The Ghost Brigades (Sci Fi Essential Books)
by John Scalzi
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 531)
Read in April, 2008
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. ...more
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Read in June, 2008
I enjoyed Old Man's War a lot. While it had a lot of familiar sci-fi elements, Scalzi's writing style is unique and refreshing; full of clever humor, great characters and intense action. In The Ghost Brigades, Scalzi simply takes all of these elements and enhances on them. I think I liked this book even better.
The Ghost Brigades is a much different book than Old Man's War. It seems to me that with this book, Scalzi drifts a bit from Heinlein territory and truly breaks into his own. Old Man'...more
The Ghost Brigades is a much different book than Old Man's War. It seems to me that with this book, Scalzi drifts a bit from Heinlein territory and truly breaks into his own. Old Man'...more
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Read in July, 2008
Hilarity! Well, if you're me, and for very specific reasons. As a book, more of a psychological thriller.
Jared Dirac is a clone created to house the consciousness of escaped traitor, Charles Boutin. When the consciousness doesn't take, Dirac is shuffled off to the Ghost Brigades, to make himself useful as a soldier. Most of the drama comes from Dirac trying to discover what made Boutin a traitor, and if that potential lied within him as well. I tend to like the amnesiac protagonist, so ...more
Jared Dirac is a clone created to house the consciousness of escaped traitor, Charles Boutin. When the consciousness doesn't take, Dirac is shuffled off to the Ghost Brigades, to make himself useful as a soldier. Most of the drama comes from Dirac trying to discover what made Boutin a traitor, and if that potential lied within him as well. I tend to like the amnesiac protagonist, so ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone interested in a light hard science fiction read
Most of the way through I was really captivated by this book. It was like a passionate affair fizzling out.
At first I could see no wrong, then I could see nothing but.
Scalzi sets up an interesting universe populated with engaging characters. There's conflict, outer in the context of the enemy aliens, and inner in the battle for the self Jared, Sagan, Cainen all take part in. The writing, crisp, bright, well paced is a welcome change from the many digressors and wanderers that litter the ...more
At first I could see no wrong, then I could see nothing but.
Scalzi sets up an interesting universe populated with engaging characters. There's conflict, outer in the context of the enemy aliens, and inner in the battle for the self Jared, Sagan, Cainen all take part in. The writing, crisp, bright, well paced is a welcome change from the many digressors and wanderers that litter the ...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Max by:
Roman
In Old Man's War, Scalzi creates a world where consciousness can be transferred from a "Realborn" human being into a genetically engineered super soldier. The scary Others in that book are not the alien species the human Colonial Union fights, but the soldiers that are created from the genes of the dead without having had a consciousness transferred. The Ghost Brigades are a dark mystery, and in the sequel to his book Scalzi gets to explore the larger idea of what it means to move cons...more
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Read in July, 2007
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
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Sequel to Old Man's War. The first book was a smart rewrite of Starship Troopers -- half military training in the far future, half actual battle in same future. The kernel that made Old Man's War interesting was that only old people could fight properly in this future -- only old people have the experience to take on alien civilizations. Well past retirement age, they're given new (and genetically advanced) bodies and sent out to protect Earth's colonies.
In Old Man's War, there's much hinting...more
In Old Man's War, there's much hinting...more
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Read in April, 2008
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 special-forc...more
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 special-forc...more
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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 expecte...more
As with most sophomoric attempts, the uniqueness of Scalzi’s universe was expecte...more
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Read in September, 2007
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 w...more
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 w...more
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Read in February, 2008
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 less. They...more
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 less. They...more
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Read in February, 2008
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Read in April, 2008
This book is one of the better Science Fiction books I've read lately. The writing style is a favorite of mine. I like it when authors will hook me in with a line that is very blunt foreshadowing. "It was the jellybeans that did it," was the way one chapter started. Then followed a couple of pages that brought me up to the critical jellybean moment. The science fiction, like most written currently, deals with a lot of genetics. However, unlike most SciFi, I could follow it and it...more
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Read in August, 2007
Not as clever or as entertaining as his first novel, Old Man's War. A good analogy would be between Ender's Game/Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide/Children of the Mind. The former books are motivated by strong ideas but play out through exciting plots and interesting characters, whereas the latter are mostly talky expositions of (sometimes) interesting ideas.
Ghost Brigades is the same way -- lots of interesting stuff here, but too much tell, not enough show. And parts of it come off like ...more
Ghost Brigades is the same way -- lots of interesting stuff here, but too much tell, not enough show. And parts of it come off like ...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Sci-fi fans; fans of the first book.
The Ghost Brigades is darker than its predecessor, and Scalzi’s abandonment of the first-person perspective of cynical, wisecracking John Perry (who is absent in this novel, as are many of the first novel’s few surviving characters) lends the novel a darker tone. This sadness is enhanced by the very nature of the Special Forces soldiers, who first see children when the children are dead, murdered by the birdlike, human-devouring Rraey. Upon seeing their bodies, one soldier remarks, when aske...more
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Read in July, 2008
I knocked of a star was because Scalzi knocks off his most interesting and complicated characters - Jared and Cainen. Scalzi likes his stories simple.
I noticed a lot of sobbing over Zoe, must be a paternal thing.
Thinking about it, it seems the whole purpose of this book is to get a secondary character (Sagan) together with a tertiary character (Zoe) so we can get on with the sequel. A partially developed, potentially more interesting and morally complicated story lays on top. Jared ne...more
I noticed a lot of sobbing over Zoe, must be a paternal thing.
Thinking about it, it seems the whole purpose of this book is to get a secondary character (Sagan) together with a tertiary character (Zoe) so we can get on with the sequel. A partially developed, potentially more interesting and morally complicated story lays on top. Jared ne...more
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Read in January, 2007
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...more
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...more
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Read in May, 2008
I would really love to provide a great review of this book, but I feel like anything that I'd say would give away part of the plot and encourage you not to read it, and I certainly don't want that to happen at all. Let's just say that Scalzi does a tremendous job writing science fiction for people who people who do and don't like science fiction alike. He deftly weaves human nature, xenobiology, and metaphysical concepts into a tremendous narrative that's hard to put down. If you've read his ...more
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Read in June, 2008
Great sequel to Old Man's War. Not to avoid cliches but this is like peeling an onion, each new layer revealing a more sophisticated plot and trajectory different than I expected. When is a clone not a clone? What is consciousness? Where do memories come from? What are marks of pure bravery and sacrifice? Some interesting questions that Scalzi takes on. Jane Sagan continues to impress. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this tale and have started the next installment. The blend of humor, sarca...more
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Read in May, 2008
Not as gripping as Old Man's War was, but still a darned good read. This expands on the universe introduced in Old Man's War, though with different main characters. Old Man's War was pretty much an update of Heinlein's Starship Troopers brought forward, and it really succeeded in that goal. Old Man's War wasn't based on another novel, so it doesn't have the same kind of feel. Stil
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