Questions for a Soldier

by John Scalzi

Subterranean Press, 2005, ISBN 1-59606-048-4

A book review by Elisabeth Carey

This is a signed, limited edition chapbook from Subterranean Press, with cover and interior illustrations by Bob Eggleton. Captain John Perry, in Old Man's War, did a goodwill tour of the colonies after the Battle of Coral. This is the Q&A session from one of those stops, on the colony world of New Goa. There's no story here, really; just the back-and-forth between a combat veteran and some of the civilians the Colonial Defense Forces are defending—who have a variety of views of the CDF, the fact that it's composed entirely of old folks from Earth (colonists cannot enlist), and the perpetual state of war between humans and most other intelligent species they're in contact with. It's interesting, entertaining, and thoughtful.

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