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Zoe's Tale (The Old Man’s War series, 4) Paperback – 3 Dec. 2015

by John Scalzi (Author)

4.1 6,685 ratings

Book 4 of 6: Old Man's War

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Hard-core, fast paced science fiction, John Scalzi's Zoe's Tale is the fourth in The Old Man's War series.

She won't go down without a fight.

It's not every day you up sticks and move to another world. But then, Zoë Boutin-Perry's life has never been ordinary. She's the adopted teenage daughter of two former super-soldiers. She's also a holy icon to a race of alien warriors who track her every move. So she's used to the quirks of being a human in space.

However, this time something's different. Betrayed by the authorities, Zoë – along with her parents and fellow colonists - finds herself stranded on a deadly pioneer planet. The Colonial Union has also set them up as a target for hostile alien action. Zoë must become a player (and a pawn) in an interstellar battle, which will determine the fate of humanity.

Her father's side of this story was told in The Last Colony, but Zoe's Tale reveals a whole new dimension.

It's a story you may think you know, but you don't really know it at all.

Continue the gripping space war series with The Human Division.

'John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today' – Joe Hill, author of The Fireman

Review

John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today ― Joe Hill

Gripping and surpassingly original. It's Starship Troopers without the lectures . . . It's funny, it's sad, and it's true ― Cory Doctorow

A fast-paced political thriller laced with observant characterization, great dialogue, and some genuinely original science ― Guardian

Clever dialogue, fast-paced story and strong characters ― The Times

Top-notch. His combat scenes are blood roiling ― Washington Post

Scalzi is one of the slickest writers that SF has ever produced ― Wall Street Journal

Astonishingly proficient ― Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Scalzi's prose harkens back to the Golden Age of science fiction while still remaining fresh and vibrant ― Strange Horizons

Review

John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today ― Joe Hill

Gripping and surpassingly original. It's Starship Troopers without the lectures . . . It's funny, it's sad, and it's true ― Cory Doctorow

A fast-paced political thriller laced with observant characterization, great dialogue, and some genuinely original science ― Guardian

Clever dialogue, fast-paced story and strong characters ― The Times

Top-notch. His combat scenes are blood roiling ― Washington Post

Scalzi is one of the slickest writers that SF has ever produced ― Wall Street Journal

Astonishingly proficient ― Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Scalzi's prose harkens back to the Golden Age of science fiction while still remaining fresh and vibrant ― Strange Horizons

From the Back Cover

The fourth book in John Scalzi's exciting sci-fi series which started with Old Man's War.

About the Author

John Scalzi is one of the most popular and acclaimed SF authors to emerge in the last decade. His debut, Old Man's War, won him science fiction's John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Lock In,and also Redshirts, which won 2013's Hugo Award for Best Novel. Material from his widely read blog Whatever has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

Book 4 of 6

Old Man's War
Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Tor
Publication date

3 Dec. 2015
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

13 x 2.3 x 19.7 cm
ISBN-10

1447295358
ISBN-13

978-1447295358
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor; Main Market edition (3 Dec. 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1447295358
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1447295358
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13 x 2.3 x 19.7 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 150,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 829 in High Tech Science Fiction
- 831 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- 1,364 in Space Marine

Customer reviews:
4.1 6,685 ratings

About the author

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John Scalzi

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John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you're reading this, makes perfect sense. He's best known for writing science fiction, including the New York Times bestseller "Redshirts," which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word "Whatever" into Google. No, seriously, try it.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

6,685 global ratings

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h3rne

A great jumping in point for younger readers of the series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 February 2019

Verified Purchase

I really loved this book. It has all the Scalzi hall-marks - impossibly witty characters (especially for the teenagers), a zippy plot with ever ramping stakes and skilled emotional engagement that had me in tears at several points.

For YA readers Zoë is a likeable and engaging POV character (as an adult she also didn't grate in a way I feared she might) and much of the graphic detail is left "off screen", making the book both younger-reader friendly and demonstrating that such "adult content" is at the very least unnecessary for a great read.

If anything, some of the criticisms I had of the third volume in terms of a rather bumpy plot, were completely addressed here, making me wonder if this had once been part of the third volume. Separating it out seems to have been rather to the detriment of "Last Colony" but to the greater improvement of this book.

Despite being the fourth book in the series, this book doesn't require the preceding volumes to be either completely understandable or hugely enjoyable, making it a possible jumping in point (although if you then go back and read the earlier books, there are a few spoilers).

If "Last Colony" stalled you out (as it did me), this book will restore your faith in the series.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Randal

Zoe

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2021

Verified Purchase

This re tells the story told in The Last Colony (Old Man's War) from Zoe's first person viewpoint. It revisits the story from the point at which John Perry and Jane Sagan are asked to take on the leadership of Roanoke colony. Zoe, their adopted daughter, a teenager considered a special person by the Obin who were given the gift of (artificial) consciousness by her birth father Charles Boutin. As a result she has to Obin minders who (as part of a peace treaty) relay her every activity back to their planet for all to see. This charts Zoe's relationships with her minders, a girl who quickly becomes her best friend, and her first boyfriend. There are things that Zoe experiences that her adoptive parents don't know about, and one section where Zoe's actions affect the outcome when Roanoke is threatened.

Mr Scalzi gets the teen voice right and it's fun following Zoe filling in the gaps like Rozencrantz and Guildenstern filled in the gaps in Hamlet.

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JON

Pointless reworking of book 3

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 December 2023

Verified Purchase

Well written but lacks inventiveness not needed if you have read The Last Colony book 3.

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Tom

4 down and the jaw still drops..

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 May 2022

Verified Purchase

Jesus Christ Mr Scalzi you did it again, how you keep making this 27 year old man cry is outstanding.
I won’t lie, I started this one somewhat slightly disappointed! How can you write another book that covers events that already happened?!
Well, I’m an idiot because you did it so well, to connect to Zoe like that was incredible.
Book 5 is being bought immediately after this last sentence, I’ve no idea what to expect but after these 4 awesome stories I know it’s going to be ace.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2023

Verified Purchase

Most of this storyline you will know but was still an enjoyable read.

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S. Knop

The best of the series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 October 2013

Verified Purchase

I have enjoyed the first three books of Old Men's War very much, so it was with much trepidation that I approached the 4th book thinking to myself
A) why did the author write the 3rd book again? How lazy is that?
B) I had a bad experience with the rewrite of my beloved Ender's Game. This can only fail
C) From the viewpoint of a teenage girl, is this guy insane?

I shouldn't have worried. The book is brilliant and moving, and most importantly doesn't feel as rushed as the third book but nicely explains all the missing bits - as if John had planned to write this book all along (the acknowledge at the end claims otherwise ). I very much look forward to passing this book to my daughter when she is a teenager in a few years.

Read it, love it.

Helpful

jfmdac

An unusual idea; didn't quite hit the mark.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2020

Verified Purchase

I've read the previous 3 books in this series and enjoyed them immensely, so I've bought the remaining three as well. Zoe's Tale is unusual in that it repeats "The last colony" but from the viewpoint of Perry's adopted daughter. It would have been better in my opinion to have incorporated it into "The last colony", but when I read Scalzi's notes at the end, I could see why he did things the way he did. Basically he was responding to demand from his fans, and also his own thinking after having finished "The last colony", which made him want to explore the Zoe character more fully.
Although there's plenty of good old SF action incorporated, you still know the ending so a lot of the suspense has gone, and the tale is largely a coming of age thing, narrated by a very (a bit over the top to me, but sometimes quite funny) sassy teenage girl. Overall it was an interesting idea, and full marks to Scalzi for trying it, but it didn't quite work for me in the way it might have done if both stories had been in the same volume.

Helpful

DaveRay35

I absolutely love this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2021

Verified Purchase

I read a lot of space opera. I’d read The Last Colony and couldn’t imagine how Zoe’s Tale could possibly be worth reading.

Please read this book.

It is all about relationships - with friends, family, peers, superiors, enemies, and underlings. I cried, laughed, held my breath, and cheered.

Please read this book.

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s w

My favorite science fiction book series of all time

Reviewed in the United States on 7 December 2023

Verified Purchase

This book is science fiction, not fantasy. It's full of humor and yet, serious. The humor is not gratuitous or annoying, just spot-on. The plot is intriguing - it makes you want to be there. The plot is not, however, predictable, so not boring. And even more interesting - two of the books in this series are the same story told from a different point of view - one a teenager's, the other, her adoptive father's. The author managed to make the story fresh even so, which he said was the hardest thing he has ever done. It is a fascinating look at the difference point-of-view makes to a story, and the story itself is different but the same - not boring. I also enjoy Scalzi's universe full of alien species, which he does a fantastic job of characterizing!

Slow__cheetah

Another point of view of Last colony

Reviewed in Italy on 8 January 2023

Verified Purchase

I’m a recent fan of John Scalzi, and was going through the Old man’s war series. I liked the “Last colony” very much , so naturally took the next -Zoe’s Tale, but alas couldn’t enjoy it. To be honest I abandoned it after 30 pages, as it started off describing the same events of the Last colony just from a different POV. I am sure later in the book it would stray off the same course and cover some of the events mentioned only briefly in the Last colony, but I just couldn’t get through the teenage POV to get to the interesting part.

Paulo Sunao Shintate Jr.

A fantastic SciFi history about a girl, Zoe Boutin Perry.

Reviewed in Brazil on 15 March 2018

Verified Purchase

A fantastic SciFi history about a girl, Zoe Boutin Perry.

John Scalzi tells us the history of the stepdaughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan, in the fourth book of the pentalogy (Old Man's War), and their two Obin friends.

Wow: great development and characters to remember. A great book, like Ender's War from Orson Scott Card !

One person found this helpful

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Folkie

Amusing, exciting, touching

Reviewed in Canada on 19 February 2017

Verified Purchase

Not sure why I skipped this book before. It's as good as Old Man's War, though very different. Probably the best book I've ever read by a middle-aged man telling a story of a teenaged girl. Lotsa fun. And touching.

One person found this helpful

KJ

老人と宇宙シリーズの3作目の1人称の主体が変わっただけ？

Reviewed in Japan on 1 December 2022

Verified Purchase

ほんとは2.5にしたい。三作目を一作目、二作目の主人公夫婦の養女の視点から1人称で書いたもの。先のシリーズを読んじゃったら、読まんでもえーじゃろ、と思いながら読んでしまったので。若干微妙な評価となった。三作目を読んだ時、ここ端折ってるな、と感じたとこを本作で埋めているので、最初っからこいつを出すために意図的にやったのか？と勘ぐってる？元々ネット小説だったらしいので、そこでは、並行して話が進んでいたかも。

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