Book Review: Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi
Hey look, I actually wrote a book review! It’s posted up at TimeWaster’s Guide right now, or you can find it below the cut. You can comment there or here if you’re in commenting sort of mood.
A lot of people describe Scalzi’s Old Man’s War novels as military science fiction, but I would classify its sequel Zoë’s Tale as a space opera. It’s a story about, well, Zoë, a teenage girl whose parents are invited to take leadership roles in building a colony on a new planet. Zoë is an enthusiastic member of the group sent to colonize Roanoke, despite the risks-and the risks are considerable even before the political machinations of greater powers boil to the surface. Zoë’s own position in all of this is complicated by her status as a treaty object for an entire alien race, the Obin, who will stop at nothing to protect her.
The colonization plot is the meat of the story, but it takes a while to get to it. I’m not convinced that this is a flaw, since the early chapters are helpful for establishing the characters and the setting that they’re leaving behind. The time spent on this initial part of the story is a little misleading when considered in conjunction with the prologue, though; at first I expected the focus of the story to be entirely different.
The voice is consistent and believable, but initially it’s a bit off-putting, as it lacks focus in the early chapters. The narrator has a tendency to wander off into another train of thought before wandering back to finish the first. The tangents do have a purpose-Scalzi uses them mostly to reveal new information about the setting-but they’re prevalent enough to be a bit distracting.
Neither of these issues are crippling, however, and they go away almost entirely after the fourth chapter, which is when the novel really hits its stride. The voice sharpens, the plot starts to pick up and the characterization really starts to shine. Good thing, too, since Zoë’s Tale is basically a character piece with a science fiction backdrop. While one major event in the novel is definitely neglected in terms of characterization, the character conflicts that Scalzi does focus on are interesting and ultimately satisfying, and they resonate nicely with the themes that Scalzi is playing with.
Zoë’s Tale is not a novel in which you will see a whole lot of cool! new! technologies! (and assorted sf goodies) thrown about. Sure, there are standard science fiction tropes that are executed just fine-spaceships and colonized planets and alien races abound. And one certainly does get the sense that the cool! new! technologies! are out there somewhere. They’re just. . . not here. The exception to this is the Obin, the only alien race which gets any real screen time. Scalzi has done something fascinating with these guys conceptually, but I also like the Obin characters Hickory and Dickory for themselves.
Yes, those are their real names.
While it probably won’t be the most mind-blowing thing you’ve ever read, Zoë’s Tale is interesting, fun, and easy to read. Oh, and don’t get scared off by the “An Old Man’s War” stamp on the cover. You can read this one as a stand-alone.That said, I suppose there’s no excuse now for not reading the OMW series from the beginning. . .
Mirrored from Melodic Miscellany.