John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce―and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine―and what he will become is far stranger.

For a very nice BookCrosser. It's on her wishlist :-)

Thank you so much Olivia! So very nice of you to send me such a lovely Christmas present. I look forward to reading it.
Happy New Year to you and wishing you all the best. And 2016 will be the year we finish the translation!!

With his wife gone and not much else to look forward to, John Perry volunteered to be the defense force fighting to protect the colonies on planets far from Earth.

An amazing story, enjoy it more than I expected. Reminds me of Ender's Game, in which children fight in war with aliens. This is somewhat the opposite idea, where older people with their experience are treasured. Though not necessarily their bodies. A lot has happened in this book, I was surprised how the author manages to wrap things up somewhat satisfactorily, while dangling enough for readers to pick up the next book in the series.

I've passed this book on last week to a friend visiting Europe. Hope he'll enjoy it on his trip.

Thanks again Olivia. And hopefully we'll finish the translation project in 2017!!!

Quite an exciting story.

Will be leaving this in the cafe area of the hotel.

I hope whoever find this will enjoy a good read, and join BookCrossing.