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Old Man's War
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Series: Old Man's War, Book 1
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce - and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So, we fight, to defend Earth and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.
Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.
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What the critics say
- Hugo Award nominee, Best Novel, 2006
"Scalzi's imagined interstellar arena is coherently and compellingly delineated." (The Washington Post)
More from the same
What listeners say about Old Man's War
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Cori Oreskovich
- 2017-12-12
Excellent book, great performance
This book suffers a small amount from the standard military scifi problem where the protagonist is never allowed to be wrong about anything or make any mistakes, unless those mistakes make them even more awesome.
That said, this is an excellent read and the author seems to have mainly avoided the above problem. The characters are likeable and human, the plot is well paced and exciting, and the performer has done an excellent job differentiating the characters.
one issue I had with the performer (and this is more of an issue with the writing than anything) is that he will be speaking in a character's voice and then drop down to read a "he said", only to immediately go into another character's voice. This happens pretty frequently and can be jarring. I would suggest just leaving these out some of the time, especially when the characters are obvious.
All in all, I'm excited to listen to the next one!
3 people found this helpful
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- Nathan
- 2018-09-13
One of the best books I've read in years
This book is great, my father even loved it and he's not a scifi fan. I'm listening for a 2nd time, would recommend to anyone. #Audible1
2 people found this helpful
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- reale gladue
- 2018-05-03
heartfelt. funny. sad. oh ya, sci fi too.
it's got it all, loss, love, rebirth, humor and of couse; cool battles. i loved it for it's honesty.
2 people found this helpful
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- Devon
- 2022-01-31
Awful narrator
Couldn't get through this one. The narrator was terrible. The cadence was quite off-putting.
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- Travis
- 2021-08-01
Good book, interesting concepts
Good book that presents interesting concepts for the space-sci-fi genre
The narrator did a great job with this book and mitigated some issues with regard to the text. As an example, the author correctly writes stuff like "I said" and "he said" after every line of dialogue. This is fine for reading but can sometimes become aggravating when listening to the book because the narrator already "voice acts" the characters so the listener knows who is speaking. To mitigate this, the narrator softly and quickly notes the aforementioned text and moves on. It was a good technique.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-01-07
Interesting start, mediocre end
This story has an interesting premise but it doesn't really go anywhere with it unfortunately. The main character was compelling in some parts but doesn't really seem to have an arc in this story. You also don't get a sense for how war may have changed him or is worldview. There is one instance where it was slightly touched on but the writer moved on from it rather quickly. The supporting characters are not done well either in my opinion, and thr lackluster voice acting didn't help either. Early in the story we're introduced to six characters that the main considers as family after getting to know them (in more ways than one). However, most of these characters disappear from the story once they're all shipped off to different war fronts. What we're left with after this point is an uninteresting lead with perhaps the best luck in the multiverse, characters that come and go at a moments notice and a meandering story structure. It's hard to get invested in anything going on as a result of this especially when there's little to no weight behind the events in the story.
The narration was fine but as I said before the voice acting left a lot to be desired, didn't really do much to bring these characters to life.
By the end I was left to wonder why they had to enlist 75 year olds into the war effort at all. The book had an explanation as to why they do but there isn't any payoff behind it and there's also an element in the story that seems to contradict this need. All in all I can only recommend this book with reservation, there's MUCH better stories out there.
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- Punkrokjeff13
- 2021-01-04
great universe building
cool story takes place in a unique universe
narration distracting at times especially when he does the female voices
but all in all a good listen
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- Michael
- 2020-12-08
Star Ship Troopers, but cleverer
A great and fun listen involving lots of moving pieces without being overwhelmed. An oddly believable story. Would make a great flick, like most of Scalzi’s writing.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-11-20
A fun read
the whole way through this book is funny, witty, and surprising. can't ask for more
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- Robin Thomas
- 2020-11-12
top notch
absolutely loved this story. i found it to be witty, fast paced, intelligent, and surprising heart warming. the characters were believable and relatable. i loved the old farts. the narration was amazing. the change in voice for each character was brilliant. can't wait for the next book.
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- M. Spencer
- 2012-10-21
Fun and Witty Military Sci-Fi
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi was the first book that I downloaded with my Audible subscription as I had heard from various sources (including the Sword and Laser podcast) that it was a great read. I have to say that, after reading the novel, I agree wholeheartedly. Old Man’s War was one of the best novels that I’ve read all year. I would even go so far as to say it’s one of my favorite science fiction novels period.
From the start, I really got a kick out of the conceit of the story. In some future United States, elderly people are recruited to enlist and serve in the intergalactic military. With so many novels following a young protagonist (even many adult novels), I found it to be a very refreshing experience to read a novel where the main character was 75 years old.
In addition to that, I really enjoyed Scalzi’s writing style. It had just right combination of dry wit and cynicism to really resonate with me. I should also extend that compliment to William Dufris, the narrator of the audio version that I listened to. I thought he did an excellent job. His tone was perfect for the main characters of the novel.
I don’t want to give anything away in my review so I won’t go into too much detail about the plot, but I really did enjoy the story line a great deal as well. The novel is very much a military story filled with battles and typical military life. In that way, it reminded me of Joe Haldeman’s Forever War, but what I liked about Old Man’s War was a bit lighter and more fun.
The novel really roped me and I had a lot of fun listening to it. In fact, I tended to listen on my iPod while running, giving me the perfect excuse to exercise regularly.
Overall, I really enjoyed the novel and I would recommend it to any science fiction reader.
176 people found this helpful
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- CrysAnne
- 2018-07-18
He said, She said
The incessant "He/She/I said" after nearly every bit of dialog was maddening once I noticed it.
28 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2012-10-06
Real science fiction, for a change
What made the experience of listening to Old Man's War the most enjoyable?
It was nice to finally read a science fiction book that actually was science fiction, not science 'fantasy'. The science fiction was understandable science, not pulled out of nowhere fantasy stuff that all to often is passed off as science fiction in our largely scientifically barely literate population.
20 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 2011-11-14
As good as Heinlein
This book reminds me of Heinlein ??? which is about the greatest compliment I can give a Sci Fi author. This book has multiple levels. It blends humor with social commentary, politics with action. The Sci Fi is merely a framework for the story and characters (which is as it should be). The characters are multifaceted and change substantially as the story evolves. The story has a lot of funny bits, but the story includes nice emotional and intellectual content. This book made me want to read everything by this author.
99 people found this helpful
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- Rowdy
- 2019-03-19
Great concept, poor execution
The story concept and world-building for this novel and universe were both great. I love the ideas, and it creates a rich environment for future stories to be told within. Unfortunately, the writing and especially the reading was not on par with the creativity. While I still enjoyed the book, I’m not sure if I’ll look into the sequels or not (I usually have the next book in a series bought and downloaded before I finish the first one). The writing is a little clunky, the dialogue a little non-organic, and the characters a little annoying (and unfortunately, all in the same ways. I’d much prefer the realism of some characters being annoying in unique ways while others are not at all). For example, the characters (spoilers ahead) toward the beginning of the book are all 75+. And yet they cannot shut up in even the most dire of situations, instead all of them opt to interrupt with little quips and jokes, which comes off completely forced since every character ends up having the same insufferable personality. It felt like the author was trying to write another Ender’s Game but didn’t want to be accused of being a knockoff, so he changed the setting and character demographic such that it no longer worked. This problem is only exacerbated by the narrator, who (while just fine when reading descriptive or solely plot-driven text) affects obnoxious voices and uses odd choices of inflection and tone that often detract from the already less than excellent writing. I frequently found myself thinking about the words I was hearing and deciding how I would have interpreted the lines had I been reading rather than listening to convince myself the writing wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The other major problem I had with this book was that the main character never has to struggle or go through anything. There was never any doubt in my mind how things would turn out for him. Not just being immediately selected as squad leader for a one-in-several-bullion coincidence; not just for being the only person from an entire ship to survive a crash landing (oh, and his two friends happened to be on the only shuttle to survive the massacre of the entire fleet); not just that he was immediately successful in every aspect, more often than not completely by accident, or that very obvious suggestions or strategies were somehow being introduced for the first time by his character rather than thousands of top military minds, but also that he just constantly bumps into people and things that by no rights have any business happening coincidentally and are a CONSTANT in his very brief story. Talk about deus ex machina, over and over again. Can’t some other guy in his platoon find the station schematics while he’s saving the girl, instead of him stumbling upon them? If he’s gonna win at everything let’s at least make him struggle though some adversity.
I didn’t expect to go on that much of a rant over the book, because despite it all I did enjoy it. And maybe I’ll consider listening to one of the sequels, though I shudder to think of listening to any more of this authors dialogue read by the same narrator. If the story intrigues you, I’d encourage you to check it out, though you might enjoy it more if you read it yourself.
11 people found this helpful
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- Jim "The Impatient"
- 2015-10-22
I DIDN'T MIND GETTING OLD, WHEN I WAS YOUNG EITHER
This is not good, it is GREAT!!!! It's Science fiction, it's Military Sci-Fi, it's a romance, it's witty, LOL at times, it is character driven, it is everything I ask for in a novel. I think the older you are and the longer you have been happily married the more you will enjoy this. It is so nice to listen to a novel, where elders are respected. The main character was married for around 42 years, if I remember right. They had some ups and downs, but they were in love. As a man who has been married for over 37 years and who is more in love now than when I was as a youth, I feel the pain and longing of the main character.
The science fiction is cool and this platform gives Scalzi, the ability to show off his imagination. The different aliens he comes up with and how they think different then us, makes for some thought provoking and funny situations. Some other reviewers have compared it to Star Ship Troopers and I see that, but I was thinking more of Forever War by Haldeman. It may have a little of both, but it is all Scalzi.
Dufris does a great job.
135 people found this helpful
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- Diana - Audible
- 2012-04-17
A welcome listening challenge
Audible’s editors thought it would be fun for each of us try a genre we haven’t listened to before, and for me it was sci-fi. Our resident expert on the topic, Steve, recommended John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War as a place to start—and what a start it was! Filled with space battle, technology of the future (including new and improved bodies), characters you’ll care about, and even a heart-tugging love story, this book was a great way to ease into the category. One of the things I loved most was Scalzi’s insights into what makes us human. Or as he says, “Part of what makes us human is what we mean to other humans and what they miss about us.”
42 people found this helpful
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- john s larigan
- 2008-11-21
Science Fiction is Not Dead
I grew up in the 1950's in the hey day of Heinlein, Asimov, Norton, Dickson and other great hard Science Fiction writers. To a great extent the genre in trying to reinvent itself turned its back on the traditional Science Fiction Fan. John Scalzi's novels, like the juveniles of Charles Sheffield, have reinvigorated the old hard science fiction style. However, John Scalzi has gone Sheffield one better. Old Man's War, Ghost Brigade, etc have not only brought Heinleinian style Science Fiction back to life, but he has successfully put a modern spin on the style which gives a fresh perspective. Old Man's War is an amazing effort and like any good book it stands up to being read and re-read. The audio interpretation is very well done and the reader gets a 5 star rating to complement the story itself.
40 people found this helpful
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- Kurt Schwoppe
- 2018-03-17
Just Wow
I am kicking myself for taking so long to find John Scalzi and the Old Man's War series. Thanks to Jim the Impatient for the great review that now has me hooked on the series. I just read the third book, and the storyline is still going strong.
At first I didn't realize that Old Man's War was written 13 years ago, so I kept thinking that Scalzi was borrowing ideas. Now it's pretty clear that he is one original thinker who has set more than a few recent trends in the SciFi genre. As one reviewer said, he is the new Robert Heinlein.
After binge listening to the first three books, I've decided to pace out the remaining three. I got a few 10 hour road trips in the next couple of months, and I can count on the Old Man Series to help make the drive fly quickly by. In the meantime, John Scalzi is going to get a few more of my credits as I try out some of his other books.
7 people found this helpful
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- Dale
- 2007-10-10
A Keeper
The first part of this book, reminiscent of Heinlein's "Starship Trooper", is a worthy homage. The second part is also a love story with emotional depth. The technology is part of the plot and not simply window dressing. I will look for other works by this author.
50 people found this helpful