Ron Davis

Ghost Brigades gives us a look inside the colonial Special Forces, which are mentioned in the previous books, but the details are vague - kind of the way the people in the books see them.

This time we get to see what it's like to be born full grown and trained to be a super solider. From the inside.

I called is smart sci-fi light because it does deal with a big philosophical issue, which is what science fiction is best at. But it doesn't get too preachy and takes a practical approach to the issue. That issue is "What makes us who we are?"

The characters are good, and we get to see Jane again, though she doesn't have a huge amount of page time.

I recommend the book to anyone, though I'd recommend starting with Old Man's War if you have already read it.

As a huge fan of Carriger's Parasol Protectorate novels, I got this book the day it was released. It is a prequel to those stories, with the origins of some characters from those books as part of it.

But really it isn't about the same thing the other books were, even if they share some characters. It s a new story about Sophronia, the Cinderella of a steampunk age. She is the troublesome child of proper Victorian parents who simply don't know what to do with her blueblood tendencies. Until the day a family friend suggest they send her off to a special finishing school.

The book is fun with Carriger's quirky and lovable outsider characterization. We get another look at her steampunk world and it is even more fun this time.

It does seem this book was a little rush, especially towards the end. The story is going along showing you various things and suddenly does some climatic stuff and boom is over. It leaves you wanting to know more and feeling you've missed something. It's obviously a first book in a series as a result.

Even though it is a "young adult" novel, it's a fun read for fans of any age.

Reboots/Reimaginings are common these days in film, but this is the first time I've seen it done with a book. This is a revision of H. Beam Piper's Little Fuzzy. It is fascinating to see what Scalzi thought needed to change and what stayed the same.

I missed this in the description, but the book is in two parts. But it turns out the Scalzi version is the first part, and the Piper version is the second part. Was a surprise to me.

There are two readers, and Wheaton's version of Scalzi is excellent. I'm not sure who did the Piper version, but it was very strange. Holloway's voice is almost annoying.

Listening to the old one is reminiscent of an episode of Mad Men, except every character doesn't have despicable morals. But they do all smoke and drink any chance they get and women play a small role in the book.

Overall the Scalzi version is the quality you'd expect from him - high. Wheaton is an excellent reader. The Piper version is good, but the reader leaves something to be desired. Together they are a study in culture and time.

As a geek child of the 80's this books is one flashback after another. If you can remember details about Zork or John Hughes films, this book is for you.

Add the the nostalgia the fact the story of a distopian future where a virtual world is the center of commerce and life hasn't been done this well since Snow Crash. The Ghunter reading list (chap 6, 2:34:20) will test your geek credit.

Wil Wheaton is the best possible performer for this title. He gets it. A geek with acting talent, just what it needed. I especially like in internal self reference that results.

After reading this I wanted to find other books Wheaton had read. The first actor whose inspired that. (And it led me to Redshirts which was the discovery of another great author)

This is Cline's first book and I hope to see many more and hope they can live up to this one.