The Last Colony
 RRP £7.99 Lowest New Price £2.49 
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Tor Books Number of pages: 336 Language: English (Original Language) Language: English (Unknown) Language: English (Published) |
RRP: £7.99
Proper Ending to a Riveting Series
Review date: 2008-11-17 Rating: 8 out of 10
What a refreshing change to the usual never ending repetitive series that often start off well, but drag on too long trying to squeeze the last penny out of the reader's pocket. Nope John Scalzi has resisted the tempation and the three book series is all the better for it. Together they make up a proper begining, middle and end, each being self contained but with of course the previous book to build on.
The Last Colony is less violent and much less of a "space opera", than the Old Man's War and in particular Chost Brigades. It is however well written and with enough action to keep most happy. There are some good plot twists and a bit of ambiguity when it comes to in book political manouvering. It makes for an intelligent but not demanding read.
The book is also short and snappy. Whilst like many I rather enjoy the Peter F Hamilton door stops it's also refreshing to read a book that will actually fit in a small bag. You could concievably put all three books into a one book tomb although each book to be fair does have it's own individual flavour.
Overall I'd recommend this to sci-fi fans who enjoyed the EE Doc Smith books in their childhood but now read the Hamilton mammoth titles and who are game for a short, thoughtful and interesting series.
Reviews
A great end to the trilogy (until the next book...)
Review date: 2008-11-11 Rating: 10 out of 10
If you have read the two previous novels, "Old Man's War" and "The Ghost Brigades" then you have to read this book. The story isn't as action-packed as the first installment, but is really cleverly written and ties up a lot of elements of the story nicely. If you haven't read the first two novels, then I suggest you start at the beginning of the series.
This story features John Perry and Jane Sagan, from the first two books, trying to settle down and retire on a nice quiet farming planet. Of course it doesn't stay that way long when they are asked to lead a colonisation attempt. It's not straightforward as it's the first time that a new colony is to be created from colonists from other planets, rather than from Earth. There are a lot more twists and twists within twists that keep you guessing right through the story, and there's enough action to keep the hard core military sci-fi fans happy (although it's no "Old Man's War" in that respect).
Confusingly, my issue features a note written by the author that states that this is the last book in the series. It also includes an advert for the next book featuring the same story seen from a different perspective ("Zoe's Tale"). If you haven't had enough of the series, try that or "The Sagan Diaries" when you have finished the first three books.
An ok way to end trilogy that ran its course
Review date: 2008-10-08 Rating: 6 out of 10
Not as much fun as Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades, but it is fairly short, easy to read and it does a good job of concluding the trilogy. So if you read the first two books it is worth reading this one just to see how the story ends. If you haven't read them, then do so first as they have most of the fun and the best ideas of the series.
A disappointing sequel
Review date: 2008-10-08 Rating: 6 out of 10
With this Scalzi brings his "Old Man's War" sequence to a finish (though it appears that his latest "Zoe's War" is also set in the same sequence, just giving a different perspective on the action).
Old Man's War was a fine example of military S. F., giving a fresh perspective. However the two sequels seem to have progressively run out of invention and I think the author is right to now draw a line, at least for now, under the sequence to look elsewhere. Because it offers little new, I was disappointed by it. It is competently written and concentrates on the politics rather than the military action in this Universe.
Basically, the protagonist Perry and his wife, recently retired from the military and put back in true human bodies, become colonial administrators and lead a new colony. The Colonial Government it is as duplicitous and questionable as it has emerged as being earlier in the sequence.
If you have read the prequels you you will probably want to read this to see how it pans out. If you have not read them, do not read this with out having read the earlier works. Old Man's War is a must read for anyone who likes military SF. Its successors do not reach that high level of gripping the reader. Hence my rating, though I stress there is nothing wrong with the work, it just falls short of its predecessors.
More first-class space opera from Scalzi
Review date: 2008-09-24 Rating: 8 out of 10
For those who haven't read Scalzi's "Old Man's War" and "Ghost Brigades" - and you should - the hero and his wife are ex-military who are administrators in a small off-Earth colony. They are recruited as the leaders of a new colony but are lied to and marooned by their own people, while no less than 412 alien races are all trying to find them so they can stomp them into the alien dust.
The skill in Scalzi's writing is that you genuinely care about the hero and his family and the minutiae of colony life, and yet you are sucked in to a great sci-fi thriller with multiple plot twists and a satisfying (and surprising) ending. One thing, Mr Scalzi, what happened to the werewolves?
Product Details/Specifications
Authors:
John Scalzi
Recording label: Tor Books
Manufacturer: Tor Books
EAN: 9780765356185
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey decimal number: 813.6
ISBN: 076535618X
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 336
Publication date: 2008-07-29
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Published)
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