Tales from the Clarke

The Human Division, Episode 5

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Captain Sophia Coloma of the Clarke has a simple task: Ferry around representatives from Earth in an aging spaceship that the Colonial Union hopes to sell to them. But nothing is as simple as it seems, and Coloma discovers the ship she’s showing off holds suprises of its own...and it’s not the only one with secrets.

"Tales from the Clarke" is a tale from John Scalzi's The Human Division, a series of self-contained but interrelated short stories set in the Old Man's War universe.

Listen to the complete edition of The Human Division, the fifth full-length book by John Scalzi in the Old Man's War universe.

©2012 John Scalzi (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Enjoyable Story

Would you listen to Tales from the Clarke again? Why?

This is one of my favorite stories in this series. I really enjoy hearing stories of people from the Clarke, and their interactions while on the Clarke.

Tales from the Clarke, ship that keeps flying

I have enjoyed John Scalzi, mostly short stories, but now I am hooked and like to check out his novels or longer stories. Well worth the listen, but get the first 4 to understand this 4th Episode.

I just love this short series! Do them in order! 😱

5 stars is great!
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Some of these are vignettes pulled from larger works. If you're a Scalzi fan you'll have heard them before. IT DOESN'T MATTER . . .
You'll love these . . but do them in order . . 😱

Not a standalone story

This is Episode 5 of the Human Division series. Scalzi has apparently divided what could have been one book into multiple separate episodes. I don't understand that logic (at least not yet), as the episodes don't stand alone unless you're a fan of a very short plot with a flimsy leave-you-wondering type of ending. Hopefully the weak connection between the episodes will build with each one and culminate in an interesting finale, but that is not evident yet after five episodes.

Reader did a good job, even though it was not a difficult narration to perform. This episode lacked the irritating transcript style with all the he said/she said crap which absolutely ruined some of the earlier ones. Thank goodness!

Good but not his best

The Human Division is another chapter in the saga of Old Man's War, which is a hit and miss series. This one is somewhere in the middle. Good humor, middling characters, overall engaging writing, and convoluted plot.

I'm giving it a rock-bottom overall score due to the fact that this is not the version you should get. Pick up the final full book, not these expensive piece meal episodes.

Frustrated. But still hanging on...

(Follows from my reviews in eps 1-4.) So, I think I'm figuring out what that ineffable "something" is that I'm not gelling with in these "episodes" format.

I think it's the fact that each of these "self-contained" short stories feels like chapters of a novel where the first third of each chapter finds us breaking continuity so the author can "re-acquaint" us again with the storyline. If you see irony in breaking continuity so as to keep readers aware of a continuous storyline, don't worry, you're not alone.

Then there's the whole bit toward the end of each chapter where we have to slow momentum -- just when it's starting to build -- for the sake of wrapping up with a convenient end to the episode....

... Only to start the next episode and have to suffer an indoctrination all over again to summarize highlights in previous episodes.

That's what I don't like about this serial format.

Okay. With that off my chest. On to Episode 6. >:-\

Middle of the Season

This week's episode of the Human Division is pretty standard. We get into Captain Colonna's head, which is nice, and we catch back up with Harry Wilson (who apparently is no longer a hostage). There's possible sabotage, and a set-up, and funny baseball stuff. It felt pretty standard to me this time...the way sometimes TV shows can when they're in the middle of the season. It was a fun little ride, but it couldn't really compete with the last two episodes.

Good Little Ship

Tales from the Clarke returns us to The rest of of the B-Team. While waiting for Reassignment. The Crew of the Clarke Find themselves assigned a mission that like the First mission is more than it seems. Captain Sophia Coloma proves why she's a ship's Captain. The story itself is simple, while showing off a Ship that The CU plans to sell off to Earth to pave the way for diplomacy. a simple oversight provides proof that that there's more to the mission than meets the eye. the story plays itself off as a one off chapter in the overall narrative, and it fits well into the overall tale.