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👻🪖 The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

Not a Book Report

I enjoy reflecting on the movies, TV, books and other media that I consume. I’m notoriously sentimental. This series documents the books that I read. These aren’t reviews or recommendations. Just a list. For me. Mostly so that I can page through what I read, where I was, and when.

Why did I read it?

I enjoyed reading John Scalzi’s first novel in this series, Old Man’s War and wanted to keep exploring this universe.

What is it?

Category Value
Title The Ghost Brigades
Author John Scalzi
Year Published 2007
Format Kindle
Pages 321
ASIN B001QS9TSE

Publisher Summary

The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF’s toughest operations. They’re young, they’re fast and strong, and they’re totally without normal human qualms.

The universe is a dangerous place for humanity—and it’s about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF’s biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.

Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers — a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin’s DNA, Jared’s brain should be able to access Boutin’s electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.

At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutin’s memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason’s for Boutin’s betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his “father,” he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanity’s mere military defeat…

How did I read it?

Category Value
Date Started August 28, 2024
Date Finished October 3, 2024
Places Read Lisbon, Sintra, Stockholm

Notes - No Spoilers

  • I appreciate that we “leveled up” in the universe a bit and now have access to things like conversations between senior military officers and context behind some of the feuds in the galaxy.
  • I never really found Jared (or Boutin) interesting or worth following. I just kept reading for the world building.

Published Oct 3, 2024

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