Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Old Man's War by John Scalzi 320 pgs. 2005 5/5 "I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army." This was a gift to me by my good friend Carl from two Christmases ago. It's sat there on the TBR shelf for the last 13 months just waiting to be read. And it's one of those gems that surpasses any expectations that you could ever have. This is probably the best sci-fi I've read since Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead. It's an amazing book and I'm thrilled to have finally discovered the work of John Scalzi. John Perry is celebrating his 75th birthday in a way that many people do in the future. He's joining the army, the Colonial Defense Force to be exact. It is not an army of this world, but rather an army of the universe who's goal is to find new places to colonize for human habitation and to protect those worlds that have already been colonized. It's secrets are numerous to those of us on Earth and the only way that they can be discovered is to enlist. John recognizes that he's lived a full life on Earth and shared a wonderful life with his wife Maggie throughout the years, but those times are coming to a close. The CDF promises something that he cannot have here on Earth - youth and adventure. I don't want to go into any more detail of the plot because I don't want to give much away for those who plan on reading this. One of the true treats of Scalzi's writing is the feeling of discovering these worlds and strange new concepts with John and his new crew. Scalzi's writing truly blew me away. It's constantly engaging to the reader with moments of laugh out loud hilarity, non stop adventure, and suprisingly, truly touching moments. I was shocked when I found that this book was written in 2005. It's one of those books that will quickly become a classic if it hasn't achieved that status already. I truly can't wait to read the next book in the series, The Ghost Brigades. If it's half as good as this one, I'm in for a real treat! Other Views and Opinions: Bold. Blue. Adventure. Bottle of Shine Bart's Bookshelf Stainless Steel Droppings