Military sci-fi is a fairly well worn genre, with prime examples being Heinlein's gung-ho Starship Troopers and Joe Haldeman's more considered viewpoints in Forever War. Old Man's War opens in a similar way to both of these books, with new recruits being shipped off Earth for bootcamp training with the obligatory shouty drill instructor (with a secret heart of gold) before heading off to fight a variety of horribly betentacled alien baddies. The twist this time is that the recruits are all all pensioners in their 70s, signing up with the promise that they will be fighting for a ten year tour of duty in fresh, young bodies.
This is achieved by transplanting their consciousness into a specially grown clone body, with superhuman strength and agility, superior senses, smart blood that automatically heals injuries and a brain implant to allow instant communication with squad mates. We follow lead character John Parry and his band of fellow old farts through a variety of combat missions, some more successful than others, before a disaster strikes bringing John into contact with a secretive special forces group called the Ghost Brigade.
Scalzi manages to have his cake and eat it in this book, by showing the horrors of war as well as some enjoyable battle action set pieces. The sci-fi twists along the way are also well done, with the cloning process and the nature of interstellar travel throwing narrative spanners in the works. The story is relatively short and rattles along before coming to a reasonable conclusion in this volume, although there are dangling plot threads left open for subsequent inevitable sequels.
It was free on Prime reading so worth a look if you are in the Amazon eco-system.
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