"Old Man's War" by John Scalzi

I found this book at a library book sale and I immediately thought, "Hey, I have a friend who loves Scalzi!" So I paid $0.50 and took it home.

Summary: Humanity has colonized uncounted worlds and found that we are not alone. As the Colonial Union literally and figuratively rockets forward, they leave Earth in the dust. John Perry is 75 years old and not particularly interested in being old any longer. The Colonial Defense Force has the technology to make people young again, but they haven't shared that with Earth scientists. The only way to benefit from it is to enlist. And if you enlist, you can't go home again.

Perry says good-bye to his whole life and signs up for a second chance. He and a thousand other recruits are trained in the art of combat. People from all professions are there with the same goal of extending their lives, which means politicians, farmers, scientists, teachers are all brought together with a lifetime of experience and emotional investments that make them a particularly unique fighting force. They are the front line defending humanity from the exotic dangers of the galaxy and having nieces, nephews and grandchildren back home gives them that added incentive to do their best.

What I Liked: Something about Scalzi's writing style is perfect for me. Each sentence seems to be exactly what it needs to be to get the point across and introduce you to the next sentence. I read this book very quickly (by my standards) and I am eager for the sequel. He does a great job with foreshadowing so that there are a series of mysteries throughout the book, keeping me interested.

What I Didn't Like: The faster-than-light skip drive gives me the shivers.

Rating: Must Read.

Also Read by this Author: None.

Reviewed by: Nick

"Valor's Choice" By Tanya Huff

This book was lent to me by my aunt-in-law. She is a bibliophile and thought I might be interested in this sci-fi series. Note that I read the first two books published in one text, but this review is only the first book.

Summary: The galaxy is inhabited by a variety of intelligent species. In order to develop spaceflight and establish colonies on other worlds, all these species had to first develop their civilizations to a point where they were diplomatic, almost to a fault. The logic seemed to be that all species that were too violent would destroy themselves before they could become interplanetary. Dozens of these peaceful species found each other and formed the Confederation and thrived together for many years until the Others came along and brought war. All diplomatic attempts failed spectacularly and the Confederation quickly realized it did not have the temperament for war. And so they recruited the dumb and brutish humans to fight on their behalf.

Sergeant Kerr is the senior non-com for a platoon on recently pulled from combat duty. They are to escort some diplomats to a world where the dominant species is considering joining the Confederation. If the mission succeeds, they would be a new species with a penchant for violence that could fight the Others. If the mission fails, they might someday be enslaved by the Others and be set against the Confederation. Kerr is surprised that her combat troops are being used for what amounts to parade ground duty, and that is the first hint that something is not quite right.

What I Liked: Huff writes in a very natural style that is very easy to digest. Kerr is a great protagonist, someone worth cheering for and easy to identify with.

What I Didn't Like: I wish I had a more complete sense of life in the Confederation. This book tightly focuses on one story arc and it's hard to imagine what is beyond it.

Rating: Recommended. I will read more of this series!

Also Read by This Author: None

Reviewed by: Nick

"Shadows in Flight" By Orson Scott Card

I selected this audiobook because I have already read eight books in this universe and really love the main character, Bean. 

Summary: This is this fifth book in the Ender's Shadow series and takes place about 400 years after the events in the first four books. Bean is flying through space with three of his children at near light speed, so that they will age slower than their friends and relatives back on Earth. Without this intervention, they would surely die in their twenties as everyone else grew old. They spend much of their energy researching their peculiar and rare genetic disease which makes their minds and bodies grow at the a constant pace. Their brains are perpetually learning like an infant, becoming geniuses at toddler age, but the constant growth means they will not stop in adulthood. Bean, in his twenties, is at the edge of death as his heart struggles to supply blood to is enormous body, even at 1/10th Earth's gravity. These four adventurers discover an ancient Formic ship and explore it to learn all kinds of new things about their one-time enemy. This story spends a lot of time exploring the inner thoughts and vocal debates between the four travelers.

What I Liked: This book takes the time to answer some of the lingering questions from the other eight books and develops more background on the Formics. Card really did make an interesting and exciting world which is a treat to read about.

What I Didn't Like: This is a low tension book, compared to the earlier Ender's Shadow series, and it felt shorter (and apparently is shorter). On a different note, I should say that Orson Scott Card has expressed many political views that I personally find distasteful and disrespectful, and makes me hesitant to give him money.

Rating: I recommend the whole series from Ender's Game to this book, though this is not the most exciting of the series.

Also Read by this Author: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant, The Memory of Earth, The Call of Earth, The Ships of Earth, Earthfall.

Reviewed by: Nick

"Cauldron of Ghosts" by David Weber and Eric Flint

We I have been reading the Honor Harrington series for years now, always anticipating the next book. I have already reviewed one book and gave a summary of the series then.  

Summary: This book is part of the Honorverse, but does not follow Honor Harrington herself. Instead, it follows Victor Cachat (of the star nation of Haven) and Anton Zilwicki (of the star empire of Manticore) as they carry out a huge mission against the Mesan Alignment. In this spin-off Honorverse series, Victor and Anton have been working together professionally for many years, despite being from different nations. They are united in the common cause of ending genetic slavery, a crime committed most extensively by the corporate rulers of the planet Mesa. In previous books, these special agents uncovered a centuries-old plot being carried out by a secret organization called the Alignment. Deciding that time was critical, Victor and Anton pull together an elite team of agents to bring to the planet Mesa and gather more intelligence regarding the Alignment's future plans. To carry out their mission, Victor uses the criminal networks that arose out of the seccy population, a class of disenfranchised descendants of freed slaves. Things move quickly as everyone tries to get ahead of everyone else.

What I Liked: This is classic Honorverse material. Everything is high stakes, intergalactic combat. I love the Victor/Anton story arch because it is heavy on spy games and politics. They are a pair of master spies, always at the top of their game and it is fun to see that in action.

What I Didn't Like: So, there are two things to keep in mind regarding this book and a few others in the series.

Firstly, there are multiple authors. Weber is the primary author and plays a hand in all the stories. He gets credit on all the books and it is his brain-child. Flint is the secondary author and is the custodian of Victor Cachat. Flint clearly writes a lot of the book when Victor is involved and Weber takes a backseat. I love Weber's writing style, but I am not as big a fan of Flint. He loves to hurry things along, while Weber is content to let the plot unfold gracefully. In this book, a lot happens and it happens very quickly. I let it slide because I love the series, but it makes it hard to suspend disbelief.

Secondly, I am the kind of reader who goes slow and sees each word. I know, I should learn to speed-read or something, but I like the way I read and I notice things most people miss. Having said this, I have noticed that early Honorverse books had few typos. The publishers clearly spent the time proofreading the books before printing and cleared up the mistakes. At some point, I suspect they stopped proofing. The typos increased in frequency and impact. For example, this book has a scene repeat, and the two versions cannot be reconciled on multiple points. It suggests no one proofed the final draft and that bothers me.

Rating: This is not the best book in the series, but I highly recommend the whole series, including this volume.

Also Read by this Author: 
Main Honor Harrington series: On Basilisk Station, The Honor of the Queen, The Short Victorious War, Field of Dishonor, Flag in Exile, Honor Among Enemies, In Enemy Hands, Echoes of Honor, Ashes of Victory, War of Honor, At All Costs, Mission of Honor, A Rising Thunder, Shadow of Freedom
Crown of Slaves series: Crown of Slaves, Torch of Freedom
Saganami Island series: The Shadow of Saganami, Storm from the Shadows
Star Kingdom series: A Beautiful Friendship
Anthologies: More Than Honor, Worlds of Honor, Changer of Worlds, The Service of the Sword, In Fire Forged, Beginnings

Reviewed by: Nick

"Priests of Mars" by Graham McNeill

This book was lent to me by a good friend. He and I both really enjoy the Warhammer 40,000 universe and so he thought I would like it.

Summary: Thousands of years ago, Archmagos Telok built an Explorator fleet to cross the Halo Scar and bear witness to what lay beyond its destructive and obscuring gravity disruptions. No one has heard from him since, but recently a fragment was found. It came from a savior pod launched from Telok's flagship. Also, a message was received that he had found the "Breath of the Gods". These two discoveries were enough to inspire a down and out Archmagos Kotov to follow in Telok's path. After loosing prestige, Kotov knew he would need a big victory to come out on top, so he assembled his own fleet and set out to solve the mystery of Telok's disappearance and bring back the knowledge Telok failed to deliver.

In this book you follow a variety of people in the fleet, the mighty warriors of the Black Templar Space Marines, the mysterious geniuses of the tech-cult Adeptus Mechanicus, the towering Titan war-machines, the lowly bondsmen slaves of the engine room, and the rogue trader who found the fragment. You get see the lives of all these different people and watch them interact as they approach the Halo Scar, an enormous collection of deformed stars clustered together such that they distort gravity in violent and confusing ways. Trying to look at anything beyond the Halo Scar is nearly impossible and navigating through it is a near suicidal task, but the evidence that Telok may have done it and been rewarded is too much to ignore.

What I Liked: McNeill really lets you get to know all the characters in a way that you experience just how big of an adventure they have found themselves embarking on. It is easy to get invested in their story and become concerned that they make it through all their trials. 

What I Didn't Like: All the character development meant that the actual plot was a bit slow. I had assumed the book would include their entire journey, but about halfway through I realized there weren't enough pages to accomplish that. There are at least two sequels, which I intend to read, Lords of Mars being next. I would not be surprised if there end up being several more. 

Rating: I recommend this book for anyone who likes to imagine a futuristic universe well beyond anything we have experienced on Earth. I really do love the Warhammer 40k universe!

Also Read By This Author: None.

Reviewed By: Nick

"Homefall" by Chris Bunch

Years ago I read a sci-fi trilogy called the Last Legion. I liked it a lot and even got my best friend to read them. More recently, I was at a used book store that had the fourth book in the series. It never occurred to me that there would be a fourth book, and so was totally shocked when I saw it. This is that book. I read it immediately.

Summary: First, a little bit about the trilogy. It follows two recruits, Garvin Jaansma and Njangu Yoshitaro, of the Confederation Legion who are sent to the outer edge of the known galaxy to a quaint star system known as Cumbre. On their journey the transport is attacked and they barely survive and make it to their destination. On Cumbre it becomes clear that they were the last people to have any news from the capital Centrum. All communication and trade with the Confederation stops leaving Cumbre to fend for itself. Each book is a war, first there is a civil war on Cumbre, then aliens attack, then a neighboring star nation. Throughout the books it is just assumed the Confederation is gone and forgotten, but this fourth book finally addresses the issue. Garvin and Njangu are given command of a special expedition discover what happened to the core worlds. Their commanders had already tried sending drones to Centrum, but all were mysteriously lost. The two soldiers decide to disguise themselves as something everyone loves: a traveling circus! Collecting up performers and a big ship, the Circus Jaansma blasts off on an adventure. They jump world to world investigating the fall of the Confederation and getting tangled up in local politics. These circus/soldiers struggle to keep their identities secret as they piece together clues to answer their biggest questions.

What I Liked: It gave me a chance to revisit a favorite series of mine and see again some loved characters I had missed. It also had a lot of intrigue and spycraft which is exciting. I also found it comical when these ultra-violent soldiers were confronted with subtle politics, like a bull in a china shop.

What I Didn't Like: Bunch glossed over some stuff, making it feel like he was rushing through the book, not really savoring the story. Also, I suspect some of the scenarios would have ended differently in real life, assuming we had the technology.

Rating: I recommend the whole series for some fun military sci-fi action.

Also Read By This Author: The Last Legion, Firemask, Storm Force.

Reviewed By: Nick