John Scalzi's 'Old Man's War' Sci-Fi Series Heads to the Big Screen

[Big Don]

John Scalzi's 'Old Man's War' Sci-Fi Series Heads to the Big Screen


By Peter Hall Moviefone EXCERPT:
Posted Feb 23rd 2011 4:15PM
John Scalzi's 'Old Man's War' series of novels began only six years ago, but it already boasts a glowing reputation among sci-fi fans as being one of, if not the, best series in recent memory. Fan base aside, it's kind of hard to argue when three of the novels in a four-part series have been nominated for Best Novel at the Hugo Awards. And when a series gains that kind of consistent critical acclaim, it's only a matter of time before Hollywood decides it wants in on the action.



Paramount Pictures has bought the rights to the 'Old Man's War' series and have already pinned down Wolfgang Petersen to direct and David Self to adapt. Check out the plot description for the first novel straight from Amazon:

With his wife dead and buried, and life nearly over at 75, John Perry takes the only logical course of action left him: he joins the army. Now better known as the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), Perry's service-of-choice has extended its reach into interstellar space to pave the way for human colonization of other planets while fending off marauding aliens. The CDF has a trick up its sleeve that makes enlistment especially enticing for seniors: the promise of restoring youth. After bonding with a group of fellow recruits who dub their clique the Old Farts, Perry finds himself in a new body crafted from his original DNA and upgraded for battle, including fast-clotting "smartblood" and a brain-implanted personal computer. All too quickly the Old Farts are separated, and Perry fights for his life on various alien-infested battlegrounds.
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SWEET!

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[jks9199]

It's an excellent series, and could be very good as a movie.

But I'm not optimistic. Unless the producers, director and screenwriter respect the material, we'll just get another Starship Troopers debacle.

 

[Phenix_Rider]

Never heard of it.

Sounds interesting though.

 

[Sukerkin]

I've always argued that the first Starship Troopers movie was good as a satire of what happens under certain political circumstances ... but it should have been called something else as it has nothing to do with the original book.

I forget tho, as I've only seen either of them once, whether it was the second or the third Troopers movie that was astronomically dire?

 

[perceive]

This is a very good book. I just hope the special effects department remembers that ultimately there is supposed to be a human element to the story and not just as a vehicle for the special effects. Even if they are green. It will definitely be on my "to watch out for" list.

 

[Nomad]

I forget tho, as I've only seen either of them once, whether it was the second or the third Troopers movie that was astronomically dire?

I thought that was the first. I'm a huge sci-fi fan, and couldn't get through Starship Troopers at all. Thought it was one of the worst examples of the genre ever made. To hear that it apparently warranted 2 sequels is simply depressing.

 

[Omar B]

I'm gonna have to look into these.

 

[Big Don]

I'm gonna have to look into these.

Yes, you are. I don't remember who suggested them in the fiction thread. I'm almost surprised it wasn't you.

 

[Omar B]

Never was a big fan of first person narrative. I'm a third person fan all the way, I like knowing what a character is thinking, but I don't want to be in his head for the whole story, I prefer being in the world itself.

And yes, things like narrative style does bother me.

 

[Big Don]

Never was a big fan of first person narrative. I'm a third person fan all the way, I like knowing what a character is thinking, but I don't want to be in his head for the whole story, I prefer being in the world itself.

And yes, things like narrative style does bother me.

Really? Wow, I have never heard that before.

 

[billc]

THe first book, Old Man's War was great. The other two books, The Ghost Brigades(?) and the last colony were okay. Old Mans war was really good though.

They need to redo Starship Troopers, and with the technology from the iron man movie and the inside the suit perspective that they created I really think they can get closer to the real story. They also should do a Warhammer 40,000 movie with the imperial marines or at least a Gaunt's Ghosts movie.


If you liked starship troopers, John Ringo's Posleen novels are something of a Mobile Infantry tribute, fleshing out some concepts of powered armor vs. the posleen, which are much like the arachnids in Starship Troopers. Also, David Weber has a series of books that are very much the Naval side of the fight against aliens that are essentially the Arachnids from Troopers.

 

[Phenix_Rider]

Just breezed through Old Man's War on my Kindle. Didn't want to put it down all through the flight, and couldn't sleep last night because I wanted to keep reading. GREAT book. Can't wait to start the next one in the series.

 

[Sukerkin]

Also, David Weber has a series of books that are very much the Naval side of the fight against aliens that are essentially the Arachnids from Troopers.

Which series is that, Billcihak? I re-read the Honor Harrington series frequently but have yet to dip my toe into Weber's other books (other than his initial two-parter which was essentially a log of a Starfire campaign ).

 

[Sukerkin]

I just realised that you were indeed probably referring to the Stars At War collaboration with Steve White . Apologies, I was very tired, that's my excuse .

 

[CoryKS]

It'll be interesting to see how they deal with the obvious fact that Avatar borrowed heavily from this book. I'd hate to see it panned for unoriginality just because Cameron got it to the screen first.

 

[jks9199]

I don't know that I'd agree that Avatar borrowed very much. There's some overlapping ideas, like building new bodies from existing DNA, tweaked for a purpose -- but there were also pretty major differences in how they were used.

 

[Omar B]

Which series is that, Billcihak? I re-read the Honor Harrington series frequently but have yet to dip my toe into Weber's other books (other than his initial two-parter which was essentially a log of a Starfire campaign ).

Wait? What? Dude, you need to start checking out his other stuff man. His work in "Bolo" was great.

Also I really dig Gates Of Hell and it's sequel Hell Hath No Fury. Two earths in parallel dimensions, one using magic the other using science and steam-punk type technology discover traveling through dimensions and start colonizing parallel earths ... till they meet up. It's one of those books I've always wanted to see, science versus wizardry in a true fantasy setting. Reading it is like reading Clancy filtered through steam-punk and the other side is more in a standard high fantasy style. I found the first one a bit slow getting going, but it's your classic "big f-ing book" in the style of Clancy doorstops (oh how I love big books!) so when it does kick in it's as if the slower first 100 pages didnt matter because there's like 800 more. The second one is markedly shorter at around 300-400 if I remember correctly, but everything's been set up already I guess.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/david-weber/hell-s-gate.htm
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/david-weber/hell-hath-no-fury.htm

 

[billc]

Sukerkin, one of the books in the David weber and steve white series about the war against the bugs is "In Death ground"

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Ground-...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298933849&sr=1-1

As I said, they fight the naval war against aliens that are essentially the arachnids from starship troopers. Don't let that discourage you though, it is done well, much like Weber's other books. I am not sure if this is the first book in that series though, I only did a quick look on amazon after you mentioned Steve white.

 

[Phenix_Rider]

Just finished Ghost Brigade. Definitely not as good as Old Man's War. Doesn't flow well at all. Too much bouncing between characters, and big gaps in the action. Half the time, I had to flip back several pages and guess where they went from say Phoenix to Arist or Omagh. I'd rather see all Jared, or all Sagan, or all Boutin, more along the lines of the first book, with a continuous story line.

It's not a coincidence that another of my favorites is I, Jedi. Very much the same narrative style as Old Man's War.

 

[billc]

speaking of I, Jedi, how is that or for that matter the whole star wars novel experience. I have always been reluctant to try the star wars novels, especially after the new movies. Was Mathew woodring stover's book any good, about Mace windu?