Zoe's Tale

Perhaps his best yet! This book was an unexpected treat, and he's not only come up with yet another surprising twist and extension of the series, he's managed to pull off two amazing feats of writer craftsmanship -- a parallel story and using a teenage girl as the lead -- and both wind up helping the story!

The book's lead character is Zoe, who was a significant character in the Last Colony and is given a lot more heart and characterzation and her own plotline in this one. This book should be read after the earlier works as it would be somewhat a spoiler for the plot twists in Ghost Brigades and Last Colony if you read this one first, and since it would be fine on it's own but seems like I appreciated this one more having the background from the others clear and could really focus on enjoying the new plot and the writers craftsmanship.

This book was an unexpected treat as I'd thought he was finished with the Old Man's War series or at least taking a break. The first book was a surprising new author and novel concepts, and the next two both extended the same universe and did a lot of amazing plot twists. But I'd thought he had used up all the novelty and play of technology consequences and strategic twists and main characters and maybe was at the end of the series or at least for a while. Instead, he comes back to the tale of Zoe, and managed to reveal more plot twists and strategic bits were going on at the same time, and really tell Zoe's story amazingly well.

I started this book shortly before midnight, and finished it with dawn drawing near. I had the chance to break off at 3 hours into the read, but then continued. Scalzi writes that well. Yes, I've read "The Last Colony" and loved it for the solutions it presented, as well as it's characters. Yes, the book covers the same ground, but the viewpoint is very different.It was clear that being the center of the universe for an alien race was wearing on Zoe, but you really didn't get the full depth of feeling or the full picture from "The Last Colony." Scalzi says in the epilogue that the fans wanted this book, to know more about Zoe's mission and whatever happened to those savages on Roanoke? Good questions. The latter is still a good question, more than ever, after this book. I think that those who are disappointed that this is TLC from a different point of view are missing the point. This really is Zoe's tale, and it was worth the reading. As was Enzo's story.

Well, I just went out and grabbed this book based on my high regard for Scalzi's work, without any research. I should have looked here first. The retelling of the Last Colony from the standpoint of a teenage girl and companions is not something I would have normally sought out, since I'm way past being much interested in the interpersonal trials and tribulations of teenagers, present or future. Been there, done that. Perhaps Scalzi is trying to expand his reader base into another demographic, like Pratchett and Hiassen have, with youth-oriented books alongside the adult novels. If so, he's off to a good start.

Overall, the book is well written as are all of Scalzi's works. He is a very skillful craftsman, treating the language and the reader with respect. His stories hold together, and they keep the reader turning those pages.

As a general comment, I do wish Scalzi would spend a few more lines in his books describing his aliens -- or get an artist to do a beastiary -- so the reader could better envision what the human characters are interacting with. In his finest-by-far book, The Sagan Diaries, there are a few drawings, and they add a lot to the reading experience.

I saw Old Man's War in the store a few years ago, and grabbed it. Began reading, and was instantly hooked. Fast forward to today, and having blazed through Zoe's Tale in about 4 hours, I have begun re-reading the entire series from the beginning. It usually takes about 5-10 years before I want to re-read a series; not with Scalzi's work. If you were ever a fan of Heinlein, or just a fan of good science-fiction, John Scalzi is one of today's greats. I highly recommend Zoe's Tale, as well as all the rest in the series.

Stayed up late finishing "Zoe's Tale", and I'm too tired to write a long review. The bottom line: it's excellent - easily my favourite Scalzi work. Read "The Last Colony" first, so you can appreciate how well he handles the "same events, different perspective" approach. Five stars; now stop preening, John, and get back to work!