Scalzi has done it again with Zoe’s Tale.  He throws us back into the universe he created for The Last Colony and shows us the world from through the eyes of John and Jane Perry’s seventeen year old adopted daughter Zoe Boutin-Perry.

There is nothing not to like about this story, and if my previous reviews of Scalzi’s work haven’t already convinced you to go out and read his books, you are either not paying attention or not a science fiction fan.  This series is required reading for anyone who has ever looked up at the stars and thought ‘What if…’

My only regret is that I didn’t have the time to just curl up and thoroughly dump myself into this book for hours on end.  With the distractions of writing to a deadline and everything else going on at the end of a busy summer, I read this book in fits and starts, and really did myself, and the book, a disservice.

It’s one of those books I can’t wait to hand to my son and my daughter when they say they are bored in a few years.  It exemplifies why I love collecting good books, and have hundreds stacked on my shelf for the next generation of the family to read, and why I can’t box them up and store them in a closet somewhere.  You keep books like Zoe’s Tale out on the shelf where everyone can see it, and when someone asks if you can recommend a good book, you point to the Scalzi shelf and say ‘Take your pick.’