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Overview
The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. They're young, they're fast and strong, and they're totally without normal human qualms.
The universe is a dangerous place for humanity—and it's about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.
Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers — a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin's DNA, Jared's brain should be able to access Boutin's electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.
At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutin's memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason's for Boutin's betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his "father," he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanity's mere military defeat…
Synopsis
The sequel to the extraordinary Old Man's War
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 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewThe Ghost Brigades are the Colonial Defense Forces heavy hitters, super-modified human fighting machines created from the DNA of the dead -- and they're up against three alien races allied to wipe out humankind in John Scalzi's second novel and sequel to 2005's Old Man's War.
When a captured alien administrator spills the beans about a scheme to exterminate humankind once and for all, Lieutenant Jane Sagan and her compatriots in the Colonial Defense Forces are shocked by the particulars: "a genocide planned in great detail, based on the heretofore unheard of cooperation of three races. And one human." That one human is scientific genius Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest military secrets. But why would a human ally himself with aliens who are bent on eradicating his race and taking control of the Colonial Union's numerous planets? With time quickly running out before an interstellar war erupts -- a conflict that humankind can never hope to win -- a dangerous plan is hatched to create a Ghost Brigade soldier from Boutin's DNA in hopes of accessing the scientist's memories and knowledge. But the plan has unexpected results…
Scalzi has been compared to science fiction legend Robert A. Heinlein for good reason: His smooth blend of hard science fiction, military sci fi, and space opera is addictively readable; and his breakneck pacing and surprisingly deep character development make his novels practically impossible to put down. Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, and subsequent installments in this loosely knit saga could very well be the early 21st century's answer to Asimov's Foundation series. They're that good. Paul Goat Allen
From the Publisher
"The sequel to Old Man's War combines taut military action with keen insights into the moral issues revolving around developing technologies. Scalzi has a finely tuned sense of balance between personal drama and the 'big picture' ... Highly recommended."—Library Journal (starred review) on The Ghost Brigades
"A mix of Starship Troopers and Universal Soldier, Ghost evokes awakening, betrayal, and combat in the best military sci-fi tradition."
—Entertainment Weekly on The Ghost Brigades
"An impressive piece of work." — Philadelphia Inquirer on The Ghost Brigades
"Fast and deep…I like the galaxy this author's playing in, the characters he limns, the situations he's playing with, and I'm glad there's at least one more volume on the way."
— San Diego Union-Tribune on The Ghost Brigades
"In Heinleinesque fashion, the book is loaded with scenes of comradeship, isolation, ruthlessness and the protocols, which govern the lives of active-duty soldiers. But this is where Scalzi, famous for his blog 'The Whatever,' surpasses Heinlein. Scalzi weaves in subtle discussions of humanity's growing fear of aging and our simultaneous attraction and repulsion to the Frankensteinlike creatures we are able to create." — San Antonio Express-News on The Ghost Brigades
"Scalzi is a natural heir to Heinlein, and his second book in this series is a good old-fashioned space opera, which takes time to question the nature of free will."
— St. Louis Press-Dispatch on The Ghost Brigades
"Astonishingly proficient."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Old Man's War
"Top-notch. His combat scenes are blood-roiling. His dialogue is suitably snappy and profane. And the moral and philosophical issues he raises... insert useful ethical burrs under the military saddle of the story."
—The Washington Post on Old Man's War
"Smartly conceived and thoroughly entertaining, Old Man's War is a splendid novel."
—Cleveland Plain-Dealer