Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

“Old minds + young bodies = the battle to colonize outer-space”

Overview: Old Man's War follows John Perry, a 75 year old man who upon turning that age has signed up with the enigmatic Colonial Defense Force. No one on earth knows much about them except for they only recruit people over the age of 75 and have more advanced technology than anyone else on earth.

I’m not really into books written in 1st person, but this was fantastic. I ended up finishing it in 3 days. Luckily, this is the first in a series that I will undoubtedly work my way through.

As far as sci-fi goes, and writing sci-fi myself, it’s always interesting to see what new technologies are featured, and Old Man’s War had a ton of awesome concepts and new tech. Despite taking place in distant solar systems and universes, because it’s main characters are humans and is military-based, both the dialogue and plot are intriguing and easy to follow (despite the odd names of the various alien species).

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

“If your kid has weird dreams, Earth will likely end”

Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

The story follows the final days of humankind (as we know it), and builds to a thought-provoking and somewhat distressing climax, but with an underlying hope that maybe there is something else out there for us in the universe. Naturally it isn't a smooth ride for mankind. This book has become a fully-deserving classic of its genre, - it is worth reading just for the sheer intelligence of the writing alone, even if you're not a sci-fi fan. The writing, the ideas of “the other” and the descriptions of man’s “coming to terms” with aliens makes for a super interesting read.

Also to give this book it's due, it was written in 1953, and holds up astonishingly well considering. I had to remind myself how long ago it was written and how the world seemed almost like it is today, apart from a few obvious technological “facts.”

The end is a bit weird, and certainly unexpected, but overall, fitting for all the characters that are there in the end.