The Last Colony

The Last Colony by John Scalzi is the third book by Scalzi that I've had the pleasure to read, and I do mean that with all sincerity. Scalzi has blasted himself to the top of the SciFi genre with Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades, and Colony is a worth third installment.  This novel throws the reader into a hostile galaxy, with humans pitted against a seemingly endless variety mostly hostile aliens.  However, the human Colonial Union is seemingly just as hostile, albeit shown through manipulation of all human controls and information for its political and expansionist goals. Enjoying a virtual monopoly on human space travel and communications, the CU is very, very selective in which information is dispersed throughout the colonies. The existence of an Alien collaboration of races, the Conclave, is among the various pieces with held from the human citizens of the CU.  However, the Conclave might be just the one thing to hold the various sentient species back from killing each other off, and perhaps the key to their advancement in a united galaxy.

After reading the previous two Scalzi novels, Colony is perhaps my favorite, although its predecessors are equally amazing.  Within the universe of the Old Man's War novels, I was drawn into the ever changing state of intergalactic politics and warfare.  Imagine The Forever War in an expanded and shortened time span.   It is worth arguing that one of the primary focuses within this novel was the tension between the CU and the Conclave, which ultimately boiled down to humanity, or at least the CU"s, reluctance to "share," for lack of better words.  I couldn't help but become agitated at their complete lack of interest in possibly joining the Conclave.  The CU's desire to be at the top of totem pole of galactic politics is suicidally apparent throughout the novel.  Perhaps the author is drawing on the recurring theme of block headed politicians locked into their own ideologies, regardless of the consequences.  On the other hand, the "human" side of the CU is shown as well.  While the CU as a political entity is maddeningly idiotic and unfeeling in its practices, those within the CU are as human as any other.  Colony allows the humanity within the inhuman political juggernaut to be show, notably General Szilard and to a lesser extent General Rybicki.  The reinforcing of the
"human-ness" of the special forces was an emotional addition that greatly added to the recurring theme of the status of the special forces within humanity as a whole. And finally, the interactions with General Gau of the Conclave introduced another emotional aspect to the novel.   While an alien, General Gau displays values and morality that is equal, if not superior, to his CU counterparts.  His presence within the novel introduce significant questions on both the perception of aliens as well as what, if any, emotions are unique to humans.  In conclusion, if you have not read this book, read the two prequels before reading this gem.  Your in for a treat, this is SciFi at its best.