Have you ever just read a book that was so good that you pinch yourself a few times to make sure it's real? That was the feeling I had the entire time I was reading Old Man's War. There were some minor quibbles I had while reading the book but they were not enough for me rate this book below five stars.

We begin with one of the best opening lines in a book I have read in some time.

I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army.

With that we are firmly thrust into the world of Old Man's War. Told in the first person from seventy-five year old John Perry's point of view, we follow him as he signs up to join the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). We are provided back-story into a new Earth that has people at the age of seventy-five enlisting in the CDF with no real idea of what this means. Joining the CDF requires John to agree to join for at least two years with the understanding that he may be extended by an additional eight.

Life expectancy on Earth has improved to ninety years old but the CDF promises medical, surgical, or therapeutic regimens or procedures to enhance combat readiness. Many that sign up wonder if the CDF has found a cure for aging. What John Perry finds out is something all together different. I don't want to spoil for those who have not read this book before but I have to say that my mind was blown in quite a good way.

I loved John Perry's voice throughout this entire novel. He had a wry sense of humor even in his darkest moments. I felt like I was experiencing everything that he was and I kept my fingers crossed the last few chapters that he would end up okay.

When we have John meeting and befriending a group that is called "The Old Fart's" you find yourself in just a few sentences believing that all of the people that John meets are living breathing people. I think a lot of times when I read a book either the MC is very tightly written but the secondary characters never seem like fully realized characters to me. Or the opposite. In just a few sentences I was able to get a sense of Tom, Susan, Jesse, Maggie, Alan, and Harry. And I have to say at the end of this book I kind of wanted to find John Scalzi and kick him in the shin. This is a novel but it is also about what it means to be human and to go out and fight a war. In war there is always going to be death and I know that each time something happened it felt like I was punched in the gut.

There were so many lines that honestly had me in tears while reading. A good book in my mind can make you think; a great book can make you feel too. And I seriously felt so many emotions while reading this book.

BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER. I read those words over and over every time I visit. I can't help it; they are four words that so inadequately and so perfectly sum up a life.

Do not mourn me, friends
I fall as a shooting star
Into the next life

Part of what makes us human is what we mean to other people, and what people mean to us. I miss meaning something to someone, having that part of being human. That's what I miss about marriage.

Though there was a lot of exposition in this book provided by the MC it didn't bother me that much. This was due to there being a lot of world building that had to be explained in this book and I rather have a lot of exposition than not have things explained to me as a reader. Here is where my minor quibble comes in with this book though. I will admit the explanations or the running conversations about technology, machines, skip drives, etc. made my eyes glaze just a bit. I love science fiction novels but when you start trying to explain to me how thrusters work I find myself getting distracted. For me it's enough to explain the basics of the world the characters are in and what rules apply there. You can add on additional layers as the story goes on but reading a science book did not appeal to me in school and it does not appeal to me as an adult.

I recommend this book and even if you are not a science fiction fan I think you will enjoy it.