Rating: 4.5⭐️
The Ghost Brigades, the second in the Old Man’s War series by John Scalzi, is a better story in many ways. It’s also more horrifying.
I don’t remember if it comes with trigger warnings but it should. Especially as an alien baby is kidnapped and then horrifically killed as part of the mission , with its alien mother’s emotional devastation on page and as part of the mission’s goal. Maybe because it’s in no way identifiable as a human being but it doesn’t make the scene any less raw or heartbreaking. And it does have different deep impact on the characters in the narrative.
It’s probably the most emotional scene of the book.
In a book that constantly questions what it is that makes you a human being, where the characters are those who have had their “consciousnesses or souls “ copied and put into fabricated bodies, repeatedly. Are you really human beings or something else?
Is a question that is asked over and over. And each character has to find their own answer given their circumstances.
Jared Dirac is a “copy” of a scientist who turned traitor. Jared is now a member of the Ghost Brigades, a special force of super “ghost soldiers” , who are fabricated from the DNA of dead people and supposedly don’t remember their pasts. Only it’s not working out that way. And the traitor is very much alive.
It’s a fascinating story. Full of hard truths about space exploration, wars, self awareness and what it means to be human.
This isn’t series I’m reading quickly though but I’ll finish it eventually. I’m not emotionally attached to any of the people here. They get disposed of too easily and very quickly. Maybe that’s the way of war and Scalzi’s message here. That everyone here is basically seen as gun fodder. If so, message received. The higher ups are exactly as ruthless and manipulative as they would be in the situation.
However, it doesn’t make me feel engaged in the same way that I would if I was following any of the characters.
Interesting. And well done in many other respects.
Buy link
Blurb
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…
Old Man’s War Series
#1 Old Man’s War
#2 The Ghost Brigades
#3 The Last Colony
#4 Zoe’s Tale
#5 The Human Division
#6 The End of All Things
Short fiction: “After the Coup”
