Review: The Last Colony

The Last Colony is the third book in John Scalzi's Old Man's War series. After first meeting John Perry and Jane Sagan in Old Man's War and meeting their adopted daughter Zoë in The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony is the story of how they move to a new planet, dubbed Roanoke, to lead settlers from all the major human worlds in the formation of a new colony. What they didn't realize when they accepted the job, though, is that they and the colony are merely pawns in a political game. And while John, Jane and Zoë didn't get themselves into this morass, they can only rely on themselves - and maybe Zoë's devoted Obin followers - to get out of it.

OMW was a real heart-pumping action kind of book. Things slowed down and took a more introspective turn in Ghost Brigades. Last Colony, again, features less action than OMW, but also less philosophy than Ghost Brigades. Instead, we get an intriguing political thriller. I particularly liked the insights this book had into some of the non-human cultures. This is a great book, one that I relished and made me sigh with satisfaction when I put it down.

All in all, I loved this trilogy.* I loved OMW best of the three, but really, these are all marvelous books. I recommend them to everyone, not just regular readers of sci-fi.

Buy The Last Colony on Amazon. And, seriously, do. Have I not hyped John Scalzi enough yet?

*Yes, I know its not a trilogy anymore, with the publication of Zoe's Tale, but it was originally written that way and these three books form a beginning, a middle and an end. I haven't read Zoe's Tale yet, but I get the feeling that it is a special sauce to the trilogy, not a new direction.