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Nov 25, 2011

Kemper rated it:

James Cameron and John Scalzi Share An Awkward Elevator Ride

James Cameron: Could you hit the button for the top floor, please?

John Scalzi: Sure. Say, aren’t you James Cameron?

JC: That’s right. My friends call me King of the World! Ha Ha! Just kidding.

JS: Right.

JC: You look kind of familiar. Have we met?

JS: Met? No. Maybe you recognize me from my author’s photo on my books. I’m John Scalzi.

Long pause
More...

18 comments like (35 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Dan rated it:

In order to catch a traitorous military scientist, Charles Boutin, the Colonial Defense Forces transfer a recording of his consciousness into a new body. Thus, Jared Dirac is born. The transfer apparently didn't take and Dirac joins the CDF's special forces, the Ghost Brigades. When Boutin's personality begins surfacing, Jared's life takes a turn for the worse. Can Jared stop Boutin before the CDF goes to war against three alien armies?

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting fr More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Jon rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Laurel rated it:

I believe that science fiction and fantasy are the most effective way of exploring our own morality. When we see people in an alternate world, it is easier for us to step back and look at the choices they make as a parallel to the choices we make. It forces us to really consider the state of our world, and whether or not changes need to be made for the better. Scalzi has written incredibly real and humane characters, in a plot that is very timely to the world we live in. This book will stay More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Nikki rated it:

I really like John Scalzi's writing. It's not too fancy, no particular bells and whistles, but it's not stilted either. It goes down easy. The Ghost Brigades is set in the same context as Old Man's War, and links up to it in various ways, but the main protagonist is a different one with a whole different bundle of issues. I wasn't surprised that Scalzi decided to write more about the Ghost Brigades, and I was half-expecting it not to link up at all -- which would have been disappointing, really. More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Joel rated it:

Perfectly enjoyable, fairly shallow retread of the themes expressed in Old Man's War. Plus one evil mastermind who gives a big third-act villain speech, sealing his doom, instead of just keeping his stupid mouth shut. The lead character is a cypher (literally) and not nearly as much fun as the old man from book one.

I'd go on to book three but my library is all out of audiobooks and I don't think I'd get too far trying to actually read one.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

BunWat rated it:

I really enjoy the sort of hard science fiction/adventure story that snags you at the first page and takes you roller coastering onward without a lot of maundering about. So I really enjoyed this book.

Also I was just in the right mood.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Jim rated it:

A sequel to Old Man's War, the story continues following Jane Sagan, an important character from the previous book, but it can stand alone very well which gets in an extra 1/2 star. If you've read the previous book, you can guess that this story follows the special forces & a lot of questions about them get answered.

I can't put my finger on it, but I wasn't quite as taken with this book as the previous one. It still receives high marks & was quite well done. The plot was basically More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Tim rated it:

John Scalzi was one of my best literary finds this year, and after reading Old Man’s War in the spring, I picked up the pseudo-sequel The Ghost Brigades. Like the previous novel, this second installment takes place in the far flung future where soldiers are made from the recycled elderly, and the heroes and heroines are embattled with moral dilemmas stemming from their "supposed" lack of humanity.

As with most sophomoric attempts, the uniqueness of Scalzi’s universe was exp More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Ron rated it:

Excellent work. If anything it expands on both the universe and the depth of Old Man's War. If the first book was a rousing war tale, this was a more introspective insight into what makes us human in the midst of the inhumanity of war.

Amid all the techno-babble about DNA Scalzi erred on what seems to be the latest thinking on "junk DNA", that is, that it's not junk. It's a minor quibble which in no way imperils the story. Assumedly, the science of that day would be able to More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Irfon-kim rated it:

Set in the same universe as Old Man's War, and immediately following it, this nonetheless defies the concept of a true sequel by being about almost totally different people. Unfortunately, while it may be marginally less predictable than Old Man's War, it also lacks the strong sense of character and depth of personality that the prior novel had. For me, that sapped it of most of the reasons to want to keep reading. I knew that I loved Zoe's Tale (which I read before reading any of these) and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Minh rated it:

Hot off the first novel I jumped into the Ghost Brigades and was instantly disappointed when I realised that John Perry, from 'Old Man's War' wasn't featured in the novel. Apart from a few paragraph mentions John isn't a part of the story at all.

Instead the novel focused on the lesser known solders, the Special Forces, an elite soldier created almost from scratch, bodies created from DNA of unfortunate CDF volunteers who didn't quite make it and minds born solely from the BrainPals stored withi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Kiri rated it:

In this sequel to Old Man's War, Scalzi focuses on the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces. The Special Forces are also known as the "Ghost Brigades" because they're formed from people who signed up to serve as soldiers... but died before they actually made it to boot camp. The actual soldiers aren't ghosts, of course, but inhabitants of fast-grown bodies made from the super-augmented DNA of the dead enlistees. The Special Forces spring into being as adults and must then l More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Bruce rated it:

-entertaining future warfare read
-full of logical loopholes or "retarded" science premises
-cumbersome wordy writing style, but not one that slows you down

Colonel James Robbins gazed down at the rotted, exhumed body on the morgue slab for a minute, taking in the decay of the body from more than one year under the dirt.

Just sayin'

The popularity of Scalzi is a bit surprising to me... scooping up hugo nominations left and right. OTOH Lois Mc More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

James rated it:

I save five-star ratings for books either of consummate skill or of dramatic social significance. Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades earns five stars from me for achieving both in the same work.

The second book in the series initiated by Old Man's War, this novel takes a sharp turn towards fundamental questions of humanity as asked and ultimately answered by one whose humanity is in grave doubt. The outsider at the center of this book, along with his fellow bio-engineered freaks, take the di More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Marva rated it:

My husband checked this out from the library and I snagged it when he finished. Today, the book was due and we couldn't renew because somebody else had a request on it.

My feeling about 1/3 into the book? Oh, well. I won't try to check it out to read the rest.

I do NOT want to condemn this book for others. I do believe Scalzi is a fine SciFi writer worth reading. Thing is, I'd read the book following this one and I just couldn't get my interest up for something that ha More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Reed rated it:

While I don't read as much sf as I used to, I fully enjoyed Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades--more than I expected, actually.

I pondered why I dug it so much, and pretty much drew a blank. The only possibility I can come up with is the fact it (deliberately, I assume) hearkens back to the Heinlein juvenile sf novels I read as a kid. Fun, personal, easy to read, engaging adventure.

This is not a slight in the least. I do not think Scalzi's books are juvenile fiction, but I do More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Rope rated it:

This morning I finished listening to the audio version of The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi. I'm a huge Scalzi fan and the first book of this series Old Man's War was quite possibly one of the most enjoyable sci-fi books I've ever read. Though I didn't much care for the naration (good naration, I think, is damn hard to do) the book was awesome. Scalzi's creative genius, humor, and expertise in geek lore mix together for a great story. Favorite quote:

"After watching Star Wars More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Chris rated it:

Back in aught-Six I read Scalzi's breakout book Old Man's War and loved it. It had everything - high-end science fiction, philosophy, cool battle scenes and a protagonist whose sense of humor reminded me a lot of my friend Jon. The book's premise was very simple - why do we use young people to fight in wars? Because they have the bodies that work best for the task. If that were not an issue, then who would we want? Why, old people, of course. They have the life experience, the patience and the p More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Longwing rated it:

Ghost Brigades picks up where Scalzi left off in Old Man's War. While I'd suggest reading both, I was surprised how little anyone needed to learn from Old Man's War before picking this book up. The two are nearly independent, and really could be read in either order.

Where Old Man's War was a (fairly strange) personal story, Ghost Brigades deals with far more global issues. Scalzi discusses the ominous trends he set up in Old Man's War, debating them through the lens of a newborn spec More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Jim rated it:

The Ghost Brigades returns to the universe of Scalzi's novel Old Man's War. In the first book, Scalzi introduced readers to John Perry and Earth's rejuvenated soldiers, the Colonial Defense Forces. This time around, he takes us into the world of The Ghost Brigades, the special forces of the CDF. Jane Sagan must track down a traitor, and what better way to find a traitor than to copy his consciousness into a freshly-baked Ghost Brigade soldier? But the transfer doesn't work ... at least, not righ More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Chris rated it:

I like that it doesn't slavishly extend the plot of the original, instead following a minor character (are all the books in this series tied together by the same secondary character? I don't know yet...), but this sequel doesn't bring the novelty of the original.

Old Man's War had an absurdly capable & lucky protagonist. Here the perspective broadens a bit, and it becomes clear that, really, humanity is absurdly capable and lucky.

We have BrainPals/SmartBlood/MPs, an augmen More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Leo rated it:

A more thoughtful followup to Scalzi's first book, Old Man's War. Whereas OMW was rip-roaring good space opera with a sprinkling of harder scifi elements thrown in, TGB explores the implications and ethical considerations of the technology introduced in OMW in much greater depth and with added sensitivity. Oh, there's still lots of action and the characters are every bit as likable, but if OMW is a nice juicy steak, then TGB is a five course meal topped off with coffee and a loaded dessert cart More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Pygmy rated it:

Perhaps a 3.5? Good stuff, solid, intelligent and exciting, with interesting concepts of the evolution of a species and technology. Just, for some reason, it wasn't quite as good as Old Man's War (which was the best of Scalzi's so far) or Android's Dream.

Scalzi's characters were more convincing (and funny) as old people turning into young bodied super soldiers than babies being grown in an adult body. For one thing, I wasn't convinced that these super soldiers were 1 year old or les More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Matt rated it:

Child soldiers have never been so much fun! Okay, so maybe they’re not really children, and, maybe they are actually genetically designed super soldiers that vary in shape and size from lime green Adonises to space-voyaging turtles. I don’t think I’m doing a good job selling this book, but, suffice it to say, it is an enormously enjoyable read and a great sequel effort to boot. While the first of the series, Old Man’s War, was flawless, Ghost Brigades falls a little short in my view, but I th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Clinton rated it:

I read this book after enjoying The Old Man's War. John Scalzi is a really cool author. He has set up a high science-fiction universe but doesn't appear to take things too seriously. His treatment of the world is almost tongue-in-cheek, but it definitely keeps things light, a plus given some of the heavy settings he's writing about.

I didn't find Ghost Brigades to be quite as captivating a read as The Old Man's War, but it was still highly entertaining. It's just what I want out o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Nathan rated it:

After reading The Old Man's War, I immediately went out and obtained the second novel in the series. Please refer to my review of the first novel for more information, but to summarize the first novel was a complete page-turner and left me wanting more after I completed it.

This novel introduces a new character in the series that further fleshes out the details of the mysterious "Ghost Brigade" introduced in the first novel. Additionally, we have occasional scenes/chapters w More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Mary rated it:

As I expected, this book supplies some of what I missed in Old Man's War, and I did like it more. It takes a while to figure out what the conflict is, and I was a bit uncomfortable for the first five chapters because the perspective is ambiguous. I couldn't figure out if the main character was going to be Cainen, the Rraey scientist, or Jane Sagan, his captor, ghost brigade lieutenant created from John Perry's wife's DNA, or Jared Dirac, a new soldier created from Charles Boutin's DNA and given More...

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Jan 14, 2012

David rated it:

The Ghost Brigades is the second book in John Scalzi's Old Man's War Universe.

The title refers to the Special Forces operatives that we first met in the first book in the series. Unlike enlisted personnel, these soldiers are born into their fully grown genetically engineered and enhanced bodies and know nothing else. The templates come from enlisted personnel who die before they can have their consciousness transferred from their seventy-year old bodies into their newly revitalized bod More...

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Nov 25, 2011

Tony rated it:

It's the sequel to Old Man's War and just as great. The two books I've read by Scalzi have made me more of a fan and admirer of good sci fi and really opened my eyes to some new types of writing. The Ghost Brigades are soldiers made by using the consciousness of dead humans put into super suits to take on extremely dangerous missions. In this book, they are tasked with tracking down a human defector who has seemingly united three alien races against humanity and the only way to do that is to us More...

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