It’s been more than a decade since I first read Old Man’s War. While I have enjoyed every book in the Old Man’s War series leading up to this aptly-named ultimate novel, I have been hesitant to start this one. The reason? The series is too good! I just didn’t want to have it end. After all, I did just recently finish up reading The Expanse series. A guy can only take so many sci-fi series endings at once! But, as they say, all good things, etc…. 
So here we are. Book six of six. It had to happen.
Thankfully, Scalzi ended the Old Man’s War series in a satisfying way. I’m leaving both this book and the collection as a whole with good memories. Not often we get to say that!
In this final installment, intelligent life is on the brink of extinction…again! I won’t give away any spoilers, but structurally I will say that this book ends both the overall arc ,as well as concludes the individual stories of several characters.
As always, Scalzi keeps things moving at brisk pace while also building out the political and tech issues that sci-fi fans enjoy. There’s enough zip – he favorably walks the line of being humorous without being overly quippy. Likewise, he infuses the plot and the characters with enough humanity (Alienity? Beingity?) that the reader is truly rooting for and is invested in everyone.
While Old Man’s War is still the standout entry in this six-book series, the series as a whole is one of my favorites. More fun than The Expanse, if not as epic.
If I want an well-written yet fairly light sci-fi series for 2024, what do y’all recommend?