as long as you serve a term of 2 years defending the earth colonies. Last Colony stands alone well as a critical analysis of humanity and a fun look at a possible future, but I think it is best when read where it belongs as the last in the series. But things aren't always as they seem and John served much longer, meeting Jane Sagan, a special forces soldier as in THE GHOST BRIGADES, the second in the series.
Haven't finished John Scalzi's third book in the 'Old Man War' series, but so far, it's been a great read. I'm going to miss the entertainment when I finish this series.
However, this third one is lifeless compared to either of the first two.
It ends up being too much like real life.
which is boring.
which is why we read science fiction to begin with.
I just kept waiting for something more to happen, but it goes quite slow throughout.
He has them go back to being plain ole humans, which doesn't give a lot to work with.
The second was quite good as well, with as much excitement as the first.
The first book was truly amazing, wow what an adventure.
Scalzi's third book, at least to start, moves at an easier pace than the ones before. Instead of the benign neglect given to Haldeman's little colony, though, Scalzi drives deep into the territory where power corrupts, and where innocent civilians are expected to pay the price for that corruption. Uprooting their family hurts a bit, but they agree. The protagonists of the last books have retired from the military and cast off their olive drab (skin that is).
That's when Scalzi's writing hits its stride, unwrapping layer after layer of plots, secrets, and alien motivations. Similarly, this volume echoes Forever Free. wiredweird The settlers haven't been told the real purpose of their colony, as an expendable chip in a high-stakes political gamble. They and settlers from ten planets set out for their new home on Roanoke, named for a colony from American history. The Union has sabotaged their starship, stranding them. They've settled down to farming, quieting petty feuds in their community, and raising a daughter. Old Man's War, the first in this series, had much in common with Haldeman's Forever War, but lacked Haldeman's bitter tone.
Then comes the offer: to lead colonization of a new world. When they arrive at Roanoke, it isn't - it's a different planet, not the one they prepared for. It's been a long time since I've read much SF, but Scalzi has me at it again. Despite the threat of planetary annihilation, the biggest threat comes from their own kind - who they can't trust and can't bring themselves to betray.
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