No one noticed the rock.

So, begins The Ghost Brigades, the excellent sequel to, John Scalzi’s, Old Man’s War, and there’s no gentle start to this one, we are launched straight into the action, with little or no exposition (at least at the start  – although it does come in spades later, and its for this reason I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as OMW).

Once again, the ‘meat’ of the book follows a raw recruit, this time, Jared Dirac, though his training and out into his first battles. Those who know their earth bound philosophers and The Colonial Union’s naming conventions, will realise of course, that Jared, is not training to be a normal Colonial Union soldier, but as a member of the secretive Ghost Brigades. It’s also clear that he isn’t even a normal member for them either.

You see, Jared has been created with the consciousness of the traitor, Charles Boutin, with the hope that they can find out just what his plans are. When this plan appears to fail, Jared is sent to the Ghost Brigades, and a character from the first book, Old Man’s War Jane Segan is assigned to watch over him.

And then one day Jared starts to remember…

Yes, as I hinted at earlier this book contains a little too much exposition at times, which then affects the pacing, but this is only a really minor niggle, Scalzi continues to ‘build’ an interesting and complex world, that hints at future storylines, some of which will be told and some of which won’t be, (this is a good thing as it’s good to know the world does exist outside of the 300 or so odd pages of the book.)

But the book’s real strong point once again, is the characters, and the narrative. All of the main characters (new and old) are all interesting to get to know further – as are many of the more minor characters, and much of the ever present humour in the series comes from their interactions and banter.

Which leads to the story’s central strength which is the journey of Jared Dirac from, ‘new born’, to a member of the Ghost Brigades, while also learning is also partly the traitor Charles Boutin, through the person he is at the end. (And no, I’m not going to say, who or what that is, you’ll have to read the book to find that out!)

Another fun and thoroughly entertaining read.

Rating:  

Other Views and Opinions:

• Stainless Steel Droppings