Zoe's Tale: An Old Man's War Novel

John Scalzi

Dec 2012 · Old Man's War Book 4 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history?

I ask because it's what I have to do. I'm Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old.

Everyone on Earth knows the tale I am part of. But you don't know my tale: How I did what I did — how I did what I had to do — not just to stay alive but to keep you alive, too. All of you. I'm going to tell it to you now, the only way I know how: not straight but true, the whole thing, to try make you feel what I felt: the joy and terror and uncertainty, panic and wonder, despair and hope. Everything that happened, bringing us to Earth, and Earth out of its captivity. All through my eyes.

It's a story you know. But you don't know it all.

Old Man's War Series
#1 Old Man’s War
#2 The Ghost Brigades
#3 The Last Colony
#4 Zoe’s Tale
#5 The Human Division
#6 The End of All Things
Short fiction: “After the Coup”

Other Tor Books
The Android’s Dream
Agent to the Stars
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded
Fuzzy Nation
Redshirts
Lock In
The Collapsing Empire (forthcoming)

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

Concurrent timelines are hard to pull off, but Scalzi comes through with flying colors with this gem. So often the climax of any CT novel is just the opposite; it answers the questions and not much else. This had not only a coherent and orderly (for the timeline's sake) conclusion, but one filled with nuanced passion, and just the right amount of impassioned awe. Nicely done, John; nicely done.

This series continues to deliver. This book was well paced, and interesting throughout. Scalzi's style is bold and broad strokes, and he doesn't bog down in boring minutia. What this takes away from immersion quickly counteracts with with fast plot development. His characters all feel alive, and are witty, interesting people that you'd like to meet in real life. Love this series. We appreciate your work.

there aren't a lot of science fiction books that are touching, but this was one of them. several times I almost wanted to cry while reading it. great job John Scalzi. I can't wait for your upcoming book in the Old Man's War series.

About the author

John Scalzi won the 2006 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and his debut novel Old Man's War was a finalist for science fiction's Hugo Award. His other books include The Ghost Brigades, The Android's Dream and The Last Colony. He has won the Hugo Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for science-fiction, the Seiun, The Kurd Lasswitz and the Geffen awards. His weblog, Whatever, is one of the most widely-read web sites in modern SF. Born and raised in California, Scalzi studied at the University of Chicago. He lives in southern Ohio with his wife and daughter.