Perhaps twice a winter, I enjoy making a big pot of chili, suitable for snowy nights and bone chilling cold. I spend much of the morning slicing, dicing and simmering. Although I follow the same general recipe every time, on occasion it just doesn't turn out as savory. I don't know if I boiled instead of simmered, uncovered instead of covered, or failed to sneak in extra secret spice. All the same ingredients and yet it doesn't quite spark. Still decent, mind you--I wouldn't throw it out--but I also wouldn't enter it in any competitions.

That pretty much sums up [b:The Ghost Brigades|239399|The Ghost Brigades|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729668s/239399.jpg|18279845].

Like that second pot of chili, The Ghost Brigades just doesn't quite have the right composition. A fascinating and action oriented start tease the reader into adrenalin surge. Unfortunately, long passages of info-dump quickly take over, and not merely in the guise of mission briefing. While the main character has an intriguing set-up as a decanted member of the Ghost Brigade, he fails to develop much of an identity--even other characters describe him as 'passive.' While that may be the point, it doesn't help the reader establish an emotional connection, so it's a relief to have Jane and Harry from [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War|John Scalzi|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346671475s/51964.jpg|50700] drop in. I did struggle with what was supposed to an attempt at a more traditional sci-fi exploration of consciousness and soul. Scalzi's handling seemed awkward and unfinished to me, perhaps because Ghost is more like an action book with a sci-fi setting and theme than an exploration of ethical and philosophical issues. ([b:The Sparrow|334176|The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1)|Mary Doria Russell|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1230829367s/334176.jpg|3349153] handled quite similar threads of inter-species encounters and souls with a much better degree of success).

Overall, still a decent read--a filling bowl of soup on a cold night. It'll deserve another attempt. ( )

8/10
Scalzi is a gifted storyteller, but I found it harder to care about the main character in this book. I did appreciate the author’s exploration of the meaning of consciousness and the idea of always having a choice.i will think about these themes long after I forget the details of the story. ( )

This was a fun sci-fi and sequel to Old Man’s War. The book itself starts off with a conspiracy afoot, involving many aliens and the turncoat scientist Charles Boutin. The story then progresses into a war account of the Colonial Union’s super soldier special forces, the Ghost Brigades. Jared Dirac, a failed experiment to clone Charles Boutin for his expertise, is conscripted into the Ghost Brigades and thrust into impossible missions to break-up the interstellar alliance threatening humanity. Some points of interest are how the Colonial Union manipulates alien politics, how they genetically-birth neo-humans modified for space exposure, and a rough estimate on how old the Colonial Union actually is. What we also get is the dark nature of the Colonial Union and the horrible things governments demand of soldiers. Unlike Old Man’s War, this is a tale about dredging up old skeletons in the closet. A Dune Messiah to Frank Herbert’s Dune as it subverts the hero’s quest in the most terrifying way. It is a complicated, but brilliant successor to Old Man’s War and the third novel only gets better. ( )

Good follow-up to Old Man's War, though I liked the first novel a bit better. The main character in this is a character who is built on the memories of another person, and so he is a bit hard to pin down. Still, there's good drama, some nice twists in the story, and it was good quick read. I will probably read the third book if I can find a used or library copy. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Old Man's War series. I borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited on audiobook.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this but not quite as much as the first book in the series. I think the wonder of this world and the humor in the first book just really blew me away. I did enjoy still getting to see Jane, but this story focused more on a Ghost Brigade soldier (Jared) created from the consciousness of traitor to humanity, Charles Boutin.

I continued to enjoy this world and really enjoyed learning more about The Ghost Brigades. We meet a mostly new set of characters in this book, although Jane and Harry are in and out of the story some. I enjoyed Jared as a character but not as much as I enjoyed Perry and crew in the first book.

We do get a much broader story here about the CDF versus three other alien races. We also get exposed to some intriguing questions about the CDF and their motives when it comes to human interactions with alien races. Additionally, this book focuses a lot on The Ghost Brigades themselves and what it really means to be human.

I didn't think this was as funny as "Old Man's War" but there is some humor throughout. I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed the audiobook narration. I would recommend listening to this on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this. I didn't think there was as much humor in this book and didn't enjoy the characters in this second book quite as much. However, I did enjoy learning more about The Ghost Brigades and delving deeper in to this world. I also really enjoyed the broadened storyline around the CDF and the three alien races joining forces against humanity. I look forward to reading "The Lost Colony" soon. I would recommend to those who enjoy science fiction with some intriguing space travel, aliens, and a look into what it means to be human. ( )

I like John Scalzi but this book didn't do much for me.

The first half is a whole lot of slow moving setup. The second half is much better as it is filled with fighting, ethical debates and intergalactic politics. Still, not enough to compensate for the boring first half.

My other issue is that I think Scalzi has great ideas and raises lots of fascinating things to discuss but his writing is just too blunt for me. He has no finesse. Or he didn't in 2006 anyway.

I still like the Universe of Old Man's War & Ghost Brigades so odds are good that I will continue reading the series but my expectations will be lower. ( )

Second book in the series aboutof the Colonial Defense Forces and ever present and ever dangerous alien species surrounding the colonies of the Mother Earth.

If you are worried because this is not first book in the series don't worry, Ghost Brigades is a standalone novel set in the same universe. Some of the characters you might recognize from the first book but it is not must for understanding the story itself (but if you have read the first book you will understand more about the events in the book).

Focus in this novel is on Ghost Brigades, cloned soldiers raised from "scratch" using DNA from all CDF soldiers that have died during their service term. They are raised with a sole purpose in mind - be quicker, tougher and deadlier than your average CDF soldier. Although fully grown in a few months they still are blanks and have no life experiences. Author very nicely portraits the challenges set before these soldiers - grown for the single purpose to protect the very populace that looks at them with suspicion because they are not "natural".

Against the standard heroic story of a single man fighting human and alien malice that threaten everything he holds dear [and being more than ready to sacrifice his life to achieve that] author paints very interesting picture on the possible ways humanity may evolve and adapt to life in the vast intergalactic space. Because even CDF with their cloned bodies and individuals is nothing more than further step in evolution of Humanity.

Second theme in the novel is what makes us - us? If someone is cloned does it mean he [or she] is destined to become same person as the one they originated from? Is it possible that non-corporeal elements of the human being are dictated by corporeal elements, or are we more then sum of our parts?

I agree, none of the above can be considered original and all of these questions have been raised before - and not only through fiction - but this book manages to combine these themes with the excellent and very visual and vivid action scenes.

Very interesting book with great characters, utterly alien aliens and lots of action.

Highly recommended to all fans of SF (and military SF in particular). ( )

The Ghost Brigades returns to the universe of Scalzi's novel Old Man's War, a novel which I absolutely loved.

In the first book, Scalzi introduced readers to John Perry and Earth's rejuvenated soldiers, the Colonial Defense Forces. This time around, he takes us into the world of The Ghost Brigades, the special forces of the CDF. Jane Sagan, a character from Old Man's War, must track down a traitor named Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest secrets, and what better way to find a traitor than to copy his consciousness into a freshly-baked Ghost Brigade soldier? But the transfer doesn't work ... at least, not right away. Then, as Boutin's memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reasons for Boutin's betrayal. Themes of counciousness, choice, free-will, and identity are explored. This is thinking man's sci-fi that also happens to include humor, and kick ass military/sci-fi action.

Though labeled a sequel to Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades is very much a stand-alone adventure. While it expands upon ideas introduced in the earlier novel, John Scalzi doesn't require you to have read it to become fully absorbed in this one. So feel free to jump in. ( )

Fantastic read, though I did gripe ALOT until the last 2 chapters until all became clear. I almost shed a tear because it was very touching. Hats off for a spectacular wonderful read. I would rate a 4.5, but rounding up because I think it's worth it. ( )

The only reason to allow someone to have this much fun writing a book is so that we can have almost as much fun reading it. I'm sure Mr. Scalzi would disabuse me of the notion that writing a 300 page novel, and doing it with such skill, should be described using a word usually reserved for leisure and entertainment. But I kind of think he would also agree that creating a world where you can successfully sky dive from space in a unitard and immolate mosquitoes just by thinking about it does fit the definition of fun.

If you like your science fiction filled with mysteries, space ships, nanobots, alien worlds populated by actual aliens, mind transfers, and clones, all populated by intelligent and likable characters, you will like this book. There are a few spots where I caught the characters or narrator doing a science, politics, or philosophy info-dump. But these go by fairly quickly and aren't overly distracting from the actual storytelling. ( )

A little too fascist for this day and age ( )

Scalzi manages to complicate his world a lot in this book, in which the Special Forces clone of a traitor is made to try to figure out what the traitor gave away about human tech. As the clone becomes a person of his own, albeit a superhumanly enhanced one, he starts to question whether he’s truly on the side of right. ( )

Intense and brilliant! ( )

Kind of slow in the middle, but builds up nicely towards an impressive ending.
I liked Old Man's War (the first one) a bit better. Maybe because everything was new and unexpected.
But this one is more intricate and subtle. ( )

Fínasta vísindaskáldsaga. Mannkynið uppgötvar að aðrar geimverur hafa myndað bandalag og ætla að herja á mannkynið. Tortíming vofir yfir og ekki er það til bóta að í ljós kemur að virtur vísindamaður hafði falsað dauða sinn og gengið geimverunum á hönd og á aðalsprautan í bandalaginu gegn mönnum með innsýn sinni í helstu hernaðartækni þeirra. Brugið er á það ráð að útbúa klóna af vísindamanninum með minni hans til að fá innsýn í ráðagerðir hans. En þegar líður á söguna verður æ erfiðara fyrir klónann að átta sig á því hvar samkennd hans og mörk liggja. ( )

Scalzi, John. The Ghost Brigades. Old Man’s War No. 2. Tor, 2006.
The Ghost Brigades was not as impressive as The Old Man’s War, which set a high standard. We find out more about the soldiers made from the DNA and recorded personalities of the dead. We meet some aliens and dispatch some others. There are alien technologies to appropriate and a traitorous mad scientist to escape from and his innocent daughter to rescue. We see some of the dark side of the mind transfer technology. It is good stuff, but I miss the engaging voice of John Perry. 4 stars. ( )

Simply excellent. Rollicking plot, simple but evocative prose, great characters, interesting premise. ( )

This book gave me a lot to think about. At the same time, the pace of the story kept me really engaged. It was an excellent read. ( )

Very good military science fiction. A lot of the surprise of the preceding novel 'Old Man's War' was lost but still contains the same raucous action and dark humour. Great Sci Fi universe built by the author where the human race are as vicious as anything else out there in the dark between the stars. ( )

It´s a brilliant book.
A great sci-fi adventure. ( )

A nice counter-point of a sequel - extending the over-all story universe in interesting ways, both story-wise as well as thematically. A couple of characters from the previous book, but not the main one, which was an intriguing choice. The idea behind the special forces is still a bit hard to believe - even more so than the idea behind the CDF soldiers from the first one. (I'm being vague to avoid spoilers). ( )

After I read [b:Old Man's War|36510196|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1509467059s/36510196.jpg|50700], I went looking for the sequels. While on paper [b:The Ghost Brigades|239399|The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War, #2)|John Scalzi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403295928s/239399.jpg|18279845] is the second in the series, it's surprisingly different.

We get a lot more of a look into the CDF and specifically Special Forces, which was something that was interesting from the first book.

There are a few really interesting sci fi concepts here, including the more 'standard' ideas of genetically engineered super soldiers with upgraded healing / fighting abilities, but it also digs fairly deeply into how you can grow soldiers from scratch, give them the ability to learn rather quickly and share what they learned with one another. It's a fascinating concept and I enjoyed it.

In the early evening of the second day, Andrea Gell-Mann introduced the 8th to the concept of profanity, which she picked up at lunch and shared just before dinner.

In addition, Ghost Brigades really starts to dig into ideas about just what consciousness is, how you can mess with it, and just what it means to 'be' a person. It's a theme touched in briefly in Old Man's War, but it really gets interesting here. Makes me want to know more...

One of my favorite things I'm finding about Scalzi? Every once in a while, he combines nerdy and funny in a way that's great to read:

“How did you find the base if it was shielded?” Cainen asked. “I am curious, in a professional sense.”

“We dropped rocks,” Sagan said.

“Excuse me?” Cainen asked.

“Rocks,” Sagan said. “A month ago we salted the planet with several dozen seismic sensors, which were programmed to look for seismic signatures that suggested intelligently designed underground structures. Speaking from experience, secret bases are easier to shield when they’re underground. We relied on the planet’s natural seismic activity to narrow down areas to investigate. Then we dropped rocks in areas of interest. And then today we dropped several right before our attack, to get an exact sonic image of the base. Rocks are good because they look like naturally occurring meteors. They don’t scare anyone. And no one shields against seismic imaging. Most races are too busy shielding against optical and high-energy electromagnetic scans to consider sound waves much of a danger. It’s the fallacy of high technology; it ignores the efficiency of lower orders of technology. Like dropping rocks.”

Makes sense and I can just imagine the conversation in my head.

Certainly not what I expected in a sequel, but worth the read. Could probably even be read independently if you really wanted to. Not sure why you would though.
( )

Liked the book! better that the first installment in term of the plot and how much sci-fi concepts are included. The book is more into a long run plot which picks up sometime after the first Old Man's war (first installment) and resume the interspecies war and conspiracies. I liked it more as a bit or more personality is added to the main plot rather than interpersonal relationships being a side-plot.

Read it if you like sci-fi books with a little of military actions. There is no ship-to-ship battle scene in this book so if that interest you or drive your interest this book may not be satisfactory. ( )

Another hit from Scalzi. Not as much fun as the first book, but definitely engaging, at times funny, and with plenty of cool futuristic ideas. Consider me a fanboy now (and my wife loved it too).

I liked how the plot turned out to be much more complex that it seemed at first. ( )

Mejor que el primero, si cabe. En unas cuantas horas, a empezar La colonia perdida. ( )