Book notes: Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi

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Zoe’s Tale: Old Man’s War, Book 4 by John Scalzi

Synopsis:

“How do you tell your part in the biggest tale in history?

I ask because it’s what I have to do. I’m Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old.

Everyone on Earth knows the tale I am part of. But you don’t know my tale: How I did what I did—how I did what I had to do—not just to stay alive but to keep you alive, too. All of you. I’m going to tell it to you now, the only way I know how: not straight but true, the whole thing, to try make you feel what I felt: the joy and terror and uncertainty, panic and wonder, despair and hope. Everything that happened, bringing us to Earth, and Earth out of its captivity. All through my eyes.

It’s a story you know. But you don’t know it all.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

I really loved the last book and was intrigued by the premise of this book. It’s essentially a retelling of the last book but in Zoe’s perspective. I imagine it will give more depth to the last book’s story and hopefully enhance the overall storyline.

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Key notes:

Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

• Zoe and Jane talked about taking up the job to lead the new colony

Chapter 4

• When she was 8 and newly adopted, Jane got her a jade pendant necklace with an elephant.
  • Later, her dad got her a puppy which she wanted for a while 

Chapter 5

• Zoe explained to Hickory her thoughts on leaving and her parents’ state of mind

Chapter 6

• She met Gretchen at the Phoenix space station and they instantly hit it off and became best friends 

Chapter 7

• She had a flurry of emotions and thoughts about connectedness and simultaneous isolation while visiting her parents’ grave

Chapter 8

• They told Zoe the story of the Obin, how the Consu gave them intelligence but not consciousness

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

• John explained to Zoe that working as a seed colony would be very difficult and their relationships with their new colony people were important

Part Two

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

• Hickory and Dickory saved the teens when they ran out of the forest when they suspected something chasing them
• The aliens confirmed to Zoe that there was a group of predators in the trees going after them before they intervened

Chapter 14

• Zoe agreed to train to defend herself on the condition that Gretchen also joins and that the two aliens learn to sing with them

Readers note: I’m pretty annoyed at Zoe for how she talks to and treats H&D because she always has an attitude and tells them to not protect her when that’s literally their job. They’re just trying to keep her safe on an unsafe planet

Chapter 15

• Enzo broke up with her

Chapter 16

• The colony now knew that something was hunting them

Chapter 17

Reader’s note: I honestly don’t know what Zoe sees in Enzo. He is such an enabling friend and chooses to stay next to Magdy, even though his friend always makes stupid decisions. Enzo doesn’t know how to stand up for himself and do the right thing. He seems more like a people-pleaser than anything, which is very annoying and disappointing for Zoe’s character.

• Zoe managed to negotiate with the werewolf creatures by beating up Magdy herself, and then she and her werewolf exchanged her pendants for his knife as a sign of goodwill

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

• Zoe put together the pieces and confirmed with John that Roanoke was a trap set by the CU to ambush the Conclave when they brought their battle cruisers and whole fleet to destroy them
• Once again, Hickory extended the invite to Zoe to visit the Obin home world to keep her safe
  • She declined because she she felt this was where she supposed to be at that moment

Part Three

Chapter 20

• Enzo and his entire family ended up dying, and Zoe and all of his friends remembered him
• Zoe eventually read the poem that he sent her right before the attack

Chapter 21

• John told Zoe their plan for her to go with the Obin to secretly give the Conclave general a warning about the assassination attempt against his life. They needed to keep him alive and improve Roanoke’s chances of survival
• Jane gave Zoe a pep talk to remind her that who she is is now more important than what she is and she’s proud of Zoe for slowly taking control of her own life despite being so out of control of it for so long

Chapter 22

• Zoe managed to negotiate with the counselor of the Obin about how they owe her a favor to help her save Roanoke by asking the Consu for help

Chapter 23

• Zoe managed to help with the assassination attempt on the general. However, the battle ended with hundreds of Consu and an Obin ship arriving at the Conclave

Chapter 24

• Dock explained to Zoe that the Obin had sacrificed themselves for her request and were honored to do so. They would’ve done so regardless to find answers from the Consu
• Zoe, after talking to the Consu, them the answer they were seeking for why they didn’t receive consciousness, and the counselor was happy
• The Consu offered Zoe in exchange for sacrificing all of her 100 Obin to get what she wanted
  • Instead, she gave a heartfelt speech and they all pledged their lives to her freely
  • They ended up winning the contest by a landslide

Reader’s note: Damn, this chapter messed me up. The entire species’ devotion and unconditional love for her, and the gravity of what that meant to her and her reciprocating that love really touched me.

Chapter 25

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Closing thoughts:

Wow, this was a fantastic book as the fourth installment of the series. I would almost venture to say it is my favorite of them all so far, but I think this book is only good because the third book sets a great context for this one to shine. I loved how it focused on Zoe’s perspective, her role as the princess of an entire species, and how she played a pivotal role in the war.

I also appreciated how she’s basically the spitting image of her parents, competency-wise. She’s very astute and resourceful. This is shown by how well she handles herself against the Consu and the situation that put a lot of Obin lives on the line.

This was the only book that messed me up emotionally with Enzo’s death, particularly his best friend’s reaction to it. The buildup to it gave a great payoff. I still didn’t like Enzo or his friend as characters, as they were largely a hindrance. I’m actually glad Enzo was killed off as it served a greater purpose, and also now she isn’t held back by a nice guy, but had too many flaws and would definitely hold her back from her true potential.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

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Nutshell:

This story illustrates the events of The Last Colony but from Zoe’s perspective and the important role she played in the war.

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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
• The Last Colony by John Scalzi

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Rating:

4/5

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