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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description

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.

Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing November 9, 2008
The first book was truly amazing, wow what an adventure. The second was quite good as well, with as much excitement as the first. However, this third one is lifeless compared to either of the first two. I just kept waiting for something more to happen, but it goes quite slow throughout.

He has them go back to being plain ole humans, which doesn't give a lot to work with. It ends up being too much like real life... which is boring.. which is why we read science fiction to begin with.

5 out of 5 stars

Twenty-five hundred pawns to king four November 3, 2008
Scalzi's third book, at least to start, moves at an easier pace than the ones before. The protagonists of the last books have retired from the military and cast off their olive drab (skin that is). They've settled down to farming, quieting petty feuds in their community, and raising a daughter. Then comes the offer: to lead colonization of a new world. Uprooting their family hurts a bit, but they agree. They and settlers from ten planets set out for their new home on Roanoke, named for a colony from American history.

When they arrive at Roanoke, it isn't - it's a different planet, not the one they prepared for. The Union has sabotaged their starship, stranding them. The settlers haven't been told the real purpose of their colony, as an expendable chip in a high-stakes political gamble. That's when Scalzi's writing hits its stride, unwrapping layer after layer of plots, secrets, and alien motivations. Despite the threat of planetary annihilation, the biggest threat comes from their own kind - who they can't trust and can't bring themselves to betray.

Old Man's War, the first in this series, had much in common with Haldeman's Forever War, but lacked Haldeman's bitter tone. Similarly, this volume echoes Forever Free. Instead of the benign neglect given to Haldeman's little colony, though, Scalzi drives deep into the territory where power corrupts, and where innocent civilians are expected to pay the price for that corruption. It's been a long time since I've read much SF, but Scalzi has me at it again.

-- wiredweird

3 out of 5 stars

Not as good as Old Man's War or Ghost Brigades October 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Not too bad to read on a plane - which is where I read it - but definitely not as good a read as the two Scalzi books that preceded it. Too much talking, not enough action, and a less compelling story line.

5 out of 5 stars

Plots and hazards on a New Colony September 29, 2008
John Perry, the main character of the excellent _Old Man's War_, which kicks off this trilogy, has left the Colonial Defense Forces and is a colonial administrator (ombudsman) on a quiet farming colony with his wife, Jane Sagan (formerly of the Special Forces), and their adopted 13 year old daughter Zoe. General Rybicki, a man from Perry's past, arrives with a proposal that he and Jane lead a new colony that is being planned. After eight years of peaceful predictability, he's ready for a change.

Unfortunately, the new colony of Roanoke lives up to its namesake. Things go bizarrely wrong from the start, with hidden conditions and plans imposed on them by the Colonial Union. Hints about the way the Colonial Union controls information and has too much power over all of humanity point to problems that come to fruition in this book. Intrigues and plots have placed John in the position of both fall-guy and possibly the only savior in a situation that could lead down the road to the failure of mankind in space.

This book covers, briefly, life on an established colony, the planning and politics involved in a the colonization of a new world and the dangers from enemies in space (and betrayal by their own government) and natural hazards on the ground. Then there are the tricky decisions and maneuvers in order to deal with the huge threat to the entire Colonial Union.

These books can be read as stand-alones even though they have common characters, but why not start at the beginning, since they are all excellent books full of adventure and suspense? This is a universe with exciting tales that one wish would never end.

5 out of 5 stars

The Last Colony September 21, 2008
A good story. Guy just can't write them fast enough. Rushed the ending a little bit but overall a good job. Makes you hope this is not the end of the story.