Image via WikipediaZoe's Tale by John Scalsi is an interesting tale... if you've never read his previous books. The book is a part of his "Old Man's War" series, and is essentially retelling of his previous book "The Last Colony" from the viewpoint of Zoe, adopted daughter of the main characters.To setup the world... the main characters were rejuvenated old people to fight a war, against aliens, who don't want humans to expand, and is willing to wipe out the colony if need be. The humans don't exactly want the colony to succeed, but felt they need to "try" if only to satisfy the masses. The leaders of the colony knew they are being played, so they are doing the best to keep the colony alive through negotiation. And the daughter tries to live a teenager's life, with boyfriend, best friend, and two alien bodyguards who worship her like a Goddess because her late father gave them intelligence and sentience (but may have been a traitor to the human race?) Later, Zoe realized that perhaps her bodyguards may be the only hope the colony have for survival...
John Scalzi did not write many novels, but he has a talent for dialog and character voice, and the ideas do link together to form a cohesive whole, though sometimes they do come out a little rough. It was a major gamble to write this novel from the viewpoint of a teenage girl, but the result is a fresh take on the events. Still, it does read like a bit of rehash, and thus, fans may enjoy a bit more than fresh readers.
Rating: Try it
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