The Last Colony: Old Man's War Book 3
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4.4 • 114 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
John Perry was living peacefully on one of humanity's colonies - until he and his wife were offered an opportunity these ex-supersoldiers couldn't resist. To come out of retirement and lead a new frontier world.
However, once on the planet, they discover they've been betrayed. For this colony is a pawn in an interstellar game of war and diplomacy. Humanity's Colonial Union has pitched itself against a new, seemingly unstoppable alien alliance, dedicated to ending all human colonization.
As this contest rages above, Perry struggles to keep his terrified colonists alive on the surface below - despite dangerous interstellar politics, violence and treachery. And the planet has yet to reveal its own fatal secrets.
PRAISE FOR THE OLD MAN'S WAR SERIES
"Clever dialogue, fast-paced story and strong characters." The Times
"Great fun" Daily Telegraph
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Full of whodunit twists and explosive action, Scalzi's third SF novel lacks the galactic intensity of its two related predecessors, but makes up for it with entertaining storytelling on a very human scale. Several years after the events of The Ghost Brigades (2006), John Perry, the hero of Old Man's War (2005), and Jane Sagan are leading a normal life as administrator and constable on the colonial planet Huckleberry with their adopted daughter, Zo , when they get conscripted to run a new colony, ominously named Roanoke. When the colonists are dropped onto a different planet than the one they expected, they find themselves caught in a confrontation between the human Colonial Union and the alien confederation called the Conclave. Hugo-finalist Scalzi avoids political allegory, promoting individual compassion and honesty and downplaying patriotic loyalty except in the case of the inscrutable Obin, hive-mind aliens whose devotion to Zo will remind fans of the benevolent role Captain Nemo plays in Verne's Mysterious Island. Some readers may find the deus ex machina element a tad heavy-handed, but it helps keep up the momentum.
Customer Reviews
The strongest arcs
The first book in the series has insanely good World building.
The second book has a remarkable plot.
This book has the best characters.
Though the previous books have likeable people to carry a reader through the story, they have very fundamental motivations (usually ‘find out how this new place I’m in works’), and don’t change much, and therefore feel more like cameramen than relatable protagonists.
This book introduces new (but natural) values and motivations for John, Jane and Zoe, and puts them in situations where they must understand these values, choose which of them is the greatest, and defend that choice from the consequences it creates.
This makes for much more satisfying and emotional moments than the other books in the series, but sacrifices a little of the amazing exploration and invention that made the first two so great.