John Scalzi has been one of my favorite authors for quite a long time. When this classic popped up as a reread, I jumped at the chance to dive back into Zoe's tale. Though this story was first released in about 2008, I remember loving it the first time through because of the perspective.

The Old Man's War series is a space Opera series which can, at times, feel fairly heavy with battle and strategy. As with most Scalzi, there's going to be a level of humor interlaced within the text, but I think he does it very well with the grizzled veterans in Old Man's and with the "Old Farts". However, when we get to Zoe, it's a first person perspective from that of young adult .

I have seen some critique this book is a bit unnecessary as it is similar to book #3 The Last Colony, but Zoe's perspective does actually illuminate several points which weren't focused on in the other novel. Plus, we get to see the events from a YA perspective which is different from what we've experienced in the series until this point.

Overall, i am a fan of his writing style and his ability to create works which I am able to easily sink into. I am a fan of YA books and I think this one does fall into that category which is rare for Scalzi. I don't think many of his works actually fall into the realm of YA. Thank you for the opportunity to dive back into such an amazingly rich world. It makes me want to reread most of the series all over again.

This one is a book 3 add on. I love it because it's book 3, but from Zoe's perspective. Zoe is a smart, sharp, funny and sassy teen who has another species as protectors (two of them always with her). They are hilarious when they are scaring others away from her, telling her a story they've written or disconnecting their emotions so they don't have a meltdown when Zoe is having strong emotions. We get insight from her point of view of what it was like to meet her boyfriend, make new friends, and survive it all.
This works well as a standalone to gift to YA readers who are starting to demand more complex sci-fi, military fantasy. I love Zoe, so this is a great complementary novel to book 3.

Usually his writing is a bit more on the adult side while this one was from the perspective of a kid which made it all the more interesting. .