The Ghost Brigades (A Sci Fi Essential Book) (Hardcover)

by John Scalzi (Author) "No one noticed the rock..." (more)
Key Phrases: Special Forces, Colonial Union, Aten Randt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This fast-paced interstellar military drama doesn't quite meet the high expectations set by its predecessor, Scalzi's acclaimed Old Man's War (2005), but it comes impressively close. Shifting focus from seniors in young bodies to infants in old bodies, it follows Jared Dirac, a superhuman soldier, from unusual birth to ambiguous death. Dirac is an altered clone of Charles Boutin, a military scientist who betrayed humankind to alien aggressors, and the Colonial Defense Forces' only hope of finding Boutin lies in transplanting his memories into Dirac's brain. When the transplant seems to fail, Dirac is sent to Special Forces, known as the Ghost Brigades for their habit of creating new soldiers from the DNA of the dead. His indoctrination there comes in handy when Boutin's memories begin to surface. Scalzi pays gleeful homage to Ender's Game, The Forever War and Starship Troopers, sometimes at the expense of originality. All he needs to make the jump from good to great is to trust in his own ideas. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Though it's a sequel of sorts to his 2005 debut, Old Man's War, John Scalzi's new novel is hardly business as usual. Beyond the battles and the portent of humanity's end, Scalzi plays with deeper issues of identity in an increasingly technological world in this second volume of a proposed trilogy. A switch from first person to third and one narrator (Dirac) who is unaware of his own role in the story might hold the book back from must-read status, but otherwise The Ghost Brigades gleams with the best traits of thoughtful SF.<BR>Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (February 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765315025
• ISBN-13: 978-0765315021
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,921 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from a new sci-fi great!, May 29, 2006

By	Christian McCallister "dr dolphin" (The waters of the Great Lakes) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Ghost Brigades" follows "Old Man's War" but is less a sequel than simply the next chapter in the history of this fictive universe. The basic premise of both books is that in the future, humanity has colonized many planets, and discovered other intelligent species in the galaxy. Sadly, everyone is into the colonizing thing, creating competition, also called "war". Humanity's answer is the Colonial Union (CU) and it's military arm, the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). Where do they get recruits for the CDF? Well, Earth is overcrowded. But, the CDF doesn't want inexperienced recruits, nor those who have grown up in poverty. The answer: at age 65, people can sign up for the CDF and then they can enlist at 75.

What does a military force want with 75-year-old recruits? The recruits don't know, but assume that the CDF will somehow rejuvenate them. You see, the CU and the CDF started on Earth, but have separated themselves from Earth, have bought, borrowed, or taken technology from many other species, and have moved way beyond Earth technologically.

But, there is a subset of the people who sign up at 65, but die before they reach enlistment age. What happens to them? The CDF takes the DNA samples of these people, creates clones, enhances them genetically and technologically even more than the standard CDF soldiers, and calls them "Special Forces." Everyone else calls them the "Ghost Brigades." These soldiers are "awakened" with no memories of the lives their "progies" (their deceased DNA donors) led. Special Forces are given the toughest jobs, and are known for their ruthless efficiency, as they are not hindered by any ideas that might interfere with their success as soldiers.

Jane Sagan is a Special Forces lieutenant, and was the love interest of the main character, John Perry, in "Old Man's War." Jane is one of two main characters in "Ghost Brigades," with the other being Jared Dirac. Who is Jared Dirac? That turns out to be a tough question to answer.

Charles Boutin was a civilian scientist who worked for the C.U. helping them advance their consciousness transfer process, until he sold out to the enemy, spilled secrets, and committed suicide. But, did he? It turns out that Dr. Boutin was quite devious, and might not be so dead, after all. The CDF then clones his body, enhances it into a supersoldier, transfers Dr. Boutin's stored personality/consciousness pattern into the clone, and you get . . . Jared Dirac. But, Jared cannot remember anything of Charles Boutin, including why he turned traitor.

So, what do they do? They send Jared and Jane Sagan off to find Charles Boutin, if he really is still alive. Do they find him? What else do they find along the way?

Many people seem to think that "Ghost Brigades" is good, but not quite as good as "Old Man's War." I disagree. While much of the novelty of the concepts found in "Old Man's War" is not here, there are new ideas introduced, a lot of action scenes, new characters, and a very, very good story. It is darker, grittier, and more intense than its predecessor, and I like it. My understanding is that there is one more book coming in this set, with the somewhat ominous-sounding title of "The Last Colony." I can't wait!

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Free to Live, March 6, 2006

By	Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is billed as a sequel to Old Man's War, but it really isn't. While set in the same universe, it has only marginal ties to the earlier book, in the person of Jane Sagan, John Perry's love interest in that book. Instead, this book is a much closer look at the Special Forces, soldiers created from the genetic material of several people, including some now dead (hence the `Ghost' appellation). These people are force grown, then decanted into the world with their Brain Pal as their immediate mentor, giving them the capabilities and knowledge of adults when only hours old. The same Brain Pal technology allows them to integrate with their squad mates: a form of aided telepathy that allows not only for quick training but gives these individuals a sense of community and family they would otherwise not have.

The story revolves around the search for a traitorous scientist, Charles Boutin, who helped developed the Brain Pal technology and the ability to store and relocate a person's consciousness (or, depending on your point of view, their soul). Jared Dirac is a newly created clone (with enhancements) of this person, and an attempt is made to load Dirac's brain with a copy Boutin's consciousness in an effort to find out why Boutin became a traitor and where he might have gone. This attempt apparently doesn't work, and Dirac is placed with a Special Forces squad led by Jane. Dirac's development as a person is the main focus of the work from this point on.

The book starts well, with an action-oriented opening chapter that grabs, but then the next fifty pages drag somewhat, as Scalzi sets up the scenario for the rest of the book and explains the technology and military situation. This section is too long, and I felt that much of this material should have been better integrated with the prime story. When Dirac joins his squad, things pick up again; his 'training' and the first couple of military actions he is part of are probably the best part of this book. The last quarter of the book falls off a little again, as the thematic focus of the book comes to the fore - that of what makes an individual 'free' - free to make his own choices, free to decide for himself what is correct and moral, free to live his own life without being subject to the imperatives of not only others, but his genetic heritage. Only a little of this theme is directly explicated, but it dominates the action of the final portion of this book.

The political/military situation is nicely envisaged, with three alien races allied against humanity, and each of these races are well defined in their differences from humanity. The human's military strategy to break up this alliance is well thought out, and plays upon each race's unique characteristics. It also brings up a secondary thematic point of this book, about what actions are 'moral' and justified in war, when the very survival of the species is at stake, and just what the basis is for deciding whether humanity should survive.

Not as strong as Old Man's War, with too much poorly integrated 'background' material, but still a good read, with lots of food for thought nestled in its pages.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brain Possessed, October 10, 2007

By	Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ghost Brigades (Mass Market Paperback)

The Ghost Brigades (2006) is the second novel in the Old Man's War series, following Old Man's War. In the previous volume, John Perry became an official CDF hero and made barnstorming tours around the colonies. Jane Sagan went back to work in the Special Forces, AKA the Ghost Brigades.

In this novel, Jane leads a raid on an Obin colony world. The Special Forces take one Rraey prisoner from the Eneshan facility. After a slight biological adjustment of his body, Jane convinces the Rraey to cooperate.

The prisoner Cainen tells of a concerted effort by the Rraey, Eneshan and Obin to conquer the Terran colonies. This alliance has resulted from the defection of one human -- Charles Boutin -- who had been a senior scientist in Military Research. The Colonial Defense Forces were greatly surprised at this news, since Boutin was already dead and buried.

When Harry Wilson finds a recording of Boutin's consciousness among his effects, the CDF decides to create another version of the man. The standard Special Forces processing is used to produce a modified body from Boutin's DNA. Then the recorded consciousness is downloaded into it. Everything goes according to plan, except that the resulting mind seems to be a tabula rasa.

In this story, the new body is named Jared Dirac and integrated into a Special Forces training squad. After his training, Jared is assigned to a Special Forces ship under Lieutenant Jane Sagan. He serves in the Special Forces for almost a year before something brings back one of Boutin's memories.

Jared is reassigned to Military Research to try to stimulate more memories. Cainen and Harry Wilson work with him on the project. He is gradually gaining more memories and his mind displays are looking more like Boutin's every day. Then they send him to Boutin's former home station in hopes that the familiar surroundings will bring further progress. Since the station is now in Obin hands, Jared has to sneak into the habitat and the aliens detect his presence.

This story provides more information on the CDF, the Colonial Union, and their relationships with the nearby aliens. It also mentions weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons and biological warfare. The nukes are used as shipkillers and one passage implies that they have been used against alien colonies. The Obin have also used a virus to destroy an army of alien clones.

This tale also introduces a new type of WMD: cybernetic weapons. Computer viruses and other hostile softwares have appeared prominently in many SF stories. Now, however, the author has created a possibility of mass destruction through such a virus.

This sequel builds upon, but differs greatly from, the first novel. Some continuity is provided by characters and institutions, but the plot is nothing like the first story. A difficult effect, but well done. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Scalzi fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of military operations, transferred consciousness, and dutiful persons.

-Arthur W. Jordin