John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.
via Old Man’s War: John Scalzi: 9780765348272: Amazon.com: Books.
I read Old Man’s War on the redeye back from SFO this morning on my Kindle. It was surprisingly good – it felt like an homage to Starship Troopers in a way.
The book is told from the perspective of John Perry. The idea is that on – sometime in the Future – there’s an option for people as they get older. They can sign up for an enlistment (between 2-10 years) in an offworld army – but nobody knows for sure what’s involved. Rumor is that they have a way of making old people young again – and lots of people decide to give it a try. What he finds out is there’s a whole new adventure and new life waiting for him. It’s also very dangerous and the survival prospect aren’t very good.
I ended up reading this whole thing in the 4.5 hours it took to fly back – and it was quite entertaining – def recommend it.