Review: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi, first published in 2006.

When I read Old Man’s War, I was hooked, not only by the world-building and the characters but also by the technology and the ideas that the story oh so fantastically played with. As I finished reading it, I was eager to dive into book 2, to continue John’s story … but I really struggled with The Ghost Brigades.

It was less of a sequel and more of an expansion – a different adventure set in the same universe, referencing familiar characters, events, but ultimately doing its own thing. Where I expected – and wanted – more of John’s story, the story is focused on a platoon of special forces, made up of the lab-grown soldiers, including Jane Sagan (whom we met towards the end of Old Man’s War) and Jared Dirac, a clone of a traitorous military scientist, Charles Boutin. The story had a more serious tone compared to its predecessor, with slower pacing, different POV (third person instead of first person), and it felt more dialogue-heavy – not bad things, in and of themselves, but the reading experience didn’t gel with me as much as the first book did.

All that said, the book remains well-written and engaging, and much like Old Man’s War, it explores some interesting ideas and world-building elements. Aliens with a taste for human flesh? Check. The ethics of restoring the copy of a consciousness into a clone? Check. The blurry lines between identity and memory, clone and originality? Check. Setting up and revealing world and plot elements that’ve yet to be paid off? Check.

Looking ahead, book 3 in the series, The Last Colony, is supposed to be a return to the first-person POV of John Perry, and I have high hopes that it will entertain me in a similar way to Old Man’s War. I’ve also learned that there is a 2.5 entry in the series - The Sagan Diary – a first-person POV of Jane Sagan. Whilst reviews online seem very mixed, I’ll certainly give it a go, and I am cautiously optimistic.

If you enjoyed Old Man’s War, I would definitely recommend giving The Ghost Brigades a read. Just because it didn’t gel for me doesn’t mean it won’t gel for you – and I’m certain that events that’ve played out here will come up in future instalments.

Background image by Fred Moon on Unsplash