This latest tale in the Old Man's War universe brings us the story of Gretchen Trujillo, friend to Zoe from the Roanoke colony experience. She is a Colonial Union diplomatic analyst with an Obin assistant, yet her experience and background make her perfect as an investigator when a non-sanctioned colony planet goes completely missing from space. It's a good story with trademark Scalzi dead-pan humor - fans of this universe will enjoy this tale and the surprise twist at the end that gives more insight into this universe's greatest threats.

Many thanks to Tor Publishing group through NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi, a good book that will pull in fans of the series. The Peace Pact is not holding and war is not far on the horizon, a whole colony has gone missing, and the universe may never be the same.

At long last, Scalzi returns to the Old Man's War universe with an offering that focuses on quippy diplomat Gretchen Trujillo and her Obin pal. A secret multi-species colony has disappeared. Mystery ensues! Along the way some light is shed on one of the series' enduring mysteries. Hopefully more Old Man's War will follow...

Another great story in the Old Man’s War series. Scalzi is able to write with the same dry wit and banter as Heinlein.

Great to travel once again to the Old Man's War universe! This, the seventh book, follows Gretchen who is a typical diplomat with deadly fighting skills. The character Ran is one of the Obin, and is absolutely hilarious. Scalzi's writing is so much fun since he can make you laugh out loud, then he'll share a situation that has you reflecting on life. Pick this one up and you may read it in one sitting like I did.

When John Scalzi announced that he was doing another Old Man’s War book and it would be coming out THIS YEAR, well, my hype was HIGH. I love the Old Man’s War books. Every single one of them. It hadn’t been that long ago that I had read every single one of them too. I’m not an old school Old Man’s War fan. I’m a new school Old Man’s War fan. I had only discovered this series, like, post 2020. I’m new. And yet its become one of my favorite book series.

So I thought NEW OLD MAN’S WAR! Can’t wait. I had no plans to review it. I thought I’d just buy it. I have all the other books. But then, you know, the book appeared on Net Galley and I thought Ok, yes, I have to request it. I was ready to be turned down. But I wasn’t turned down. I got the new Old Man’s War book, The Shattering Peace, EARLY. And I was reading other things so I had to wait to read it. Now I’ve read it! What’s the book about?

Gretchen Trujillo is a diplomat working for the Colonial Union. Not an important one, I mean yes she knows stuff about The Consu, the advanced intelligent race that wants to make everyone perfect but first they most all suffer, but otherwise, she just does her job and everyone leaves her alone. Until. A secret colony goes missing and Gretchen is sent on a mission to find it. Why Gretchen? What’s this secret colony about? Where’d it go? What’s next? YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK TO FIND OUT.

The Shattering Peace is a standalone Old Man’s War book. It would be helpful to, at least, read Zoe’s Tale before reading this one. Thats where Gretchen is introduced and some events from that book are referenced. They are referenced a lot. Otherwise, this book stands alone and if you have a basically understanding of the Old Man’s War universe, you should be ok. Still, you really should go read Zoe’s Tale. Honestly, you should read all of the books. They rock!

As a fan of the series, I absolutely loved this book. I loved all the callbacks and I love how the book brings us up to date, a little bit, on things that happened while we were gone. And Gretchen is awesome. She’s great. Though my favorite character is RAN. I won’t tell you who RAN is or why its my favorite character. Just trust me. RAN is amazing. Its also very funny.

In fact, there are a lot of funny moments in this book. The level of humor in The Shattering Peace took me by surprise. The other books had some humor, yes, but this one seemed to have more. I love the humor. I laughed so much. That said, the book also has a cool mystery and plenty of interesting plot twists. I was on the edge of my seat. I had a tough time putting this book down.

Scalzi is an excellent writer. I love how his characters can be funny and tough and break your heart and then put it all back together. He is very good at coming up with a solid plot too. The Shattering Peace was an excellent way to revisit this universe. I think fans of the series are going to love it.

I hope this isn’t the last time we see the Old Mans War series. I have a feeling that there are so many more stories to be told here. Well, as long as John Scalzi feels like telling them. I hope he does. I am very thankful for this book though. If it is the last in the series, well, I think its a pretty good way to go out.

The Shattering Peace is awesome. I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. I’ll also be getting a physical copy of the book when I can. This one needs to be added to my Old Man’s War collection!

The Shattering Peace comes out on September 16th, 2025. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing an early digital copy of the book.

Great story. Set in Old Man’s war universe. With side characters from previous books plus brand new characters to flesh out story. Look for a complicated plot. Filled with surprises. Hard to put down. Classic Scalzi.

Gretchen Trujillo is an everyday bureaucrat--who also happens to be a skilled fighter and (ages ago) the best friend of one of the most famous people in her culture, Zoe Boutin Perry. Her assistant Ran helps her stay on top of things. But when the vital, experimental Unity colony suddenly disappears, Gretchen and Ran are pulled into the tensions between the three powers that founded the colony: Earth, the Colonial Union, and the Conclave. The peace that has held between these three political powers is now even more at risk, and it's up to Gretchen, with Ran's help, to keep this peace intact. Oh, and while they are trying to find the missing colony, an incredibly powerful alien race, the Consu, are having an internal disagreement that might ruin everything--or fix it all.
The Shattering Peace is the seventh book in the Old Man's War series. I'm a huge fan of the series--and of Scalzi's writing as a whole--but it's been years since I read any of the books in the series. Scalzi is very clear in helping his readers remember who's who, what the major conflicts are, and what the history of his world is. (One really fun technique he uses to do so is through a running joke about the super inaccurate movie version of some important historical events--I won't say more here, but I loved that part!)
I enjoyed returning to this world again. Gretchen is a sympathetic main character, and I found her clever and relatable without being a stereotype. I adored Ran, one of the Obin, an alien race developed in the earlier novels (but clarified again here if this is your starting point or if, like me, it's been a minute since you've read the other books in the series). There's science and romance and fighting, and there are insightful themes about how to live with--and how to understand--people who are different than you.