Well, some books fall apart in the third act while others have unexpected payoffs. Mostly if I really can't get into a book I'll put it aside and come back to it later. But with just a week left to vote I'm trying to be thorough :)

Correct, "Old Man's War" is Scalzi's first *published* novel. "Agent to the Stars" was available online earlier but was not actually published until last year.

This is why there's a voting process

I noticed the Heinlein flavour a little but didn't think much about it until I read the acknowledgement at the end of the book. I know many Heinlein fans love OMW and Scalzi addresses the subject at length on his website:

"The Starship Troopers correlation, on the other hand, is emphatically not a coincidence, since Old Man's War is modeled after that novel in several ways"

http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/002329.html

The point I was making about Accelerando is not so much that the Stross novel is superior but that going from one style to the other so fast probably did Old Man's War no favours. To my eyes the idea-per-page count in Accelerando was dizzying, the characters and style complex. Old Man's War was so different in pace, characterization and style that a palate cleanser might have been a good idea. I don't think it would have changed my vote, though.

Mind you, I'm not surprised that you've had a hard time reading Accelerando. It was touch-and-go for the first few pages for me as well. I was certain it was going to be one of those books whose style I would have difficulty adjusting to. Sometimes it never happens (Hardwired), sometimes it takes several attempts (Cosmonaut Keep) and in this case it just hacked my brain to suit it's needs and off we went :)

As for the Latin, ack! All I can say is... you guessed it: "mea culpa"