Book Review – The Ghost Brigades

Author: John Scalzi
Cover Artist: John Harris
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: February 2006

John Scalzi follows up his first book, Old Man’s War with The Ghost Brigades. Having read three books of his, I can say that The Ghost Brigades provides exactly what I’ve come to expect from him – a good, fun and quick read.

War is looming and the human race is on the wrong side of this one. Three other alien species have made an improbable, secret alliance against the human Colonial Defense Force. A brilliant and disillusioned traitor, Charles Boutin is at the heart of war and it’s up to the shadowy Special Forces, commonly referred to as the Ghost Brigades to save the day.

To track down Boutin a controversial decision is made – to utilize the copy of his consciousness that was salvaged from his research by implanting it into an enhanced clone grown in the fashion of a Special Forces soldier. The transfer is less successful than hoped, and Boutin’s clone develops a consciousness of its own and is thrown into active duty under the watchful eye of Jane Sagan. Memories slowly emerge and things get complicated.

The story told in The Ghost Brigades is a self-contained story within the world Scalzi created for Old Man’s War. The main character from Old Man’s War is not part of this story, though the Special Forces soldier, Jane Sagan, plays a significant role. However, this is the story of Charles Boutin, or more correctly, his clone.

This book starts out a bit slow but accelerates into a fine bit of story telling by the end. As with his other books, The Ghost Brigades is difficult to put down. Scalzi has improved in his characterization with Boutin’s clone being done quite well and Jane Sagan a bit less so. Deeper issues and meaning are not the goals here and can only be found floating near the surface, though Scalzi slides a bit more into The Ghost Brigades than he did for Old Man’s War. And as always, a witty humor infuses it all.

The Ghost Brigades is quality fun – a slow start, but a great finish, if a bit too much of a ‘happily ever after…maybe’ ending.

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