The End of All Things

by John Scalzi

Ebook, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Scalzi

Publication

Tom Doherty Associates

Description

"Humans expanded into space ... only to find a universe populated with multiple alien species bent on their destruction. Thus was the Colonial Union formed, to help protect us from a hostile universe. The Colonial Union used the Earth and its excess population for colonists and soldiers. It was a good arrangement ... for the Colonial Union. Then the Earth said: no more. Now the Colonial Union is living on borrowed time--a couple of decades at most, before the ranks of the Colonial Defense Forces are depleted and the struggling human colonies are vulnerable to the alien species who have been waiting for the first sign of weakness to drive humanity to ruin. And there's another problem: a group, lurking in the darkness of space, playing human and alien against each other--and against their own kind--for their own unknown reasons. In this collapsing universe, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson and the Colonial Union diplomats he works with race against the clock to discover who is behind attacks on the Union and on alien races, to seek peace with a suspicious, angry Earth, and keep humanity's union intact ... or else risk oblivion, and extinction--and the end of all things"--… (more)

Media reviews

Publishers Weekly

New readers will certainly enjoy the work, but the real payoff comes for longtime fans, who will especially appreciate a powerful moment featuring the alien General Gau. Scalzi knows just how to satisfy his fans, providing tense, thrilling action scenes while turning a critical eye on the

interstellar equivalents of the military-industrial complex.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member stefferoo

I won’t lie, Old Man’s War is probably one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve always been more of a Fantasy reader, and around the time that book came out, my Science Fiction reading was pretty much limited to Star Wars novels and the occasional Star Trek title thrown in. However,

Scalzi’s sense of humor along with the rollicking space action and adventure in these books really helped me along, showing me that there’s a lot more to the genre than just hard science and media tie-ins. I’ve followed the Old Man’s War series ever since, and all the books have brought me no small amount of entertainment.

So it was with great excitement when I heard that a sixth novel will be coming out in 2015, a direct sequel to The Human Division. And like The Human Division, the plan was for The End of All Things to again be serialized, except the proportions will be changed. Instead of getting sixteen episodes, this time we’ll only get four, but each part will also be longer, so they’ll be more like novelettes.

If The Human Division taught me anything, is that I don’t mind the serialized format. There’s a certain kind of pleasure to be had, watching a bunch of self-contained little parts come together to form one complete, coherent whole. And if anything, the smaller number of episodes as well as their greater length improved the overall flow of the story in The End of All Things. It was a good book, and a worthy addition to the series. The only real downside is that this would make a poor jumping-on point for new readers. So if you’re fresh to the Old Man’s War universe, you probably wouldn’t want to start here; there’s a lot of history you’ll be missing, and not least because this book deals with a lot of the consequences of events from the last few installments. I recommend starting from the beginning, because you’ll definitely want to know all the details – and because it’s amazing.

Below you’ll get my thoughts on each episode as well as a more detailed analysis.

THE LIFE OF THE MIND

This is the story of how our main protagonist and narrator Rafe Daquin became a brain in a box.

Yep. The Life of the Mind embodies everything I love about the Old Man’s War series. Missing ships. Kidnapped pilots. A mysterious organization conspiring and gathering strength in the shadows. Daquin finds himself entangled in this mess, but even when he is captured by aliens and forced to do their bidding, his first instinct is to fight back and find a way out of his predicament. The fact that he doesn’t have a body anymore and is just a mass of brain tissue hooked up to a ship computer is just a setback. Just another problem to be solved.

The protagonist’s personality and attitude made this one a winner. In the face of overwhelming odds, his optimism was infectious, even if it was sometimes driven by the desire to stick it to the alien Rraey. You know within the first few pages that he makes it out okay, but the conclusion to this section was still oh so satisfying. A really great intro episode to this novel that sets the tone and starts thing off with a bang.

THIS HOLLOW UNION

We switch focus in this one, following Hafte Sorvalh, the Chief Advisor to the head of the Conclave, General Tarsem Gau. She’s probably the second most powerful being in the universe, but as she reminds us, being second isn’t always all that it’s cracked up to be.

I admit to feeling slightly disappointed when I realized this would be a more political story. But after some major twists, I changed my mind. This might not be my favorite episode, but it’s undoubtedly the most important; something huge happens that will throw the entire Conclave into disarray and the ripples will be felt across the galaxy.

CAN LONG ENDURE

Can Long Endure was probably my least favorite episode, but it also showed a very different point of view. In this story, the focus shifts yet again, this time on a group of Colonial Defense Force soldiers who are now busy scrambling from planet to planet, stomping out the sparks of rebellion before they can catch fire and spread. But the will of a huge administrative entity like the Colonial Union is one thing. What about the lives of its soldiers with their boots on the ground, carrying out orders from on high?

This episode lacked the scope of the previous two, perhaps, but it was also the most “human”. It’s a very intimate look into the mind of a CDF officer Heather Lee, just another grunt doing her duty for the good of the CU. But she’s her own person too, and the costs of her government’s decisions are beginning to open her eyes to some ugly truths. And it’s time for Heather to make her own choices.

TO STAND OR FALL

This final episode brings the story to a conclusion. There’s a marked difference in tone from the beginning of the novel, in stark contrast to Rafe Daquin’s snarky attitude and spirited narration. Instead, a certain gravitas surrounds the story, which is fitting I suppose.

In this story, we see the return of several familiar faces here, including a couple beloved personalities. We are also presented the resolution to the problem posed by the shadowy organization calling itself Equilibrium. Given all the build-up, this finale should have been epic and glorious. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite get that. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good ending, because it was. I just couldn’t help feeling it should have been more.

This final episode was not what I expected, but it did its job nonetheless. To Stand or Fall was a punchy and cleverly executed conclusion to The End of All Things, as well as a pretty solid offering as the latest piece of the story to the Old Man’s War saga thus far.

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24 more

LibraryThing member Cataloger623

The End of All Things by John Scalzi. A good writer is able to write a continuing series of stories self contained and complete in themselves yet weave them together in a larger narrative. Scalzi is one those authors. I started this series with the Old Man’s War A first person war diary of an ad

writer turned super soldier named John Perry. This story is our introduction to world of the Colonial Union. The Ghost Brigades continues the story of John Perry and looks at some of the complexities of the technology involved in producing super soldiers and hints at potential conspiracies against the Colonial Union in this universe. In The Last Colony we are introduced to another major power in the Old Man’s War universe The Conclave is an alliance of planets bent on controlling the unlimited war between spieces for colonies. John Perry, now married, is the leader of the Colonial Union’s newest and possibly last new colony. The Colony is at risk for destruction by the Conclave. Ultimately Perry is able to stop the destruction of the colony by allying with the Conclave and revealing how the Colonial Union has kept Earth in the dark about the larger universe. Earth, the Colonial Unions primary source of troops and colonists, is now set against the Colonial Union. The Conclave and Colonial Union are now direct conflict with each other. Zoe's Tale is a parallel retelling of Scalzi's third Old Man's War novel, The Last Colony, written as a first-person narrative from the viewpoint of Zoë Boutin Perry. Zoe is the daughter of former super soldiers John Perry and Jane Sagan. It follows up on several plot points that were underrepresented in the original novel. The Human Division deals with the implications of the division between humanities two branches Earth and the Colonial Union. The Union having lost its primary source of power and survival the troops and colonists from Earth, has only decades to survive in a universe with many hostile speices and Earth now stripped of its primary protector is now vulnerable to attack. Each must think of new ways of doing business in a complex military and political climate. The Conclave and the Union now jockey for position in the impending possible inevitable final conflict. End of All things is the final act in this multi part story that has been building to a conclusion. The story returns to its first person narrative style seen in Old Man’s War. We are taken into world spycraft and diplomacy viewed from each individual’s perspective and heard from each individual’s voice. The novel keeps the tension high and mystery building up to a fever pitch. The conclusion is both unexpected satisfying and truly the sum of all the previous novels. Is this the End of All Things I certainly hope not!

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LibraryThing member grizzly.anderson

An average book from Scalzi, which makes it a bit better than the average overall. The Human Division left things very much up in the air with political maneuvering, intrigue and betrayal between and within the two human governments, and hints at collusion with various alien races against the

Colonial Union and the Conclave.

The End of All Things isn't so much a sequel as the second half of The Human Division. Much of the dry humor that was present in The Human Division is gone as the story moves into serious mode to bring things to a conclusion. And really for the first time in any of the Old Man's War universe books we get to see the workings of the Conclave and some insight into at least a few of the major players.

Under no circumstances should you try and read The End of All Things without reading The Human Division first, and probably Old Man's War and The Last Colony as well. If you've already read those you hardly need a review to tell you that you'll enjoy this one as well. If you're looking to get into Scalzi's universe, go for it, you won't be disappointed. Just don't start here.

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LibraryThing member theWallflower

I've been thinking about how to judge this book. It has a concrete narrative storyline from beginning to end, but it's presented as "Four Tales of the Colonial Union". Each has a different main character and a different story-telling style. The lack of a single main character, the disconnections

between novellas, mean it's hard to establish empathy to anyone. It reminded me of "Fuzzy Nation". But where that had scads of humor, a single main character hero, and whiz-bang courtroom drama, this is just space politics. And everyone who knows me knows I DON'T like me some politicians. It felt like Scalzi was continuing the story out of contractual obligation. Not my favorite of his. In fact, it's on the lower fiftieth percentile of his works.

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LibraryThing member tpi.kirjat

This is the sixth part of an ongoing series. The earlier books have been fairly separate and have worked alone to at least some degree, but this continues the story pretty much from the last one and probably would be very confusing for a random reader. Humans have divided to two main factions: the

colony worlds are ruled by a military colonial union, CU, and the Earth itself is governed by nation states more or less similar to today. The relations of the CU and Earth have gone very bad since apparently CU destroyed a space station in Earth’s orbit. At the same time, the Colonial Union is facing unrest on its’ own turf as several colonies are straining for independence. Also, a vast consortium of alien races, The Conclave, has gained influence and is trying to form a union of several different species, many of which have been bitter enemies and competitors. The relations between the Conclave and CU have never been very warm, but they are getting worse as they apparently attack each other’s ships. However, it turns out (or turned out in the last book) that there is a third group, a very secret organization called Equilibrium, with an unknown agenda that is working behind the scenes. At first, little is known about what its’ aims are, but by a fortuitous event, there is a chance to learn at least something. Is there time to prevent what Equilibrium is trying to do? Is it possible that former enemies are able to forget their differences and do the unthinkable – to trust each other?

It is a pretty good book, even better than the previous part.
There were a lot of shades of grey in most of the factions in the book– with the exception of the main villain, Equilibrium. Its’ motivations were left pretty unclear. It has always been refreshing to read military science fiction, where humans aren’t clearly the good guys, or at least not the only good guys. In this book and series, the single group with most identifiable agenda has been the alien Conclave, but now even the CU was less of a “bad guy” than in some of the earlier books. An enjoyable read and I am looking forward to next instalment – if there will be any. There weren’t any major cliffhangers left at the end of this book.

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LibraryThing member Karlstar

The 6th installment of the Old Man's War series is again more of a connected group of stories than a full novel. Even so, this one reads more like a novel than the previous installment and is a worthy addition to the series. The series has continued to digress from the familiar characters and has

introduced several critical new ones, or more accurately one. By now this has really moved on from the original concept, but it is still set in the same universe and the same timeline and is advancing his overall story. I enjoyed it, it has his usual balance of character-driven action vs. politics. Good stuff.

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LibraryThing member Guide2

Four short stories combined into one novel, told from different point of views. First portion was definitely the best part of the book. A bit too much politics in the rest of teh book, but overall still a very enjoyable read as usual for Scalzi.

LibraryThing member fyrefly98

Summary: The End of All Things, although the sixth book in the Old Man's War series, is really the second half of The Human Division, tracing the widening breach between the human Colonial Union and the alien races of the Conclave, with the humans of Earth as little more than pawns in the power

struggle, and the mysterious organization known as Equilibrium throwing fuel on the fire at every opportunity. Like The Human Division, The End of All Things is told in multiple sections from the point of view of multiple narrators; however, it's told in four longer chunks rather than multiple shorter ones. We first hear from Rafe Daquin, a CDF pilot who gets entangled in various schemes and winds up a brain in a box, but he's not going to let that stop him from getting back at those who would do such a terrible thing to him. Next up is Hafte Sorvalh, one-time Conclave ambassador and second in command to General Gau, where we get a look into the inner workings of the Conclave and its political machinations. The third part is told from the point of view of Melissa Lee, a CDF captain who slowly begins to have second thoughts about the missions she's being tasked to undertake. And then the final part brings all of these threads together, into a final plan that will either save the Colonial Union, the Conclave, and the Earth, or else destroy them all, and with them, any hope for peace in the galaxy.

Review: While I don't know that I enjoyed this book quite as much as I normally enjoy Scalzi's books, it did have a number of very good parts to it, and it was a very satisfactory wrapping up of all of the questions raised by The Human Division. The first story was probably the best; classic Scalzi with a snarky, optimistic, determined narrator-protagonist, some cranky aliens, and a solution that's equal parts tech and bravado. Rafe gets a lot of good lines, and I appreciated that we started getting a sense of who Equilibrium was, what they wanted, and what they were doing almost immediately, after all the hints and shadows of The Human Division. The second story was also quite good; I like Hafte Sorvalh, and I found the political strategizing easier to follow than I normally do, without it feeling overly simplistic. I also liked the view into the heart of the Conclave itself, something that (to the best of my recollection) we haven't seen in this series before. My only issue with this section was the narration. The Human Division was narrated by William Dufris, who also narrates the male protagonist's sections in this book. He's fine - he's got a good delivery of Scalzi's snarkier lines and can create recognizeable voices for secondary characters (even if his protagonists all sound vaguely the same, although that may be Scalzi's writing rather than Dufris's reading.) But in this book, the female protagonists' sections are read by Tavia Gilbert. I have no idea how old Gilbert is, but her voice sounds quite young. While this was just fine for Melissa Lee's voice in the third part, I always interpreted Hafte Sorvalh as being more serene, mature, and unflappable than Gilbert makes her sound.

(The only other issue with the narration is a common one for SF/F books with multiple narrators - the narrators didn't appear to have coordinated well if at all on their interpretations of secondary characters that appeared in multiple sections, frequently leaving me confused as to who a character was, as they were voiced TOTALLY differently.)

The third part was my least favorite - it wasn't bad, but as it featured completely new characters, and was relatively short with lots of action, I wasn't nearly as emotionally invested as I was for the other sections. And the final part was also good, bringing back a lot of familiar characters, and neatly (if maybe a little hurriedly?) tying together plot threads that had been building since the beginning of The Human Division, ultimately presenting a satisfactory ending that still leaves room for future stories in this universe. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: The End of All Things should ideally be read immediately after The Human Division - it'll make no sense on its own. And while these two would probably work relatively well independent of the rest of the series, the first four Old Man's War books are so good that anyone who likes a snarky sense of humor and space fights that focus just as much on the people as on the technology should definitely check out the whole thing.

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LibraryThing member Navarre1963

Another outstanding entry in the Old Man's War series. I like the shift from the straight out space opera of the first trilogy, into more political and diplomatic adventures of this book. Scalzi seems to have wrapped up the storyline with this book ,but I'm hoping its not the end

LibraryThing member BillieBook

Every time Scalzi gives us a new adventure in the OMW universe, I end up with a new favorite character in that universe. 'The Human Division' brought me Harry Wilson and 'The End of All Things' brings me Rafe Daquin. Scalzi's also not afraid to completely change everything for his world/universe

and his characters and this outing is no different. This may be the last OMW novel for a while, but if and when Scalzi decides to revisit it, I, for one, will be very, very curious as to how the events of this book impact characters and events which may be far removed from the heart of the action.

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LibraryThing member kinwolf

The finale of the Old Man's War series(for now at least) I have to say I have not been a fan of the serial nature of the last 2 books, but this one was less a problem then the last, which felt fractured to say the least.

Anyway, as always I like Scalzi writing, but, starting around book 3, and

confirmed after reading Redshirts, I found out he can only writes 2 kind of characters. The funny one and the serious one. And if a character is funny, you can bet he's one of the good guy.

Really, you cannot not notice it eventually, all the characters have the same personality. The funny ones all have the exact same type of humor, be them aliens or humans, female or male, they will all make the same kind of joke. so much that it makes it insanely difficult to know who is talking unless they are identified clearly, as they all talk the same way and almost all think alike. John Perry, Harry Wilson, General Gau aide - Sorvalh, Daquin, ambassador Abumwe, soldier Powell and her lieutenant, they all sound alike and act the same way. Worst, if you read Redshirt or The Androids Dream, you will notice the exact same personalities/humor type. His characters also all are the kings and queens of one liner conversations.(if you read any of the books, you know what I mean by that)

Now, I looove Scalzi humor, but he proved over his many books that he just can't write more than 2 type of characters, and I admit I am now tired of it, hence the 3 stars max.

The series focus also changed alot as it went on, and I much preferred the first 2 books to all the rest. It was indeed time to put this series to rest.

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LibraryThing member DLMorrese

There is a Star Trek feel to Scalzi's Old Man's War universe that I quite like. Humanity is exploring space, colonizing new worlds, and interacting with alien civilizations. But we're not necessarily the good guys. Actually, in these books, humans are much the same as they are now, with all their

flaws and variability intact. And in some ways, also like today, their societies seem close to dysfunctional. This doesn't make the series dystopian, by any means. Humanity has progressed. It has accomplished much. It hasn't collapsed into barbarism. It's just not the utopian Trek vision of humanity, united in purpose, which has finally overcome paranoia, greed, superstition, and prejudice. And it has characters one can relate to. Some are likable. A few show admirable traits. But there are no clear heroes, and even the villains have some redeeming qualities.

The four novellas that comprise The End of All Things provide a chronological tale of the actions of a terrorist organization known as Equilibrium. It seems to have anarchy as its ultimate goal, and it is working cleverly and clandestinely to destabilize both the Conclave (an alien confederation) and the Colonial Union (a heavy-handed interplanetary human federation) by heating up what amounts to their existing cold war. Earth (still not united, and comparatively backward) is also at extreme risk, but to say more about that would require spoilers.

Each of the four novellas is narrated in first person, which may explain why the prose and punctuation often exhibit a considerable amount of creative license. Either that or the editing falls a bit short. I can't say this is the best book of the series, but it's a fine addition to the canon. If you've read and enjoyed the others (as I have), you'll want to read this one.

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LibraryThing member orkydd

3.5 Stars - an engaging continuation of the 'Old Man's War' sequence. These four pieces of short fiction kick of shortly after the events of 'The Human Division', with the novella 'The Life of the Minds'a standout 'brain in a jar' story making a fine beginning. Rafe Daquin, a down on his luck pilot

makes a fateful choice of employment. A promotion to chief pilot turns out to have unattractive consequences...

Within the stories, Scalzi explores themes of maintenance of empire and control, in a populous and fractious galaxy, where freedom and self-determination may carry a real risk of subjugation or extermination by others.

What are the motivations and choices of the leaders of the Conclave, the Colonial Union and Earth, who are pressed from all sides by competing and often irreconcilable demands? ('This Hollow Union')

How do common soldiers cope when their orders to protect the staus quo of empire sees them participating in actions which seem against the interests of those they are tasked to protect? ('can Long Endure').

It is all wrapped up nicely enough in the finale 'To Stand of Fall', which might well be the last we see of this particular series.

Scalzi's light hearted and mildly mocking prose reads and scans well, and the narratives in the individual stories motor along quite satisfactorily. To some extent, the exploits of our heroes are perhaps overly assisted by the stupidity or overconfidence of their enemies, but these faults are minor. Well worth the time to read, especially if you have enjoyed the earlier installments.

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LibraryThing member Shrike58

The main agenda with this book are how events cascade from the destruction of Earth Station at the climax of the previous book, and questions are answered in regards to the nature of the conspiracy; whether it's the Colonial Union junta, I mean government, playing a desperate game, a truly rogue

operation, or something else entirely. In some ways plot is less relevant to this book then some of the previous numbers in the series, as much of the conflict is played out in the philosophical fights over just what stance the galactic federation should adopt against the assorted Human governments and how Humanity deals with its own far-flung factions; there is a great sequence where the leader of the Conclave muses that their great wish is for Humans to go away, as they're a disproportionate sink of time and emotional energy! If I have a complaint it's that I found the end a bit marginal, in that the last portion is just a lot weaker than the first three even if it makes sense. Let's just say that if I could give this book a rating of 3.75 that would be appropriate.

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LibraryThing member brakketh

Satisfying conclusion to this series of books. Looking forward to reading his other works.

LibraryThing member Whiskey3pa

Not deep and profound, but eminently readable and entertaining. Story moves along briskly and the characters are enjoyable. The books that make up this story universe (old man's war) are all rock solid.

LibraryThing member kmartin802

THE END OF ALL THINGS is the group of novellas that bring the Old Man's War series to a satisfying conclusion. The first novella tells the story of a human pilot who was captured by the Equilibrium - a very secretive organization that wants to bring down the human Colonial Union and the alien

Conclave - a government of over 400 alien species. The Equilibrium didn't need Rafe Daquin's body so they discarded it and turned him into a brain in a box to pilot one of the ships they stole. What they didn't realize was that before Rafe was a pilot he was a computer programmer and was thus able to get into the program they were using to subdue him and subvert it. He escaped after causing a good deal of damage and brought all sorts of evidence of the Equilibrium's plot to the Colonial Union.

The second novella concerns itself with the Conclave and the political maneuverings happening in it. It stars Hafte Sorvalh who becomes the Premier of a very divided assortment of aliens and governments.

The third novella tells about current events from the viewpoint of Lieutenant Heather Lee who is leading a platoon of Colonial Defense Force soldiers as they are sent to various planets under the control of the Colonial Union that are in various states of rebellion.

The fourth novella brings together Lieutenant Harry Wilson, Ambassador Ode Abumwe, Ambassador Danielle Lowen, Premier Hafte Sorvalh, and other characters from earlier books in this series as they figure out a way for all three rival groups - the Conclave, the Colonial Union, and Earth - to find a way to defeat the Equilibrium and find a way to live in peace.

This was an excellent story with memorable characters and great world building.

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LibraryThing member LisCarey

This can be read as a novel, or as what it is: a collection of four connected novellas. It's also a direct sequel to the similarly-constructed The Human Division.

"The Life of the Mind"--Rafe Daquin is a pilot on the Colonial Union freighter Chandler, when it is commandeered for a special mission by

the Colonial Union's Assistant Secretary of State Tyson Ocampo. In short order, most of the crew is dead, Rafe is a brain in a box installed in Chandler, and he knows a great deal about a conspiracy aimed at destabilizing both the Colonial Union and the alien Conclave. Scalzi very effectively gives us Rafe's experience of waking up and realizing that he can feel nothing physical. Even his terror fails to produce normal physical effects. Then we experience with Rafe his discover of what's going on, who's behind it, and what, exactly, are his opportunities to do something about it.

"The Hollow Union"--Secretary Ocampo's carefully doctored report, as well as Rafe's undoctored version, have both been released and beamed to as many places as possible. It's wreaking political havoc in the Conclave, and Councilor Sorvalh has to help General Gau maneuver through the chaos and keep the Conclave together--if that is even possible. This is a very nice exploration of the twisty, complicated politics of the Conclave, but also a wonderful character study of Sorvalh herself.

"Can Long Endure"--Colonial Defense Forces Lieutenant Heather Lee and her platoon get a series of assignments crushing rebellions and attempts at secession from the Colonial Union by various colony worlds. Mostly, it only takes Lee and her own squad. As the problems get worse, and bigger, and they have to kill CU civilians who aren't part of any big conspiracy, but just frustrated by the admittedly deceptive and duplicitous Colonial Union government, they start to wonder if they're doing more harm than good. Lee in particular has to do some serious soul-searching and make some critical decisions.

"To Stand or Fall"--Our old friend Lieutenant Harry Wilson, who has had smaller roles in the earlier stories in The End of All Things, finds he's in the middle of the mess created by the Ocampo report and the Equilibrium conspiracy, and if he, Schmidt, Abumwe, and the rest of their team don't create a solution, they're facing the possible extinction of the human race. It's not that Sorvalh wants to commit genocide; it's that the maneuvering of the Equilibrium, and the Conclave's internal stresses, may leave her no choice. This is a dandy visit with some of the most familiar characters from The Human Division.

It all hangs together very well, and moves the overall story of the Old Man's War universe forward in useful and interesting ways. Scalzi deals with the moral ambiguity of the Colonial Union, evident even in Old Man's War, with subtlety and clarity.

I think this is best considered as a set of four novellas, rather than a novel, and that's probably how I'll approach it when Hugo nominating season comes around.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

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LibraryThing member EmScape

Scalzi is reaching his endgame here and it couldn't be more exciting. Finally it will be revealed who is behind the machinations pitting Conclave, Colonial Union and Earth against each other. Perhaps the disparate alien species we've come to love will be able to come to a diplomatic solution and

expose the creatures who would rather return to war. Perhaps humanity can finally join The Conclave and be at peace with the universe.
A stunning finale to the series, but, good golly I wish there was more.

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LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc

The story is comprised of four linked novellas. Set in the Old Man’s War universe this is not the book to pick up without knowing what is going on previously. There is some back story but you do miss a bit of reason for some things happening. In the end the good guys win and the book ends without

a huge cliff hanger but does set the stage for more stories without leaving the reader on pins and needles about happens next.

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LibraryThing member JohnFair

The 'Old Man Universe' books have always been a bit irreverent but by this book, everyone is questioning almost everything about the human polity at the centre of the book. The Colonial Union was supposed to defend the human colonies against the deprivations of alien species who'd rather see

humanity wiped out, but the means by which it did so are highly unethical and are coming back to bite them pretty badly. A secret organisation has worked out a way to exacerbate existing tensions both internally and externally and the CU is only able to survive by massive changes forced on it by these events. Most of the characters are fairly reasonably drawn, though, as the book is a collection of linked stories rather than a continuous story there's not much character development in the individual stories.

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LibraryThing member tsmom1219

Love this series.

LibraryThing member JudyGibson

It's choppy but most of the bits hand together. A lot of thinking and talking and not a whole lot of action.

LibraryThing member kgodey

I really enjoy the Old Man’s War universe, so this was a no-brainer pre-order for me. Just like The Human Division, this is a series of loosely connected stories that tells a larger tale. Scalzi’s trademark wit is in full evidence, and the political shenanigans his characters get up to are

always fun to read about. I was surprised that the ongoing CDF/Earth/Conclave story arc was actually wrapped up pretty neatly, since there are more books scheduled to be written in the universe. I’m looking forward to see where Scalzi takes the story next.

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LibraryThing member zot79

A disappointing finish (?) for the Old Man's War universe. Mostly a lot of talking, pontificating and snappy banter leading to a reasonable resolution to a complex situation.

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