nicanical
John Scalzi's Old Man's War is to sci-fi what Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn: The Final Empire is to fantasy.
Pacing is good. There are plenty of problems and complications for the characters to solve, keeping the plot moving. The writing style is straightforward and functional. Lots of simple sentences and simple language which also makes exposition easy to understand.
Some details are tastelessly gaudy like all the sex after the recruits get new bodies, and naming neural implants Asshole and Bitch. Juvenile appeal. At the same time this behavior fits under the circumstances so I throw my hands up to it.
I am disappointed that the recruitment of septuagenarians is little more than a gimmick. Initially, it's justified by greater life experience presumably translating into some tactical edge. But Sergeant Ruiz immediately dispels that notion:
Each of you has seventy-five years of bad habits and personal feelings of entitlement that I have to purge in three goddamn months.
This is neither here nor there but curiously, according to Scalzi, Starship Troopers—the novel—was the inspiration and model for Old Man's War. Beyond the similar settings and premise I don't see how though. Starship Troopers is up to its neck in exposition and scenes of training and military academies. I see more similarities between Old Man's War and Starship Trooper's film adaptation though, down to specific plot beats.
John Scalzi's Old Man's War is to sci-fi what Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn: The Final Empire is to fantasy.
Pacing is good. There are plenty of problems and complications for the characters to solve, keeping the plot moving. The writing style is straightforward and functional. Lots of simple sentences and simple language which also makes exposition easy to understand.
Some details are tastelessly gaudy like all the sex after the recruits get new bodies, and naming neural implants Asshole and Bitch. Juvenile appeal. At the same time this behavior fits under the circumstances so I throw my hands up to it.
I am disappointed that the recruitment of septuagenarians is little more than a gimmick. Initially, it's justified by greater life experience presumably translating into some tactical edge. But Sergeant Ruiz immediately dispels that notion:
Each of you has seventy-five years of bad habits and personal feelings of entitlement that I have to purge in three goddamn months.
This is neither here nor there but curiously, according to Scalzi, Starship Troopers—the novel—was the inspiration and model for Old Man's War. Beyond the similar settings and premise I don't see how though. Starship Troopers is up to its neck in exposition and scenes of training and military academies. I see more similarities between Old Man's War and Starship Trooper's film adaptation though, down to specific plot beats.