Search - The Ghost Brigades (Old Man's War, Bk 2)

Boy, I'm really liking this Scalzi stuff. The Ghost Brigades was a fun read, with plenty of action, the growth (and death!) of characters, and a glimpse of the greater political galaxy that the Colonial Union finds itself in. And it had a good ending! Far too many books I've read over the last decade have felt like the authors hit their word count and decided to stop. That's not the case here, at all.

The book is actually a really nice sequal to a fantastic first book (Old Man's War), in that the whole "galaxy" that Scalzi has invented is matured a bit. Instead of gushing about how great it all is (as was the feeling in the first book), we begin to see the morally ambiguous decisions that have been made to bring the situation to it's current status. A lot of the change in feeling is due, in large part I think, to the switch to a third person perspective for the narrative, rather than the first person perspective of the prior novel.

The Ghost Brigades was highly enjoyable. And the setting that Scalzi has created has become something that can easily house more interesting stories. I'm looking forward to future titles in this series!

While not the book that the Old Man's War is, this is pretty good. If you read the first in the series, you will want this.

I had my doubts about this story since the hero from the beginning of the series isn't in it. The heroine is, though.

It didn't take long before I cared about the hero of this story and hoped he'd be fine.

It was good. Plenty of action. Great worldbuilding. Excellent advancements of the overall series' plot.

I do NOT think you can skip this story if you want to read the whole series. Too much happens in the overall world and in the main heroine's life. Jane plays a pivotal role and her life changes a lot in this story.

I was surprised to find that I enjoyed The Ghost Brigades even more than the Forever War. The books are written the same way. They are fast paced, and the scenes and dialogue are concise. The plot in Ghost Brigades moves quickly, yet it's interesting and clever. The characters, which I didn't expect to like as much as the protagonist in Forever War, grow on you quickly until you find yourself rooting for them. The story is even unpredictable enough to keep you interested to the end. All in all, a good read.