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The Shattering Peace

Old Man's War, Book 7

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The Shattering Peace

By: John Scalzi
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
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Summary

After a decade, acclaimed science fiction master John Scalzi returns to the galaxy of the Old Man's War series with the long awaited seventh book, The Shattering Peace

THE PEACE IS SHATTERING

For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space. A tripartite agreement between the Colonial Union, the Earth, and the alien Conclave has kept the forces of war at bay, even when some would have preferred to return to the fighting and struggle of former times. For now, more sensible heads have prevailed – and have even championed unity.

But now, there is a new force that threatens the hard-maintained peace: The Consu, the most advanced intelligent species humans have ever met, are on the cusp of a species-defining civil war. This war is between Consu factions... but nothing the Consu ever do is just about them. The Colonial Union, the Earth and the Conclave have been unwillingly dragged into the conflict, in the most surprising of ways.

Gretchen Trujillo is a mid-level diplomat, working in an unimportant part of the Colonial Union bureaucracy. But when she is called to take part in a secret mission involving representatives from every powerful faction in space, what she finds there has the chance to redefine the destinies of humans and aliens alike... or destroy them forever.

©2025 John Scalzi (P)2025 Audible, Inc.
Adventure Humorous Military Science Fiction Space Opera
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John Scalzi has the knack of writing clever, easy to listen to / read, novels. This is the peak of his art. It’s a terrific novel with a cracking story, great characters, and superb twist in the tale. If you’re a space opera fan, this is perfect for you.

The narration is superb too, so much so, I intend seeking out the narrator’s other work.

Perfect Scalzi

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Another great story in the Old Man's War series. I always know when it's a good book, because I get through it all too quickly, which was the case here. Great plot and characters, as always brilliantly written by John Scalzi with his trademark humour.
Narration can make or brake a book, I've had to give up on stories in the past as I've been unable to get past the horrific reading. Tavia Gilbert (who I think has now become my favourite female narrator) was amazing, she really brought the characters (especially the aliens) to life with their different voices and her understanding the nuance of Scalzi's humour, which kept me enthralled.

Another great read from John Scalzi, with great narration.

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Going to read the written book instead. Narration is really bad. It is read in a weird uplifting and outgoing tone the entire way regardless of the material. There is no gravitas and it clashes badly with the story.

Narration ruined it.

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Not a patch on the original Old Man War books, and on a downward trajectory from the follow-ups.

Pacing wasnt great, the story was largely predictable, the characters were tired and the narration was very poor.

The lead character was mildly annoying. Sassy, emotional, kind hearted woman is also a high-level martial arts specialist. She was tedious.

The Raan character was, to me, hugely irritating. Lame efforts at comedy, a total departure from the Oban known prior in terms of behaviour and mannerisms, and APPALLINGLY narrated, akin to nails down a blackboard.

I nearly stopped listening on a couple of occasions, which ive only done once or twice in 200 odd audible titles.

Skip this one, you won't miss anything.

A rare miss for Scalzi

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I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the series so far, so bought this straight away when I saw it was out. However, I did struggle to get through this one. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t particularly great either. I found the story was a bit predictable, the characters were a little flat and in some cases- irritating, and some of the ‘exciting’ bits felt like they were put in for the sake of it, rather than the story calling for it.

Narrator performance wasn’t terrible but didn’t set the world alight either.

All that being said, the book does add and help fill out the old man’s war universe and does have some interesting ideas that progress the overall series. So still well worth a listen for fans of the series.

Mediocre

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