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Old Man's War by John Scalzi
01/06/2005 . Source: Paul Hanley 
pub: TOR. 313 page hardback. Price: $23.95 (US), $33.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30940-8. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.tor.com
This is a book about wars between the stars and those who like military SF will love it. The difference is that it is the elderly of Earth, a place which has become something of a backwater, who are recruited into the military.
John Scalzi is able to create a believable scenario as to how the personalities of the aged people, who are rich in experience, are grafted onto augmented bodies. Back again in the bodies of 18 year-olds, the ancient recruits go on a sexual frenzy. Great fun.
They also go into battle. The story follows John Perry, a recent widower, as he completes his recruit training and goes into combat. The training and fighting is realistic, at least in the sense of how soldiers behave and react to events and especially the attitude of drill instructors. Very evocative to those who have experienced those fearsome creatures for real.
The Colonial Defences Forces are everywhere, committed against a galaxy teeming with life and all of whose technologically advanced races are fighting to take libenstram, as Nazi Germany termed the living space it deemed itself entitled to occupy, in order to expand its population.
The book has a certain element of romance but overall is a good adventure story which the author sets against a galaxy-wide scenario of his own devising.
I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Paul Hanley
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