The Last Colony

March 19, 2007
Full of whodunit twists and explosive action, Scalzi's third SF novel lacks the galactic intensity of its two related predecessors, but makes up for it with entertaining storytelling on a very human scale. Several years after the events of The Ghost Brigades
(2006), John Perry, the hero of Old Man's War
(2005), and Jane Sagan are leading a normal life as administrator and constable on the colonial planet Huckleberry with their adopted daughter, Zoë, when they get conscripted to run a new colony, ominously named Roanoke. When the colonists are dropped onto a different planet than the one they expected, they find themselves caught in a confrontation between the human Colonial Union and the alien confederation called the Conclave. Hugo-finalist Scalzi avoids political allegory, promoting individual compassion and honesty and downplaying patriotic loyalty—except in the case of the inscrutable Obin, hive-mind aliens whose devotion to Zoë will remind fans of the benevolent role Captain Nemo plays in Verne's Mysterious Island
. Some readers may find the deus ex machina element a tad heavy-handed, but it helps keep up the momentum.

May 15, 2007
When widower John Perry was 75 years old, the Colonial Defense Forces gave him a new, young body and sent him off to fight a war in space. Now in a third body, Perry has (with his wife) become a young colony world. Unfortunately, the more peaceful life he had hoped for threatens to devolve into a hotbed of human and alien intrigue. Continuing the story begun inOld Man's War and further developed inThe Ghost Brigades, Scalzi explores with the same degree of "real world" veracity the trials and tribulations of a man who has led more than enough "lives" and just wants to settle down in peace. Selected as a Sci Fi Essential Book, this action adventure belongs in most sf collections.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.