Zoe's Tale

This was my favorite John Scalzi book yet, and it's likely to be my favorite of the entire series. A lot of that is due to the protagonist/narrator. Zoe has a fantastic voice, and it was so much fun to read about this smart, sarcastic girl coming of age. But I also think Scalzi is starting to get the hang of the book writing thing. This novel is paced much better than any of the previous ones and there are fewer dangling threads left at the end of it.

Zoe's Tale is actually a retelling of The Last Colony, but from Zoe's point of view instead of her father's. This is one of my favorite author tricks. I love revisiting a story from a different perspective. Scalzi did this to fill in gaps and soothe angry fans after the previous book, which was supposed to be the end of the series. Honestly, I would have been madder about that one if I'd thought it was the end. There were so many unanswered questions. But with this one he does a stellar job of redressing his mistakes from that book and adding a lot to both this tale and the larger landscape of the world he's created.

I also cried a lot while reading this book, and only partly because I haven't been sleeping. Enzo's eulogy was beautiful and probably my favorite piece of writing by Scalzi to date. It's fun to watch an author grow like this, and I'm excited to read more of his work.

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