The Ghost Brigades

On my most recent trip to the beach, I opted to reread The Ghost Brigades by Jon Scalzi, the sequel to Old Man's War. It's a fast-paced military science fiction novel; the perfect accompaniment to a relaxing day in the sun.

The novel tells the story of the life and death of Jared Dirac, a cloned, genetically-engineered super-soldier. Basically, a trio of hostile alien races has united against humanity with the help of a traitorous human scientist named Charles Boutin. The scientist faked his death and defected for reasons unknown. Mr. Boutin’s scientific focus is on consciousness transfers and on computers implanted into soldier’s brains called BrainPals.

In order to better understand the threat facing humanity and find the renegade scientist, the Colonial Defense Forces clone Charles Boutin’s body. They attempt to transfer his consciousness (found saved on a computer drive) into the cloned body. The transfer doesn’t work. The clone of Charles Boutin is then renamed Jared Dirac and it’s given to the Ghost Brigades, an elite force within the Colonial Defense Force. Within a short period of time, Charles Boutin’s memories begin surfacing in Jared Dirac’s mind.

Many questions are raised in the novel such as; will Dirac remain loyal to his Ghost Brigade companions? Will the consciousness of Charles Boutin take over? Can Dirac learn the location of Boutin through the revealed memories? Does Dirac have free will? There’s a good amount of suspense as the story unfolds.  

I found this novel to be quite enjoyable and I would recommend it to any scifi or military action fan.

Stop by the library and pick up a copy.

Also, if you liked The Ghost Brigades then you should read our review of another Scalzi novel, The God Engines

Thanks for reading!

-Adam Delaura

Short Stories

Tom’s earlier review of “Wireless” prompted me to think short stories in general. Personally, I find them to be a great way to explore other authors and genres. Here are some of the short story collections I've read recently:

"Metatropolis" edited by John Scalzi

The collectively created urban future of these stories offers a fresh take on what tomorrow’s cities could be. Contributors include: Jay Lake, Tobias S Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, and Karl Schroeder. If you could read only one of the volumes in this post this is the one.

"Gateways" edited by Elizabeth Anne Hull

 This volume is a tribute SciFi writer Frederik Pohl, winner of the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer.  Pohl has won many Nebula and Hugo awards along with the SFWA Grand Master Award.

While Pohl fans and SciFi diehards will enjoy this collection; if you’re a new or an occasional SciFi reader I would recommend starting with one of the other collections in this post.

“The New Space Opera" & “The New Space Opera 2" edited by Gardner Dozios & Jonathan Strahan

Both of these volumes have many contributors and a varying level of quality. Most of the stories in Vol 1 are mediocre at best. A common criticism of this volume is that the writers assume that readers have already read some of their other works.  Diehard SciFi fans will most likely be familiar with the author’s works while newcomers might be left confused. Noteworthy stories include: Verthandi's Ring by Ian McDonald; an interesting depiction of two galactic civilizations engaged in an epic war. Another is Maelstrom by Kage Baker which tells the tale of an amateur theater company on Mars

Volume 2 is by far a better collection of stories.  It also seems to be more accessible to new and occasional SciFi readers. Gems from this volume include Punctuality by Garth Nix which is a short and sweet. John Scalzi’s The Tale of the Wicked is an enjoyable new take on artificial intelligence becoming self-aware.

All of these volumes include something worth reading so come to the library and check them out. 

Want to read something that's not in our catalog? Ask! It's as easy as calling us or dropping by the library.

Questions, comments, and suggestions are encouraged.

-Adam

 

The God Engines

Initially I hesitated to read “The God Engines” by John Scalzi because I had read and enjoyed “The Ghost Brigades”, but I didn’t enjoy “Zoe’s Tale”. However, once I cracked open this book I realized I was going to be late for work. “The God Engines” is a short novella that is impossible to put down.


This imaginative SciFi-fantasy mixture tells the tale of Captain Ean Tephe and the crew of the Righteous, a ship powered by an enslaved god. Tephe and the crew are tasked to travel to a distant planet with the intent to convert the local population into worshipers of Captain Tephe’s god. Something about the mission is amiss from the very beginning. Tephe’s superiors in the Bishopry Militant give far too few details, something that Tephe accepts out of faith and duty. Throughout the story Captain Tephe attempts to piece together the true nature of his mission. Unfortunately the mission turns extraordinarily horrible and Tephe’s faith is shaken to its core.

“The God Engines” is powerfully dark and definitely worth reading.


Here are links to Scalzi’s other books in our catalogue:

Metatropolis
Old Man’s War
The Android’s Dream


If you've read any of Scalzi's work leave a comment below. If not, stop into the Avon Library and check them out.