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Zoe's Tale
stoolpigeon writes "John Scalzi, the author of Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, has built what started as a story serialized in his blog into a series of full novels and short stories. The latest installment in the OMW universe, Zoe's Tale, is quite a departure from the previous three books. It is the first of Scalzi's sci-fi novels written intentionally as young adult fiction. In a move that I am sure will continue to fuel Scalzi/Heinlein comparisons, Zoe is a precocious young woman thrust into a world of adventure and danger. In just three years Scalzi has built an impressive resume as an author of fiction, and Zoe's Tale will be no small part of what looks to be an influential and outstanding career." Keep reading for the rest of JR's review.
Zoe's Tale
author
John Scalzi
pages
335
publisher
Tor Books
rating
9/10
reviewer
JR Peck
ISBN
978-0-7653-1698-1
summary
Scalzi himself rightly credited the influence of Heinlein when Old Man's War was published. Unfortunately I think that some have taken the comparisons too far and tend to view everything that Scalzi writes in terms of how it contrasts or parallels something by Heinlein. I think this is a mistake, not because Scalzi isn't a great writer like Heinlein but because Scalzi has his own voice. His work has a considerably different tone and viewpoint from much of what Heinlein published. It would not be correct to view Scalzi in a vacuum but it seems to me that it is just as much an error to define Scalzi in terms of RAH. For what it is worth, Scalzi has said on his blog that he welcomes the Heinlein comparisons as it helps him to sell books.
I mention this because Heinlein is very well known for his juveniles. Podkayne of Mars is a very well known and in some ways controversial novel that centers around a young woman and her adventures. Zoe's Tale shares a few surface characteristics with Podkayne but is in many ways almost the opposite story. I think this is important to mention because I think some people may dismiss this book as a retread of something else, but this couldn't be further from the truth. This is a fresh tale, and I believe may be one of those stories that years from now will be a fondly remembered first read for many science fiction fans.
Each of the previous Old Man's War universe novels stands well on it's own. There is very little overlap of characters in the first two and while the third brings back major characters from the first two, knowledge of them is not required to follow the story. Zoe's Tale stands on it's own as well but this is because it is a retelling of the third book, The Last Colony from a completely different perspective. Whereas The Last Colony focuses primarily on John Perry and Jane Sagan from Old Man's War, Zoe's Tale as the title informs is told from the perspective of their adopted daughter, Zoe.
Zoe is very much a typical teenager, though she lives in very atypical circumstances; even for a teenager in her time of interplanetary travel and colonization. Humanity lives in a universe shared with a myriad of other intelligent species. Many of them are competing for very rare and valuable real estate, inhabitable planets. The human government has decided to start their first new colony populated by people coming from existing colonies. To this point every new colony has been started by people leaving earth. Zoe's parents John and Jane are asked to lead this endeavor.
I would imagine that a middle aged man writing a teenage character of the opposite sex would be quite a stretch. Scalzi says that he had quite a bit of help from women in his life. However he did it, he pulled it off extremely well. Zoe is smart, sometimes a bit too smart for her own good. She is sarcastic and moody but a much fuller person than some whiney caricature. The reader gets to experience her ups and downs and watch her grow. She's a great kid right from the start but even stronger, more confident and wiser by the end. This is a book for young adults that does not treat the reader or the subject matter in a childish way.
In fact there aren't a ton of differences between this and any other Scalzi book. There is a good bet that this will work just as well for adults as kids. The language is tamer, there is no graphic sexual content (though I can't think of any in the other books). and the violence is toned down. There is still action and there is violence, but the descriptions are not quite as graphic as in the other novels. The emotions and the consequences of actions and words are just as strong and this is important. While this is less graphic, that does not mean content or meaning is filtered out. It truly is a young adult novel with emphasis on young.
Many of the greatest science fiction stories for youth out there were written in the 50's. Scalzi has created a modern tale that incorporates current technology, mores and norms in this story. This is an excellent introduction for any young man or woman who may not already be an avid science fiction fan. Important themes include those of being truthful, transparency in government, the sanctity of life and loyalty. These and more are touched on at various times but the book never feels preachy or heavy handed in its approach.
There is only one real negative with this book and it is only a drawback for those who have already read The Last Colony. The story is told from a completely new perspective, but it is still the same story. There are many new scenes and information brought in that were not revealed in Zoe's predecessor, but the outcomes are the same. This is not a weakness through a failing on the part of the author but rather a natural outcome of writing two books taking place in the same time frame. I still really enjoyed the book and was eager to see how certain events took place but it didn't hold quite the same impact at times as events had when I read The Last Colony. This wont be an issue for anyone who hasn't read that book or any young people who haven't read any of the novels. For me it was the difference between a 9 and a 10.
That is such a small thing though. This is a strong entry in a great series that I believe is destined to be considered a classic. Scalzi's entry into the field is a welcome treatment of classic themes with a fresh new viewpoint that is smart and entertaining.
You can purchase Zoe's Tale from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews — to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I mention this because Heinlein is very well known for his juveniles. Podkayne of Mars is a very well known and in some ways controversial novel that centers around a young woman and her adventures. Zoe's Tale shares a few surface characteristics with Podkayne but is in many ways almost the opposite story. I think this is important to mention because I think some people may dismiss this book as a retread of something else, but this couldn't be further from the truth. This is a fresh tale, and I believe may be one of those stories that years from now will be a fondly remembered first read for many science fiction fans.
Each of the previous Old Man's War universe novels stands well on it's own. There is very little overlap of characters in the first two and while the third brings back major characters from the first two, knowledge of them is not required to follow the story. Zoe's Tale stands on it's own as well but this is because it is a retelling of the third book, The Last Colony from a completely different perspective. Whereas The Last Colony focuses primarily on John Perry and Jane Sagan from Old Man's War, Zoe's Tale as the title informs is told from the perspective of their adopted daughter, Zoe.
Zoe is very much a typical teenager, though she lives in very atypical circumstances; even for a teenager in her time of interplanetary travel and colonization. Humanity lives in a universe shared with a myriad of other intelligent species. Many of them are competing for very rare and valuable real estate, inhabitable planets. The human government has decided to start their first new colony populated by people coming from existing colonies. To this point every new colony has been started by people leaving earth. Zoe's parents John and Jane are asked to lead this endeavor.
I would imagine that a middle aged man writing a teenage character of the opposite sex would be quite a stretch. Scalzi says that he had quite a bit of help from women in his life. However he did it, he pulled it off extremely well. Zoe is smart, sometimes a bit too smart for her own good. She is sarcastic and moody but a much fuller person than some whiney caricature. The reader gets to experience her ups and downs and watch her grow. She's a great kid right from the start but even stronger, more confident and wiser by the end. This is a book for young adults that does not treat the reader or the subject matter in a childish way.
In fact there aren't a ton of differences between this and any other Scalzi book. There is a good bet that this will work just as well for adults as kids. The language is tamer, there is no graphic sexual content (though I can't think of any in the other books). and the violence is toned down. There is still action and there is violence, but the descriptions are not quite as graphic as in the other novels. The emotions and the consequences of actions and words are just as strong and this is important. While this is less graphic, that does not mean content or meaning is filtered out. It truly is a young adult novel with emphasis on young.
Many of the greatest science fiction stories for youth out there were written in the 50's. Scalzi has created a modern tale that incorporates current technology, mores and norms in this story. This is an excellent introduction for any young man or woman who may not already be an avid science fiction fan. Important themes include those of being truthful, transparency in government, the sanctity of life and loyalty. These and more are touched on at various times but the book never feels preachy or heavy handed in its approach.
There is only one real negative with this book and it is only a drawback for those who have already read The Last Colony. The story is told from a completely new perspective, but it is still the same story. There are many new scenes and information brought in that were not revealed in Zoe's predecessor, but the outcomes are the same. This is not a weakness through a failing on the part of the author but rather a natural outcome of writing two books taking place in the same time frame. I still really enjoyed the book and was eager to see how certain events took place but it didn't hold quite the same impact at times as events had when I read The Last Colony. This wont be an issue for anyone who hasn't read that book or any young people who haven't read any of the novels. For me it was the difference between a 9 and a 10.
That is such a small thing though. This is a strong entry in a great series that I believe is destined to be considered a classic. Scalzi's entry into the field is a welcome treatment of classic themes with a fresh new viewpoint that is smart and entertaining.
You can purchase Zoe's Tale from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews — to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I feel as though I'm the only geek that doesn't read science fiction.
No existe.
John posts on his blog that he's busy all day with real life and a sick kid, and you go and slashdot him...
TANJ.
Good book, though.
I haven't read Zoe's Tale, but I have read Old Man's War (which I think was the first) and the Last Colony.
These are good scifi books in their own right, but they ask some tough questions about government accountability and the need for secrecy in the name of security.
I wish he had never introduced the ability for the BrainPal to snoop on other BrainPal's, though. For Scalzi, it's a great piece of plot convenience, but I always feel like he's cheating when he uses it.
Where are his unintentionally written young adult fiction novels? I bet they are much more fun to read.
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
Are you referring to adolescents? If so, say so. If you're talking about young ADULTS, i.e. those of drinking age, why would their tastes in fiction be any different from a geezer like me?
Free Martian Whores!
I've been waiting to buy this book for ages, but the co.uk edition of Amazon seems to have chosen not to stock the hardcover edition, rather holding out for the paperback edition due in june :-/
I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.
Furthermore, she will be afraid of blacks just as all real nerds are.
Somebody please mod this retarded racist troll down where it deserves. AC, many nerds ARE black.
Moron. GTF off slashdot and go back to stormtrooper or whatever the fuck your racist web site is called.
Free Martian Whores!
Thats how I read it. Is that so wrong of me?
I went through a few years where I didn't. I got on a fantasy kick, then alternate history, then a short flirtation with erotic vampire stories (yeah, yeah, I know, sue me), several straight historical novels, a few classics I missed in school, and then back to SF via Scalzi's trilogy.
###SPOLIERS###
I like the first two a lot, but he ends #2 with the hint that the Colonial Union might be planning something really clever to counter the Conclave, and book 3 starts with all that dead and done already, and the CU acting orders of magnitude dumber than before. The entity that managed to establish a human foothold in a hostile universe didn't realize that blowing up one ship from 412 races isn't going to anger all 412? C'mon... It's like he felt that, oh no, I can't depict human government doing something well.
I guess I'm an old Campbellian at heart. I like stories where the hairless apes from Earth outwit the big, scary, superadvanced alien races. The Niven's Man/Kzin wars, Brin's Uplift series and Heinlein's own Starship Troopers are good examples. Despite being a misanthrope, I like stories like that. I guess it's because I view humanity as utterly stupid, so I like stories where the opposite is true, I suppose.
You watch a Shakespeare play over and over while knowing the end. Does it make it any worse? Nope. And, seriously, how many times have ya'll watched "Empire Strikes Back"? :)
As for comparisons between Scalzi and Heinlein, it never really occured to me, and I've read just about everything by both authors at least twice. It makes sense now that the review mentioned it, but I don't think it's significant enough to get worked up about.
I think the part that I found most interesting was how he ended The Last Colony with the aliens defeating the Colonial Union without having to go to war. It would be interesting to see him write a new story that takes place several decades later when the aliens have completely liberated the Earth from the Colonial Union, and maybe even have Earth conquer the colonials out of revenge for exploitation that it suffered at their hands.
I don't get worked up about it - but I've read reviews of other books where they basically explain Scalzi's book in terms of which Heinlein that it matches.
This Zoe's Tale Review wonders if "...Scalzi has perfected some kind of occult ritual to allow the spirit of the late Grand Master to possess his body."
This Last Colony review says that it is really 2 books in one - one of which is The Tunnel in the Sky. Which I really can't agree with and think it is only the Heinlein tie in that made them go there.
So it's out there and I thought it was worth throwing in my thoughts on it - in case anyone had read those types of reviews and might appreciate a different opinion.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Having met Mr. Scalzi, I can guarantee that he would see it the highest praise possible to compare him to Heinlein.
-- Will program for bandwidth
I can see the comparisons to Heinlien, but OMW really struck me as being very much in the same vein as The Forever War.
Great writer though, so definitely worth checking out anything he writes.
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." -- Jefferson
You watch a Shakespeare play over and over while knowing the end.
Nope, never. Modern theater makes it unessary with all the constant remakes. I'm still looking for a Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending.
Some troll makes a racist comment and it's unmodded. I call the fuckweed on it and I'm modded "troll", while the AC racist responds by making a (completely ignorant) racist insult to me (won't work, dipshit, I'm not black) and is modded "insightful".
Taco, Pudge, PLEASE bring back the old metamoderation system. I never used to see this kind of bullshit. Idiots are getting mod points and keep getting them.
Now please have the tiniest bit of sanity and mod this offtopic.
Free Martian Whores!
Thanks for the review, and on behalf of the portion of Slashdotters who have the good form of keeping quiet unless they've some contributory comment to make, apologies for the inanities that make up much of the early response to your review. I've not read anything by Scalzi but I think I'll be giving him a try.
I got the trilogy, one of the random books sent by the sci fi bookclub. It was decent and it reminded me of the old sci fi. You know the early Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein. They were small books, a quick read. A good concept, fun action. Having recently re-read the early Asimov empire novels it reminded me quite a bit of that.
With that said, how it got a Hugo nomination I have no idea. It must have been a bad year for Sci Fi. Then again overall most of the Hugo nominations for 08 weren't as good as novels in previous years. When I gave this trilogy to a friend to read it was a 'here's a trilogy when you're bored'.
Agreed, the old M2 system should be brought back because it seems like the idiots are taking control of the channel.
I, too, await my offtopic mod...
Yes, but you often watch it over the second time to either
- Relive the experience the first time
- Look beyond the plot and into the intricacies you missed the first time
The first time experience of not knowing the plot is still important.
The signal to noise ratio here is the same as always - but posts like the gp make for good discussion. It's worth it for that - glad you liked the review. He's a great author, and from all I can tell a genuinely good guy. His blog would be of interest to a lot of people around here I think - I know many already are regular readers there.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Shaved pussy FTW.
AHA! So YOU'RE the little bastard that got hold of my cat on Halloween!
Did someone shit in your cereal this morning?
Saw it on Penny Arcade and made a mental note to look into it. Then I saw it here and from the comments definitely looks like it's right up my alley. Funny what word of mouth has turned into in this day and age.
I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
I literally just finished reading last colony on my kindle...was about to get online and buy Zoe's on Amazon...refreshed slashdot first, though, and this is the first thing I see. What a kwinkydink. I dont mind if it's going to be a rehash of Last Colony...there was plenty of space in that story for the details to be filled in with multiple other books.
SPOILER ALERT! Old man's war and the Ghost Brigades do not ask a key point. What does it mean to be human? Considering the concsisious transfere to some rather exotic bodies, what does it mean to be human? THis is conviently avoided with "THe colonial union has no position on this. Please consult the traveling religouus group." And no chartcer questions what it means to be human. There is so much that can be played with but the arthur dose not. Are turtles that live in space really human? Yet I greatly enjoyed these stories. They are excellent military sci-fi. THey are rip roarisg adventures that should be made into a movie. Yet will the audinec buy a group a green soliders? Also a good story is Agent to the Stars, an intresting take on first contact. If I was an alien I would do this to the humans.
The only thing I've tried by Scalzi is The Android's Dream, which according to WP is set in a different universe than Zoe's Tale. The problem I had with The Android's Dream was that it seemed to take international relations on Planet Earth and translate them verbatim into an interstellat context. Commodities are shipped between solar systems; sorry, but that doesn't make sense, because the amount of energy required to accelerate something to 0.01% of light speed would cost a ridiculous amount of money compared to the cost of obtaining the commodity in some other way. All the species are at comparable levels of technology; sorry, but that doesn't make sense either, because the time-scale for the evolution of intelligent life is on the order of 10^9 years, so by the laws of probability the chances of two species being within 1000 years of each other in technological level is extremely small. It seemed like the Star Trek universe, where everything is basically set up so that actors can walk on stage wearing latex masks and interact as the whole thing had been set on Earth aboard sailing vessels in the 18th century.
Find free books.
... about all that I can say about that pulp drivel. Might be OK if he deliberately targetted juvenile, but otherwise...
Once every three and a half years, whether I need it or not.
Consider yourself spoken to.
If I had any mod points left, I'd use them here, but I don'g.
With that said, how it got a Hugo nomination I have no idea. It must have been a bad year for Sci Fi. Then again overall most of the Hugo nominations for 08 weren't as good as novels in previous years.
You know, when I was a kid, a novelist had to walk twenty miles in the snow to win a Hugo Award. You kids with your rock and roll hootchie koos. We read space opera and liked it!
Start a happiness pandemic
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first experience every time :)