The Last Colony (Old Man's War, #3) in Pick-a-Shelf

May 23, 2023 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rws-2023-spring, 2023-read, fantasy-sci-fi

John Scalzi writes in a light an entertaining tone with just enough sarcasm to keep things feeling fun, but with enough heart to make me root for his characters and feel like the books are more than just a bunch of jokes strung together.

I remember the first book in this series pretty well for the general concept and some of the world building. I must admit that I've almost entirely forgotten the second book, though I know I read it.

Overall, the concept of a world in which all different alien ra ...more

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Sep 22, 2024 Nat rated it really liked it

Shelves: scifi, space-opera

Like most all of Scalzi's books, this is a fun read without much meat. I liked it more than his recent forays into fantasy, but it's still a bit too simplistic for me to really love it. It's a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, though.

The good: the characters are enjoyable if interchangeable. There's a feel-good ending and some satisfying twists and turns. John and Jane make fun characters to follow, and the voice (sardonic, light, slightly humorous) makes for a generally enjoyable reading exp Like most all of Scalzi's books, this is a fun read without much meat. I liked it more than his recent forays into fantasy, but it's still a bit too simplistic for me to really love it. It's a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, though.

The good: the characters are enjoyable if interchangeable. There's a feel-good ending and some satisfying twists and turns. John and Jane make fun characters to follow, and the voice (sardonic, light, slightly humorous) makes for a generally enjoyable reading experience.

The bad: it's really just the simplicity and hand-waving aspects that get to me here. Some examples - an entire year of trying to get this colony up off the ground with no technology goes by in a couple pages, with no time spent on how difficult that would actually be. John never faces any serious challenges to his authority or really any serious challenges in terms of people leadership. All the problems come from external sources (aliens attacking, etc) but the actual people in the colony almost never cause issues. When they do, it's dealt with really rapidly and never foments into anything uglier. The one brief mention of something that could have turned bad is the "werewolves", whose thread gets completely dropped from the plot. It's like Scalzi started to add that to the storyline, changed his mind, and then forgot to cut it.

Most of the politics also come off as a bit simplistic. After the ending battle, which is over remarkably fast since (view spoiler), the other aliens just (view spoiler)? The amount of control that General Gau seems to have over the Conclave species also feels unrealistic to me. And the way the CU is completely incompetent through this whole book and has no control over anything, and consistently makes horrendous decisions, also made them seem pretty unbelievable.

Overall, 3.5 stars rounded up. It's not a bad book and it sucks you in pretty easily, but I know the plot will probably not stay with me for long. If you're interested in complex space opera, there are definitely better ones out there, but if you want something light and fun this is a pretty solid pick. ...more

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