Zoe’s Tale was published by Tor Books in 2008 and was nominated for the Hugo Award. It retells the events of The Last Colony (the third Old Man’s War novel) from the perspective of Zoe Boutin-Perry — the teenage adopted daughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan, and biological daughter of the traitor Charles Boutin from The Ghost Brigades. More importantly, Zoe is the only human being revered as almost divine by the Obin — an alien species to whom her father gave consciousness.
The novel’s YA-accessible perspective (Zoe is sixteen) allows Scalzi to explore aspects of his universe that the adult military perspective of the earlier books couldn’t reach: what it’s like to be a teenager on a colony world, to have alien bodyguards who would die for you without hesitation, to carry the weight of being sacred to an entire species. Zoe’s voice is sharp, funny, self-aware, and authentically adolescent without being condescending.
The plot follows the same events as The Last Colony — the founding of a new colony and the conspiracy that threatens to destroy it — but from Zoe’s limited and personal perspective, the political and military dimensions become secondary to questions of identity, loyalty, and the terrifying responsibility of being worshipped.
Collecting Zoe’s Tale
First edition (Tor Books, New York, 2008): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $25–$60
- Signed copies: $50–$100