The Ghost Brigade / Overall Discussion / ** SPOILERS **

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

This topic is for The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I finished this book very quickly and immediately went on to the next book of the series for the Attuma challenge. I'm a big fan of John Scalzi and most of the books that he puts out. He is definitely my favorite Sci-Fi author (as I'm definitely more a fantasy reader than sci-fi)

This book is what you would expect, a pretty easy read with some interesting topics and aliens littered through out. This books follows a reborn soldier, born from a man who is a traitor to the human race. The soldier is reborn in hopes he can lead the Colonial Union to find the traitor before a war ignites between the humans and the obin (and another race that I can't remember offhand). The first book in this series introduced us to the alien races and in this book we learn about them a bit more and also learn about the Conclave and what its goals are (though this is given through the view of someone that wants to wipe out humans so may be a bit skewed).

All in all this book contained no real surprises for me and it was something I really enjoyed. I plan on continuing on in this series and also reading more Scalzi books as well.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

It was very enjoyable; I loved the characters.

Do you think Harvey or Seaborg was that jerk roommate John had from Old Man’s War?

And was Zoe a clone or just not dead in the first place?

[Narilka]

I took it as Zoe is not a clone, she wasn't killed in the first place.

That's a fun thought about using the jerk roommate's DNA for one of the characters. It's not one I had but I like it :)

I enjoyed the book but it wasn't Old Man's War for me.

Jared's short life was quite tragic. He gets to experience the full gamut, being "born", figuring out how to operate his body, integration with the platoon, a short romance and even experiencing the horrors of war and the wonders of "fatherhood," all in little more than a year. Yet we're constantly reminded that throughout all this that the Special Forces are essentially children themselves, not emotionally mature enough to really understand or deal everything that's going on yet forced into these situations anyway. I wish we could've spent more time with him.

[Lel]

In about to start this one but just had a thought. Is it worth re reading the first one? It’s been a few years and I don’t remember it that well. I’m sure it will come as I read this one but not sure if it would be better to start again. Any advice?

[Narilka]

No need to reread IMO. They are only loosely related and each can stand on its own.

[Lel]

Thanks Narilka. x

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

The first one is GOOD but not necessary before starting this one.

[Sandy]

I just finished Old Man's War - now I can start this one. Wahoo! I really liked the first and having read the ending I can see how there might be a brief tie in but still I am glad I am reading in order. OCD here...

[Matthew]

I thought this was a decent story and a neat a idea. But I didn't like the writing. Disclaimer: I listened to the audio book. There were continual disconnects in the way it's read. The "he said" and "she said" were jarring. Oddly enough, I had this same problem with Redshirts even though it was read by a different person. I don't know if it would be as repetitive and unimaginative when reading it.
But the conversation between Kynen (sp?) and Sagan at the end was great. Not only did Jared grow a lot more than the usual SF soldier, but he seemed to promote growth in others. Is this because he didn't have the integration shoved on him immediately like all other SFs? Or because the Boudin consciousness overlay enabled an otherwise unused empathy?

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

After someone else pointed it out, I noticed that every single line of dialogue has a speaker tag. While reading it, my mind filtered them out, but I can see it being an issue on audio.

[Rick]

" The "he said" and "she said" were jarring. "

He does this. It's not really noticeable reading the text because your eye skips over it but I've heard others who listen to Scalzi's books comment that this is distracting.

[Melanie]

Matthew wrote: "Is this because he didn't have the integration shoved on him immediately like all other SFs? Or because the Boudin consciousness overlay enabled an otherwise unused empathy? "

I think your second hypothesis is more likely. Empathy is natural but also a learned skill.

Here's my question: Why do villains always detail their evil plans in such detail before "smiting" their enemies? I know the story needed the end game, but that was quite the classically villainous monologue at the end.

[Matthew]

Melanie wrote: "Why do villains always detail their evil plans in such detail before "smiting" their enemies? I know the story needed the end game, but that was quite the classically villainous monologue at the end"

I think it's because they don't consider themselves the villains. He was the hero of his own story. He was saving humanity from the CU. In this case, I think he saw enough of himself in Jared that he thought he could convince him of his righteous motives. Boutin did say it would be easier if Jared were a willing participant. But villains in general do it because they want to feel justified to someone who everyone considers a hero. It's almost "If I can convince this hero how right I am, maybe I can convince everyone else that my plan is the best plan."

[N.E.C.C.]

Audrey wrote: "After someone else pointed it out, I noticed that every single line of dialogue has a speaker tag. While reading it, my mind filtered them out, but I can see it being an issue on audio."

I'm no expert but i think that a Scalzi think. This is the third book i've read from him and he does it a lot, especially in Redshirts, drove me nuts hahaha.

I liked it, and that's it. It didn't blow my mind, i was expecting more because i loved the first book, it had a lot of action and humor and those were the things that were missing here.
This is more of an expansion of the universe instead of a direct sequel. I didn't like that at the begening but with time i ended up enjoying it.
There's a lot of information in this book, expanding the universe and that was good but at times it was kinda boring because it was A LOT of information.
Overall, it was a good book, nothing more. I'm going to keep reading this series because i like the universe and John Scalzi's writing

[Lel]

I liked it, I dont think it will be one of my all time favorites but it has the capacity to be one of my fav series.

I loved Jareds character. I feel like he got the rough end of the deal but took it so well and kicked arse with the cards he was dealt. I loved the fact that he got his revenge at the end and took out Boutin.

I never considered the fact that Zoe could be a clone. Its not that hard to see. Boutin was obviously aware that the CU would be gunning for him and may have taken enough tissue from Zoe earlier in life to make a clone. But I just don't think thats what happened.

As to SF being children, I think that's everyone's opinion of them. But I think as with their training, due to having the integration of the BrainPal they mentally and emotionally mature faster than those without it. They don't have to wait for everyone to talk to get ideas and thoughts across, they can just think them to each other.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I got a late start on this one but I'm working through it quickly and will probably finish before the end of the month. So far I don't like it as much as Old Man's War. The info dumps in the early going are excessive.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Randy wrote: “I got a late start on this one but I’m working through it quickly and will probably finish before the end of the month. So far I don’t like it as much as Old Man’s War. The info dumps in the early …”

Yes, that kind of slowed down the beginning.

[Wayland, Ernest Scribbler]

I really liked Old Man's War. I didn't think this was quite as good, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Scalzi has some great concepts in here, and I like that he took some complex scientific concepts and made them easier to follow. The first half was a good sci fi action adventure, and the second a bit more complicated.

Good, but not quite as good as the first.

[Sandy]

Just started and have to say the beginning had me going. Jane Sagan - huh - did everyone jump to the same conclusion I did on the doctor - bit surprised when Jane came into the story and how.
Will save the comments for later.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished it and I liked it about as much as Old Man's War. 4 stars from me.

There was less snarky humor in this one which was a plus for me. I think Scalzi gets too carried away with that snarkiness sometimes, to the point that all his characters sound like teenagers or Chandler Bing from Friends.

The big plus for me was the moral dilemmas that were presented throughout the book. The jarring scene in the middle of the book where the alien baby maggot was kidnapped despite the soldiers' distaste in the mission gave an opportunity to ponder if the CDF was really the good guys. Boutin made a lot of interesting points when he was "monologging" to Dirac near the end. And the final chapter showed that there are a lot of political things happening in the universe that we are not yet fully aware of. I hope the future installments shed some more light on these issues.

Audrey wrote: "Do you think Harvey or Seaborg was that jerk roommate John had from Old Man’s War?"

I think that guy died early in OMW. If I recall, that's the first mention of the Ghost Brigades.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Right – they take those recruits who sign up but die before getting their new bodies and use their dead cloned? bodies for Ghost Brigade members. That’s how John’s wife became Jane.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Audrey wrote: "Right – they take those recruits who sign up but die before getting their new bodies and use their dead cloned? bodies for Ghost Brigade members. That’s how John’s wife became Jane."

Oh, I get what you're saying. That's an interesting thought. It hadn't occurred to me at all. I wonder if we find out later in the series about what happened to that guy.