BOOK REVIEW | THE SHATTERING PEACE | JOHN SCALZI
ABOUT THE BOOK
Peace is an illusion . . .
After a decade, acclaimed Hugo Award winner and science fiction master John Scalzi returns to the Old Man’s War series with the long-awaited seventh book, The Shattering Peace.
For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space due to agreements between the Colonial Union, Earth and the alien Conclave. But now the most advanced, intelligent species humans have ever met is on the cusp of a species-defining war. Nothing the Consu does, however, is just about them. The Colonial Union, Earth and the Conclave have been unwillingly dragged into their conflict, and in the most surprising of ways.
Gretchen Trujillo is a mid-level bureaucrat in a mundane job within the Colonial Union’s State Department. Until, that is, she’s called to take part in a secret mission that will involve representatives from every powerful faction in space. What she discovers could redefine the destinies of humans and aliens alike . . . or destroy every one of them.
REVIEW
Published twenty years ago, John Scalzi released his debut novel, Old Man’s war, which sparked a series of six books that spanned the galaxy. In the future, the human race is now in the stars. However, as you can probably guess, not many people like us (ooooh, well isn’t that a surprise?) and we end up going to war with the alien races.
The soldiers, in the large part are culled from the elderly population, who instead of whiling away their time in relaxing retirement communities are sent out to earn their keep in enhanced bodies and weapons (no drawing a pension in this future!).
The first book follows John Perry, a seventy five year old bloke from Ohio, who gets a new body, a gun and is pointed towards the aliens.
The series goes on to describe all sorts of things and different stories.
The Shattering Peace is the latest book in the sprawling series and follows Gretchen Trujillo and her Obin assistant Pan as they are sent out to solve the mystery of why a secret project Called Unity, an experimental colony populated in secret to determine if different alien races can live in harmony together and actually get along, has gone missing.
So! If you are going to start a new series, it’s always a good idea to start on the seventh book of a well-established series – Not!
Yep, that’s right folks, I have actually jumped into this series at the seventh book. Not the brightest idea, I know, but I have to say that due to the fact that John Scalzi is such a good writer, this hasn’t mattered one bit. Yeah, I don’t know some of the details and the easter eggs that are in there, but I happily bumbled along with the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book is trademark John Scalzi – zippy dialogue, plenty of action and a good dose of fun.
Now, I have read a few John Scalzi books and have really enjoyed each one I have read, and this one is no exception.
Gretchen is a great character who competently deals with every situation that is thrown at her.
One of the things that buoys the story along really well is the interactions between Gretchen and her assistant Pan. Pan is an Obin. From what I could glean from the story, the Obin were the soldiers of the Consu, an alien race of insectoid type creatures who are far superior in every way. They elevated the Obin from being primitive beings to highly trained soldiers. However, in their tampering with evolution, they forgot to do one thing – give the Obin an individual consciousness. Now the Obin have a prosthetic consciousness which they can turn on and off. This is a delightful premise (although not a particularly new one) due to the fact that Pan has absolutely no boundaries (think Data in TNG) and leads to all sorts of comedic interludes.
If you want a good science fiction romp then The Shattering Peace is a great book. And if like me, you haven’t read the others, it’s a good jumping on point in my humble opinion. Many people will probably disagree, but hey! I did it!
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