The Ghost Brigades

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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.

"A mix of Starship Troopers and Universal Soldier, Ghost Brigades evokes awakening, betrayal, and combat in the best military sci-fi tradition."—Entertainment Weekly

"An impressive piece of work."—Philadelphia Inquirer

"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

"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 Frankenstein-like creatures we are able to create."—San Antonio Express-News

"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

"The alliance of three alien races against interstellar humanity, the defection of a human military scientist, and the signs of an impending war call for desperate measures from the Colonial Defense Forces. The creation of the superhuman hybrid Jared Dirac from the DNA of the traitor Charles Boutin is intended to provide a window on Boutin's mind and on the reasons for the alien alliance, but the transfer apparently fails, and Dirac is assigned to the Ghost Brigades, Special Forces troops cloned from the DNA of dead men minus any moral qualms. 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’ in this SCI FI Essential Book choice. Highly recommended."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Scalzi's riveting and original Old Man's War introduced readers to the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF), an Earth-based galactic army composed of senior citizens rejuvenated by high-tech wizardry into youthful warriors. In this equally engaging, battle-driven sequel, the CDF's latest operation entails tracking down renegade scientist Charles Boutin, who is responsible for handing over deadly military secrets to humanity's extraterrestrial enemies. Fortunately, a computer-based replica of Boutin's consciousness is on file and ready for transfer into newly cloned special-forces soldier Jirad Dirac, who shares Boutin's DNA. When the consciousness transfer doesn't quite take, Dirac is handed off to a battalion for routine but closely monitored training. Just when Dirac is getting comfortable with his own identity, however, Boutin's memories kick in, and Dirac and his team are summarily dispatched to an enemy planet to capture Boutin and solve the mystery of his treason before humanity is destroyed. Scalzi skillfully weaves together action, memorable characterizations, and a touch of philosophy in a first-rate military sf outing."—Carl Hays, Booklist

"[A] fast-paced interstellar military drama . . . 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."—Publishers Weekly

What Customers Say About The Ghost Brigades:

He mixes great SF action and tech with meaningful characters that I began to care about. Scalzi is bringing back to SF what has been lost for many years. Peace to you I really hope he continues this new, exciting work. There is wit galore and completely inovative takes on the universe as a whole. He is, in my humble opion, the heir to the gret Russian.

The Earth colonies are protected by the Colonial Defense Force (CDF). This novel tracks the experiences of such a brigade and one member in particular, Jared Dirac, who is just a little different than the other brigade members.If you liked Old Man's War or any military themed hard science fiction, you'll certainly like The Ghost Brigades. Most of the background covered in Old Man's War is touched upon in The Ghost Brigades.In the future, an overcrowded and resource stripped Earth begins colonizing the galaxy, thanks to the advent of the skip drive (allowing faster than light travel).

A clone is developed and at age 75, the consciousness of the volunteer is transferred to his new, genetically and technologically enhanced (think Six Million Dollar Man) clone body.As it turns out, some volunteers die between the ages of 65 and 75. In fact, I can say that I felt The Ghost Brigades was marginally better than its predecessor. Seems a waste to just throw away a perfectly good clone body, thus The Ghost Brigades are born, CDF special forces with no previous life experiences.

The Ghost Brigades is a sequel to Old Man's War, however it has something of a loose connection and can easily be read as a stand alone novel. At the age of 65, volunteers are enrolled and DNA samples taken. The science is good, the characters are engaging and the action maintains a good pace throughout the work.

As it turns out, the galaxy is filled with many aggressive star traveling species, competing for the choicest planets to colonize. The CDF is composed of elderly Earth residents who, facing death, volunteer for military service in exchange for a new lease on life, literally.

However, Dirac is the product of DNA of super-traitor Charles Boutin, who seems to be favoring aliens over humans. After watching Star Wars everyone wanted a lightsaber and was irritated the technology for them didn't really exist. The galaxy is full of other races competing for a limited number of habitable planets, and a constant supply of Colonial Defense Forces soldiers is essential for humanity. Starship Troopers has some good action scenes but required too much unpacking of philosophical ideas; they liked the movie better, even though they recognized it was dumber. In The Ghost Brigades, Jared Dirac is "born".

Fun. 98). The Forever War made most of the 8th unaccountably sad; the idea that a war could go on that long was almost unfathomable to a group of people who were a week old. The next day the members of the 8th greeted each other with the salutation ::Ho, Ender,:: until Brahe told them to knock it off and pay attention" (p. There is very minor overlap with the first book, primarily in regards to the adventures of Jane Sagan, a Special Forces soldier and intelligence officer.It was fun reading about the books and movies that interest these Special Forces super soldiers:"The verdicts were reasonably consistent. The main character was even bred to fight alien species like they were. In The Ghost Brigades, you'll learn more about Special Forces training. .Ender's Game delighted them all; here were soldiers who just like them, except smaller.

Developed from human DNA, but altered and enhanced, he awakes as an adult, and is ready to fight as a member of Special Forces in about a month. Everyone also agreed that the Ewoks should all die. I think if Scalzi had read the sci-fi works of Iain M Banks, these Special Forces recruits would have also appreciated the exploits of the soldiers in The Culture (The Player of Games).Enjoy. The question is whether Boutin's consciousness is in Dirac's head as well as the BrainPal that allows Dirac to integrate with his squad mates.Will Jared Dirac join traitorous Boutin, or come to humanity's aid.In Old Man's War, author John Scalzi described the training of traditional soldiers. The War Of The Worlds met with approval until the ending, which struck the 8th as a cheap trick.

Old Man's War, Ghost Brigade, Last Colony, and Zoe's Tale. There are only so many inhabitable planets that can be colonized, so get ready to fight for them.

By the way Scalzi has a wicked sense of humor.I shared each of these books with my wife. Those who like John Ringo's, Heinlein, Joe Haldeman and Military Science Fiction will probably like these.

This is the second part of a four book series. The series is a military conflict view of our future.

She loved them and got almost no work done for a week. I recommend all four.

Scalzi has yet to disappoint.

But this was just plain fun without having to get too tricky about things not much too add to what has been already said.