The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

This was a fairly impressive book. While it didn't hold quite the allure for me as Scalzi's first book Old Man's War, it still had a decent plot and did quite a bit to further the reader's knowledge about the universe its set in.

Jared Dirac is a member of the Ghost Brigades, or as they prefer to call it, the Colonial Defense Force's Special Forces. Unlike the rest of the CDF's recruits, the Special Forces are a unique breed of human. They are put into a body that once belonged to a dead person and have higher capacity for thinking and combat than most humans do.

Dirac is not just any Special Forces member however. He is an experiment that failed. Originally created to house the consciousness of a scientist named Charles Boutin, when the consciousness doesn't stick, he is sent to be part of the Special Forces. Boutin, once a great inventor for the BrainPal system that CDF uses in its army, had become a traitor and when knowledge of an attack coming from three joined enemy alien races is learned, the CDF needs to find out just what Boutin knows. Hence, Dirac is created.

While at the beginning he is just a regular Special Force recruit, he gradually feels himself remembering things that are not from his own life, but from a life he learns was Boutins. As he grows a deeper understanding of the man he has to choose between helping the CDF or turning traitor as he understands Boutin's beliefs.

While this novel is technically a sequel to Old Man's War, it could easily be read on its own. Some characters reoccur, most notably Jane Sagan from the first novel, the romantic interest of the protagonist in that novel. A few army leaders as well reappear but don't play nearly as large a role as she does. In fact, Dirac is placed in Sagan's care after he joins the Special Forces.

Unlike the first book, this one is written from a 3rd person perspective. It makes the novel somewhat lose the relatability the first has, but does not hinder the telling of the story. Many of Scalzi's innovations were quite creative and believable that such technology would be available this far in the future. He describes them with such ease it isn't impossible to understand the concepts of how they work.

My only complaint about this book would be that the alien races aren't really described very well. Scalzi gives you have half descriptions and you are left to try to figure out the rest of the society of these beings and even sometimes how they look. I would have liked to see some more description when he introduces these characters to his novel.

While I had hoped for a continuation of the first story, this was a good book on its own. My only hope is that the next novel in the series continues on with the characters I grew to like in the first one.

The Ghost Brigades
Copyright 2006
343 pages

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

This was a really intriguing novel. Very original and it kept you wanting more.

John Perry has just turned seventy-five. After visiting his wife's grave, he goes to enlist in the army. Unlike most programs, the Colonial Defense Forces take only those who have experience and knowledge in life, which is why they must be old. There are some rules however, despite the promise of being able to fight in an old body (they must do some kind of regeneration the enlistees believe) there are some heavy prices to pay for joining.

You are considered dead to the World and not allowed to come back to Earth. Nor can you communicate with anyone from your past. You belong to the Colonial Forces for ten years, if you make it out alive.

Not sure what to expect, he takes the special elevator to space where the main headquarters are located. There, they undergo a physical and mental exam and are introduced to how they will fight the war.

Once he is battle fit, he heads out to training. Quickly promoted a leader of his area, he gains the respect of his fellow soldiers. Once they complete training they are engaged in several battles. After a particular bad one, he believes he sees his wife, but that would be impossible as she had died eight years before.

The colonial forces must gain places in the galaxy for colonies. How will John Perry help complete that.

Scalzi writes very intriguing characters. They are real and complicated and best of all, not perfect. They all have flaws and make mistakes.

My only complaint about this novel would be the language used in it. For being hundreds of years in the future, the language is written as someone would talk now. The cuss words are all modern cuss words. When you look at history in just a mere hundred years going from "cad" to "d**k" it stands to reason that those same names would not be used that far in the future. They'd be replaced by something else. But in this novel they are not. Other patterns of speech don't seem like they follow this progression as well.

For a science fiction book it does bring in a lot of innovation. They are unique ideas and he presents them very well. I look forward to the next one in the series.

Old Man's War
Copyright 2005
311 pages