Book notes: The Last Colony by John Scalzi

Get the audiobook on Audible 👇 (affiliate link)

The Last Colony: Old Man’s War, Book 3 by John Scalzi

Synopsis:

“Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.

That is, until his and Jane’s past reaches out to bring them back into the game — as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.” -Audible

---

~If you enjoy my summary, please consider buying me a coffee via my Ko-Fi link (click the button below) or support this blog in one of several ways! 📖 🎓

I appreciate every donation as it goes directly to the maintenance costs of my blog and creation of new content. 😊

Opening thoughts:

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and was looking forward to this third installment. I think John and Jane separately as main characters in the first two books were fantastic, and I love how they’re so different and yet very competent. It’s hard to not want to root for either of them in their stories. I’m very interested in seeing how they work together and pull their strengths in this next installment as a family.

---

Key notes:

Chapter 1

• This story follows John Perry in his second life on Huckleberry with his wife and daughter
• John is basically the village problem solver 
• Jane, his wife and former special forces, was the town’s law enforcement

Reader’s note: Zoe, their adopted daughter, was the daughter of the scientist who was a traitor to the humans and worked with the other species

• There were two Obin (alien species and former enemies of humans) who looked after Zoe since they were curious about her and her deceased father
  • They protect Zoe and help out, so Jane and John were fine with them being around
• Essentially, the general wanted them two to lead a new seed colony which was slowly turning into a huge political issue since it was made up of people from different colonies
  • Moreover, the two of them had most of the skills and experience needed to run it
• Jane and John talked about taking the assignment, leaving this life behind, and possibly coming back to it

Chapter 2

• Hickery and Dickery, the two Obin companions, told John in confidence that they and all the Obin were at their family’s service. And for him to be aware that the colony Roanoke that they were going to wasn’t actually given to the CU / humans by the Obin

Chapter 3

• Upon visiting her old parents’ graves, Zoe remarked that their entire family is complicated
  • John is 88, Jane is only a year older than her, and she’s the daughter of a traitor
  • Also, she is the only human with alien escorts and is adored by the entire species
• Trujillo, one of the colony representatives, proposed the theory that he wanted John to allow them to help because the colony may be set up to fail and further the agenda of the CU against the colonies

Chapter 4

• While Jane was the brains of the leadership, John was the public relations and eventually problem solver again like his old job
• A special forces turtle creature came aboard and told them that this planet was the actual Roanoke, whereas the original was a decoy

Chapter 5

• They told the leaders that the CU sent them there to keep them in hiding from the Conclave who were planning to ambush them and wipe them out, and who would be looking for them
• The leaders voted to go along with the CU plan and lay low with their old tech
  • Also, Jane discovered that she had a modified and enhanced body

Chapter 6

• They’ve been holding off settling in because of a potential predator threat 

Chapter 7

• They discovered one colony member was murdered by a presumably intelligent native species, and decided to keep it secret with the colony leaders for now until they get more info
• Trujillo, despite being a self-proclaimed loyal opposition, gave John wise counsel to lead while the colony mourned this tragedy

Chapter 8

• The video showed that the Conclave leader, General Gau, tried to offer peace to the colony before they destroyed it, but the colony refused 

Chapter 9

• John and Jane got more information from Hickery and Dickery about what the Obin know of the Conclave
• Later Jane discovered she now had a BrainPal and the CU came to visit

Chapter 10

• General Gau of the Conclave and John discussed both of their perspectives and opinions on the intersecting species and the politics of colonialization and cooperation among them all
• The CU took the time to leverage Roanoke as a hidden colony to undermine the Conclave’s power and to gain allies in the species who were displaced by the Conclave and waited for the right moment to strike
• Roanoke was merely a trap for the conclave 
• The plan worked and they destroyed the fleet
  • However the general warned John that there are species who will come for this colony for revenge

Chapter 11

• They barely managed to survive a 5 missile attack, but Enzo’s entire family was killed in the last missile wreckage
• John was being summoned back to Phoenix for an inquiry, so they made a plan to find out as much as they could as a group when the four of them went over
  • Jane also mentioned that she would stay behind to watch over the colony and that she had dreams about talking to Cathy, John’s first wife and the woman whose DNA she was made from
• Jane and John discuss trying to eventually visit Cathy’s grave on Earth one day

Chapter 12

• John navigated the inquiry carefully and then regrouped with his associates to learn that every colony was under attack. The CU was scrambling to figure out how to allocate its defense resources
• The general of the Special Forces secretly disclosed to John that he helped keep him from being thrown in jail and that he wants to help John save Roanoke to prevent the humans from self-inflicting genocide on themselves

Chapter 13

• The Obin told John and Jane that if Roanoke seceded from the CU, the Obin would offer to help protect it
• John and Jane told the council that they sent Zoe with the Obin to deliver a message to General Gau in hopes that the calculated risk could potentially save their colony
• Zoe came back with news about the failed assassination, a planned attack on Roanoke, and her own plan to defend the colony

Chapter 14

• Before the invasion, Zoe revealed she brought an advanced Consu military defense weapon for Roanoke
• Their ambush plan actually worked because the enemy was incompetent and arrogant, and because they had a fully functioning Special Forces soldier with Jane’s modified body

Chapter 15

• John and his family had to leave Roanoke
• John’s plan was to have the Conclave bring gifts for humanity on Earth and for John to tell humans the truth so that they can decide for themselves if they wanna join the Conclave

Chapter 16

• The Special Forces general gave his gratitude to John and his family for what they did and how this outcome was good for humanity, as well as the Special Forces
• His family met Charlie, John’s son, and all of his other relatives on Earth
• Jane finally went to Cathy’s grave and was happy that John still loved her and Jane

---

Closing thoughts:

I absolutely loved this book! Even though the first two books in the series were fantastic, I was very impressed by how this third book managed to top those two. It did a good job of taking the best elements of both of those books and combining them into this one.

I especially loved the Perry family dynamic, and how John and Jane are essentially the perfect couple and ideal parents to Zoe. They do their best to raise her as best as they can so that she can be independent, while also protecting her as much as possible so she can enjoy her childhood as much as she can despite being a “princess” of sorts.

Highly recommend this book, and it makes me want to go back and reread the first two books with this additional context.

---

Nutshell:

John and Jane Perry, along with their adoptive daughter Zoe, are tasked with leading the new CU colony of Roanoke. Little do they know, they’re part of a larger plan in a war between the humans and the Conclave.

---

Similar books:

• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
• The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

---

Rating:

4/5

Subscribe for More Summaries👇

---

Try Audible for audiobooks 📚🎧

Personal recommendation: For the last 10 years, I’ve used Audible to listen to all of my favorite books. It’s easy to use, cost-effective, and they have the best library of audiobooks.

If you use my affiliate links below, not only will you get a special offer, but it’ll help support the costs to maintain this blog! 😊👇

Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

Audible Gift Memberships 

---