Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Zoe's Tale
Book Review: A fast read, very enjoyable. Zoe's aewsome
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this before any other book in the series. Plus side: The re-telling of Last Colony from Zoe's point of view makes for a great story. This extends the scale from teenage girl on a colony, to interplanetary relations diplomacy and interspecies war. It's very entertaining and hard to put down. Minus side: I'm trying to read The Last Colony right now with some impatience, and I just know the all exciting parts are coming, but not soon enough!
Bottom line, Zoe and her Obins rock, this book is very worth its price. If you're not a Scalzi fan yet, this book might just convert you.
Book Review: A good, though not great, retelling of Scalzi's "The Last Colony"
Summary: 3 Stars
Frankly, this book is a little disappointing. It's the 4th book in Scalzi's "Old Man's War" universe - this time a retelling of the immediately preceding book, "The Last Colony," retold from the perspective of Zoe, the adopted daughter of the hero, John Perry, from "Old Man's War" (and the biological daughter of the human race's greatest traitor). If this book had truly been a stand alone book, I would have been hard pressed to have given it 2 stars. However, because it does add a little depth to the "Old Man's War" universe and is written in Scalzi's easygoing style, I gave it 1 more star (for a total of 3). As Scalzi himself notes, this storytelling approach is similar to Orson Scott Card's treatment of the Ender series ("Ender's Game") in "Ender's Shadow." It doesn't work quite so well for me for two reasons: (1) unlike "Ender's Shadow," which was written almost 15 years after "Ender's Game," this is a retelling of the last book I read by Scalzi less than 2 years ago - I felt like I had already read this story; and (2) Scalzi just isn't Orson Scott Card (at least not yet), so he doesn't quite pull this approach off - it just doesn't seem as fresh, interesting, or add enough to justify me spending the time re-reading the tale told in "The Last Colony."
If you really like the "Old Man's War" universe, you'll enjoy this book, but don't expect a masterpiece. Frankly, I wish I had waited a few more years before reading this book (after "The Last Colony" had begun to fade from my memory). For those interested in a great book/universe to delve into, though, start with "Old Man's War" and "The Ghost Brigades". Great books.
Book Review: A reiteration of The Last Colony
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me first say that I think John Scalzi is a wonderful writer. I read Old Man's War when it first came out and enjoyed it very much. Earlier this month I noted he had penned a few sequels and I decided to give them a go. In preparation for doing so I actually re-read Old Man's War and, surprisingly, I enjoyed it even more the second time around. I can say unhesitatingly that I feel that Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, and the Last Colony are all wonderful five star reads that evoke the best from the golden age of science fiction and yet are distinctly modern in their presentation.
Scalzi writes in a deceptively easy and smooth style and you glide silkily from one page to the next. His writing is leavened with liberal humor and spiced with adrenalin-fueled action scenes making for a thoroughly enjoyable treat. Many people have compared him to Robert Heinlein...I would go even farther. Scalzi could easily be Heinlein's clone when it comes to writing. Their styles are that similar. This is a good thing though, a grand thing, and I am so pleased that Scalzi is writing the books he is.
But...I have to say I was disappointed with Zoe's Tale in several ways. This is entirely my fault as I was so very excited to get a fourth installment in this series that I did not bother to read the publisher's blurb on the Amazon page. The fact I didn't do so is actually a form of homage to Scalzi because I have already decided that anything he writes is worthy of reading so I didn't really feel like I had to check out the plot first. Zoe's Tale simply retells the story of The Last Colony from the perspective of Zoe, a young teenaged girl. Since I just read The Last Colony a few days ago, I already knew what was going to happen and so there was little ability to generate tension during the story. I still very much enjoyed the smooth, humorous writing but the story itself was a little bit like eating leftovers that you aren't really interested in. It's better than not eating, but it's simply not that thrilling.
I think Scalzi did a remarkably good job of capturing the perspective and outlook of a teenage girl in the novel, which as he explains in the afterword is something of a challenge for a middle-aged guy to pull off. Speaking as another middle-aged guy it seemed to me like he did a good job, but then again, what do I know? Yet, since I am a middle-aged guy I do generally prefer stories told from an older perspective than that of a teenager. I definitely preferred the protagonists of the first three books from a narrative point-of-view. Shifting from an adult perspective to a teenaged one, while well done, detracted a little from the book for me. It could be a plus for others, but I share this so others can make informed decisions.
I must say that overall I enjoyed the book, but I probably would have ordered something else if I'd known beforehand what this was going to be (again, completely my fault). So my advice is to understand what you are buying here before you do it. This is a good book, very enjoyable, and it does throw in a few scenes and explanations that were not in The Last Colony, including a bit more about the werewolves. On the whole though, there isn't much additional informaiton here and I would have preferred a brand new story over a rehashed one. So I'll give this one five stars for the enoyable writing style that will keep me coming back for more, but three stars for not really adding anything new to the series, and settle out at four stars.
Book Review: Another Homer for JS
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw Old Man's War in the store a few years ago, and grabbed it. Began reading, and was instantly hooked. Fast forward to today, and having blazed through Zoe's Tale in about 4 hours, I have begun re-reading the entire series from the beginning. It usually takes about 5-10 years before I want to re-read a series; not with Scalzi's work. If you were ever a fan of Heinlein, or just a fan of good science-fiction, John Scalzi is one of today's greats. I highly recommend Zoe's Tale, as well as all the rest in the series.Book Review: Another home run in a series of home runs
Summary: 5 Stars
Scalzi just keeps banging out great Sci Fi.
"Zoe's Tale" is a touching story of a young girl's coming to grips with reality and responsibility in a dangerous colony world.
Everything Scalzi has written is great, and he's one of the bright lights of modern Science Fiction in the current gusher of vampire, werewolf, and demon fantasy novels.
Like Robert Heinlein, Scalzi's worlds are real.
As one person once said about Heinlein, "His worlds are so real, you can hear the water running through the pipes".
Scalzi's pipes are in good order, and I'm looking forward to anything he writes.