Audiobook Review – The Last Colony (Old Man’s War, Book 3) by John Scalzi, Narrated by John Dufris (4/5 stars)
Reading Level:Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 9 hours and 51 minutes
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: October 13, 2008
ASIN: B001IAJKJS
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Old Man’s War series
Source: Bought Audiobook
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.
That is, until his and Jane’s past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.”
Series Info/Source: This is the third book in the Old Man’s War series. I bought this for audiobook.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this and was happy to be back with John and Jane and Zoe. This is a very political book, so I didn’t enjoy the story quite as much as previous books.
The story follows John, Jane and Zoe but is told mostly from John’s POV. We start off on the colony they have retired to name Huckleberry; here they are living a quiet but happy life as a family. Then they are contacted by the Colonial Defense Force to help with starting a new colony on a new planet. They agree but don’t realize at first that the Colony Defense Force hasn’t told them the whole (or really any) of the truths around this new colony. John, Jane, Zoe and all the other colonists are in serious trouble as they end up pitted against a multi-alien coalition that is trying to prevent human colonization of planets.
I really enjoyed being back with John, Jane, and Zoe. Zoe in particular is very entertaining. Sadly, you don’t get to see a ton of interaction between John and Jane, as they are very tied up with running the colony and often separated. I also enjoyed the new planet that they colonized, although I would have liked to learn more about the planet itself and the supposed sentient species they found on it (this storyline got dropped in favor of a broader storyline involving the CDF’s betrayal).
I didn’t enjoy how political this was. The majority of the story deals with John and Jane trying to figure out ways to outmaneuver two massive political forces in order to avoid the annihilation of the new colony they are leading. I also thought the ending felt anti-climatic and predictable. I do realize this was original supposed to be the last book in a trilogy, but now there are three more books in this series.
I listened to this on audiobook and it was well done. My only issue with it was the volume. My husband and I were listening to this while driving and the volume would go up and down drastically so we were constantly having to turn the sound up and down.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. There was a bit less military and action in this book and more political maneuvering. I really enjoyed the characters but enjoyed the story less than previous books because of the political nature of it. I do plan on continuing the series.
