A review by angelofthe0dd
Old Man's War by John Scalzi

4.0

John Perry, a 75-year-old man, enlists in the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). He's given a young, completely bio-engineered (and green) body. He proves himself as a strong leader in his first major combat. As he grows in his military career, he comes across people that die in combat against various Intergalactic alien races. It's these deaths that the author uses to illustrate traditional stances for or against combat in general. Early in the book, one soldier gets killed because he gets too excited by a combat victory, and he underestimates the firepower of the remaining enemy forces. Another soldier thought he could bring peace and goodwill to an alien religious ceremony. They filled him with about 20,000 small needles fired from ceremonial sticks. He was liquefied. The most poignant part of the book is where John is rescued by a group of Special Forces. One of the special forces soldiers he recognizes as his wife. That's because his wife's DNA was used by the CDF to create clone soldiers. The woman looks and sounds like his wife, but isn't really his wife in mind or actually having led a life. Her name is Jane. She understands that she's an engineered DNA construct, but she wants John to tell her all about his wife so that she can understand the woman she was made from.

John Scalzi did an amazing job weaving a story with so much philosophical depth. I would love to read this book in a classroom or online forum where everyone chimes in with what the book means to them.