Old Man’s War ~John Scalzi

–published 2005 (this version, 2006)
–Tor Books
–313 pages
–Winner of John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer 2006
–5/5 stars

Books beget books beget books. Sometimes the best laid plans, like knowing exactly what we are going to read next, go awry because of the influence of the book we are currently reading. That is precisely what happened as I closed the book on Starship Troopers. I have often seen Old Man’s War compared favorably to Heinlein’s classic (heck, I even did that in my original review without having read Starship Troopers), but after finishing Troopers and reading the various controversial accusations against it on Wikipedia, I wanted nothing more than to return to the world of John Perry and Jane Sagan.

Thus Sunday found me perched in my rocking chair partaking of a cover-to-cover read that I finished just after the NFC Championship game. Reading the classic, and the destined-to-be classic, back-to-back was an enriching experience that left me with an even deeper appreciation for both novels.

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Starship Troopers ~Robert A. Heinlein

–published 1959
–G. P. Putnam’s Sons (this version, Berkley Medallion Books)
–208 pages
–Hugo Award for Best Novel, 1960
–4.75/5 stars

A wise man once said, “Never judge a book by its movie”. For years I have done just that. I left the theater in 1997 after seeing Paul Verhoeven’s interpretation of Heinlein’s novel feeling that I had just pissed away the price of two movie tickets and precious hours of my life. To be fair to those who enjoyed Starship Troopers: the movie, I can only vaguely recall the events that frustrated me so. I was certainly expecting a different movie than I received, and I determined that there was no way that I was going to ever read the book.

Age and experience have taught me the the truth of those wise words, and my recently kindled desire to read Heinlein’s earlier and more famous works, coupled with the positive review of a good friend, made me cast aside my former prejudice. I have now read Starship Troopers, and I liked it. I liked it a lot!

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Deathworld 3 ~Harry Harrison

–published 1968
–Dell Books
–188 pages
–3.75/5 stars

The Deathworld trilogy is a series of novels written by Harry Harrison in the 1960’s featuring gambler turned world-beater, Jason dinAlt. My first foray into the series was in 2006 when I read books one and two. I really wish that I had reviewed them at the time, especially because this is an entertaining science fiction adventure series by one of my favorite SF authors. The Deathworld books, particularly the first one, have been mentioned on several websites as a possible inspiration for James Cameron’s Avatar, and while I do not necessarily see a plagiaristic correlation between the two, I do consider Deathworld an example of how fantastic Avatar could have been if it only had a good story to accompany its visuals.

Deathworld 3 reminded me even more of the film, in a slightly different manner. After a three year absence, it was a distinct pleasure to return to Jason’s world.

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