The Last Colony

I liked this one the best of the three so far.

John Scalzi hasn't failed me yet. All three books in this series so far have been gripping, stirring, exciting adventure stories with a thrilling edge of darkness. Even though he does not paint his alien characters in shades of black and white, he also does not flinch from demonstrating that some species of aliens are extremely dangerous, brutal, and willing to stop at nothing to murder and mutilate humanity. My only criticism is that an early plot-line dealing with a native threat on the colonized planet was completely dropped when the greater outside threat presented itself, and it retrospect it seems like a thread that should have been resolved or otherwise dealt with. As I understand it, his upcoming book, "Zoe's Tale", deals with the same time period but tells it from a different perspective, so that should be interesting. I look forward to reading that, and I'll definitely continue picking up everything he writes.

3.5 stars. The Last Colony by John Scalzi completes the trilogy begun with Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades (but it is certainly not the last of the books set in this universe). This time the focus is less on those wonderfully old-school battle scenes and more upon the consequences of playing politics with people's lives. The Last Colony is a book that is focused on imperialism and expansionist politics. What happens when we (humans) try to colonize other planets? How would other intelligent species respond? John Perry and Jane Sagan — he the formerly heavily-modded supersoldier of the Colonial Defense Force, she the super-dupersoldier genetically designed right from the lab — have retired to an unassuming agricultural colony with fresh, unmodified bodies and an adopted daughter, Zoe (remember her from The Ghost Brigades?), now a teenager. An unwelcome visit from a former commanding officer leads to an offer that their innate wanderlust makes it hard for them to refuse. They become the administrators of a new human colony, Roanoke. But, Trouble manifests itself quickly.... It doesn't take long to learn that the colony is little more than a tool for politics. The Colonial Union, representing spacefaring humanity away from the isolated Earth, is openly defying a decree by the Conclave, a consortium of alien worlds that have forbidden any colonization efforts by non-Conclave worlds, and have the combined military might of each of those worlds to back it up. It's a huge game of chicken between the Conclave and humanity, with the Union, seeing humanity's very existence threatened, hoping to use Roanoke to goad the Conclave into a military trap. Meanwhile, the only people who seem to care about the lives of the actual men, women, and children on Roanoke are Perry, Sagan, and the colonists themselves. I didn't feel that this book quite lived up to its predecessor (the plot often seemed a little thin/unbelievable to me) but still it was nice to see the return of John Perry, and an interesting convergence of story-lines from the first two books. I honestly enjoy spending time with John, Jane, and Joe and I think that is a credit to Mr. Scalzi for writing such lovely and snarky characters. I might need to revisit this one in the near future to truly appreciate it.

Not quite up to par of the previous two Old Man's War books, but still a quick and worthwhile read.

** spoiler alert ** I love Scalzi's work, especially in the Old Mans' War universe, but this conclusion to his trilogy wasn't the strongest entry in the series. Previously, Scalzi has deftly woven action and political intrigue, but this book weighs heavily on the latter. There was also a red herring about werewolves — I understand how they served the plot, but it could've been more significant — and I'm also growing accustomed to the author's deus ex machinas, wherein the protagonist hatches a clever plot that utterly demolishes the enemy against all odds. But still a fun read and an enjoyable visit with some familiar characters.

I'm finding that the books in this series are making me really happy. They're fun. Good times. I have more to go, but I'll enjoy them, I'm sure.

A fitting end to the Old Man's War "trilogy". More political but no less of a yarn.

** spoiler alert ** I half heatedly started this and was about to abandon it when I noticed I was already a third done. Perry was much more interesting in the first book, when his life was turned completely upside down. His wise cracking was tempered by his confusion. Now he just seems smug. Jane and Zoe and the colony leaders all seems fairly underdeveloped. The most interesting character by far was Szilard, and Zoe's Obin. Things got pretty good near the end after they ambushed the Conclave usurper and started winning. And ending on Earth was fun. That said, it was obviously good enough to read quickly and was totally entertaining. Good easy fun.

Great conclusion to the trilogy. Thoroughly enjoyed this series, and look forward to checking out Zoe's Tale.

Fabulous! Really enjoying these.