John Scalzi took some ideas from well known sci-fi authors, threw in some tweaks, ratcheted up the action and poured it out on the pages of Old Man's War.
The premise is a great one: at age 75, you have the option of joining the military. Once there you begin a process that allows you to fight as a young man /woman again, yet with the experience and emotional intelligence of a wise AARP member.
I don't want to go too deep, for those who choose to read great books instead of letting this idiot spoil them, but know that the book deals a good deal with conscious transferring, a very interesting theoretical process.
Themes of the book get pretty adult at times, so this is not for the little ones. The action in the book is fast, and the pace of the latter half is almost dizzying. Races of alien are blasted through by human troops engineered to be fighting machines. There is a overlying love story which leads to the later book (so I'm told) and all in all: this was a promising installment in the now trilogy of Scalzi's.
I look forward to reading Ghost Brigades and The Lost Colony soon.
If you're a military sci-fi fan, then this is a must read. If you are a sci-fi lover in general, then plop down the cash--it will be well spent.
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