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The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
01/07/2008 . Source: Paul Hanley 
pub: TOR-UK. 346 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-330-45710-1. Buy The Ghost Brigades in the USA - or Buy The Ghost Brigades in the UK  check out websites: www.toruk.com and www.panmacmillan.comand www.scalzi.com
Reading the frontpiece of this book, I can see there are at least four other books published by John Scalzi. I have only read one before which was 'Old Man's War' which was an excellent read and, rightly, a finalist in the Hugo Award for Best Novel. That book was a prequel for this one.
We are in the future and old people can sign up for the military where their personalities are loaded into a newly grown super-bodies and they go off to do battle amongst the stars. That book mentioned 'ghosts' who were elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into elite commando units.
This book, 'The Ghost Brigades, concentrates on those elite soldiers. It is a somewhat darker tale. The Earth sphere of influence is beset by hundreds of alien races most of whom seem to be hostile. A senior scientist has turned traitor and gone over to one of the hostile alien races and is instrumental in creating a grand alliance amongst them with the intention of destroying Earth civilisation which he blames for the death of family.
So as to try and guesstimate what this traitor might do, a ghost soldier is created from his electronically recorded memory. This then becomes the story of what happened. The soldier, Jared, is placed in a platoon whose commander we encountered in a earlier book and knowing his traitor background is highly suspicious of Jared. As he becomes immersed in the stress of combat, the traitor's memories begin to seep through into his mind.
It is an excellent book full of military action. If you like military SF, this is the book for you. It is also a thriller and the writer is able to enrich the tale by interweaving various aspects of the Earth culture and society which sometimes do not show them in the best light and give the whole book a three-dimensional feel.
If you liked 'Old Man's War' you will like this one. If you haven't yet read either book read 'Old Man's War' first and then this one. You will thoroughly enjoy them both.
Paul Hanley
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