Old Man's War

John Scalzi (born May 10, 1969) is the author of dozens of novels, short stories, novellas, and nonfiction works, including The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022), Starter Villain (2023), and When the Moon Hits Your Eye (2025). He has written six books set in the same universe as Old Man’s War, with a seventh—The Shattering Peace—forthcoming. The books do not all follow John, instead examining different characters and plotlines in the same world as Old Man’s War. While The Ghost Brigades follows Jane and the other special forces operatives, The Last Colony is the only other novel that follows John, now living with Jane in a colony after his military service. The series has received critical acclaim, with three of its texts being nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Scalzi himself has won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer, the Ohio Governor’s Award for the Arts, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and the Robert A. Heinlein Award.

Scalzi is primarily a science fiction author, exploring real-world problems through works set in the future or alternate universes. For example, When the Moon Hits Your Eye explores a fictional world where the moon suddenly turns into a block of cheese. The resulting chaos examines power dynamics in a crisis and the way politics, beliefs, science, and leadership intersect in the struggle for humanity. Similarly, in The Kaiju Preservation Society, protagonist Jamie travels to an alternate universe where the country of Greenland is overrun by kaiju, animals that feed on nuclear energy. Though the setting is fictional, the novel explores themes like humanity’s impact on the Earth, environmental conservation, and the value of teamwork in addressing catastrophe. In Old Man’s War, Scalzi similarly uses a fictional world to explore potential problems facing humanity. Through John and the other soldiers in the CDF, Scalzi considers the societal impacts of technological advancements while questioning colonization and humanity’s need for control.

Scalzi’s work often subverts stereotypes surrounding science fiction through the use of humor. Though Old Man’s War discusses serious topics, John’s perspective provides a humorous, often sarcastic, lens. As John faces death, isolation, and war, his humor lightens the mood but also serves a serious purpose, reminding the reader of John’s humanity and his need to cope with difficulties or succumb to them. In When the Moon Hits Your Eye, the premise itself is humorous, as the moon turns into cheese. The chaos that unfolds varies in scope, with an impending apocalypse and social collapse juxtaposed against more personal stories of a pastor struggling with his faith and a woman who cares for her dying husband. However, the events, big or small, are interspersed with humorous situations and problems, alleviating the tension and drama of a collapsing world.