Book Review: The Shattering Peace

My post content

INTRODUCTION

It’s been a full DECADE since John Scalzi has blessed us with a new installment in his popular “Old Man’s War” Universe. Luckily, the wait was worth it. The Shattering Peace does two things exceptionally well: it keeps you hooked, and it keeps you guessing. Scalzi is known for his wry sense of humor and his characters, and I am happy to report this book has both. Although not flawless, this is an easy recommendation to anyone, even someone not familiar with the Old Man’s War universe.

BACKGROUND

The novel follows our new main hero Gretchen, a government/political worker close with an alien species called the Obin who do not have a consciousness naturally. She investigates a missing colony (which made me think my book Missing Among the Stars!). Upon investigating, she learns that there is more at play then meets the eye, and the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.

WHAT I LIKED

I LOVED Gretchen. She’s wry, fun, badass, caring, and I LOVED Ran, her Obin assistant. They’re the two main characters, with a few others that don’t have as much screen time. But these two more than make up for it with their banter.

I also really enjoyed the mystery and figuring out what happened. The writing is good as well, not dense and Scalzi tends to have perfectly paced stories. There was no “bogging” down moment that I experienced. I really couldn’t put the book down and the pages flew for me.

WHAT I DISLIKED

What I am about to say is not unique to this novel nor to Scalzi nor to most science fiction novels. But the relationship aspect of this novel felt extremely unnecessary. I understand there’s always a subplot that’s needed but here it really didn’t work for me. Similarly, Gretchen has moments where she brings up wanting to have sex seemingly at random that kind of jarred me. Not that it’s a problem, to be clear, but it felt out of place to her character.

Also, some of the humor didn’t work for me, such as calling two of the aliens who refused to give their real names pet names. Specifically, “Kitty” and “Bacon” being the pet names for two aliens didn’t work for me.

Lastly, there is a lot of references to the most popular books in the series, namely the Old Man’s War and its sequel’s characters. While not a bad thing, it didn’t feel necessary.

CONCLUSION

Read this book. I am so serious, I loved this book. I also really do like what this implies for the over all universe, though I do have some fears that give spoilers so I won’t elaborate on that. But I hope we get to see this universe again soon!