The B-Team

The Human Division, Episode 1

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Colonial Union Ambassador Ode Abumwe and her team are used to life on the lower end of the diplomatic ladder. But when a high-profile diplomat goes missing, Abumwe and her team are last-minute replacements on a mission critical to the Colonial Union’s future. As the team works to pull off their task, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson discovers there’s more to the story of the missing diplomats than anyone expected... a secret that could spell war for humanity.

The B-Team 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.

Consequences.

You read previous books and you know how it ended.
Trading was established and Earth's Iron Curtain was finally dropped.
and everybody lived happily ever after? NO, YOU ARE WRONG !

It's time for some reality Injection.

Its 69 cents.

Worth every penny.....all 69 of them. I'm sure if you add up all the books it would cost way more than a credit, at half the listening time.

Dick and Jane Publishing

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

That would depend on how good of a friend they are. If they are a good friend I would recommend they buy this book to evaluate this author before spending more money on his other books. If they are a not so good friend I would recommend they buy one of this authors other more expensive books. If they are a really good friend I would tell them not to wast their time and money but if they insisted I would let them listen to my download of this audio book so they could evaluate it before spending any money on it or any of this authors other books.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I thought the Narrator did ok considering what he had to work with.

Any additional comments?

“Look, Jane, look! I have a manuscript for a new book,” Dick said. “Oh, I like new books,” Jane said. “It is for a science fiction book written by John Scalzi,” Dick said. ”Oh, I like his books,” Jane said. “Me too,” Dick said. “Let’s publish it right away,” Jane said. “That is what I said when Sally said that Jack said that John said that he hoped we would publish his book,” Dick said. “John said that?” Jane said. “That is what Sally said Jack said John said,” Dick said. “I am glad you said what you said when Sally said Jack said John said that,” Jane said. “You said it!” Dick said. “Ruff! Ruff!” Spot said.

Another great listen from Scalzi

What made the experience of listening to The B-Team the most enjoyable?

The B team takes place in the familiar universe of "Old Man's War" and is a welcome continuation of tales from that universe

Any additional comments?

A great listen

An Episode, Not a Book

The Human Division is a departure for John Scalzi. It is a book(ish) in the Old Man's War universe, but published in an episodic nature. I am intrigued because he seems to try out different styles with the episodes, and from different perspectives, but maintains the story line throughout (granted I am only half way through at this point). I love his return to Old Man’s War. He revisits lesser characters from previous books, but from a different aspect. This is reminiscent of George R.R Martin’s change of story perspective throughout the Game of Thrones epic, but without killing of all your favorite characters. I can only hope Scalzi learns a lesson from Anne McCafferty’s Pern novels, that there is infinite story potential once a solid foundation has been laid (feel free to write 30 more books).

WARNING: DON’T BUY THESE WITH CREDITS: Before you buy any episodes with credits, LOOK AT THE PRICE. Audible has priced these episodes at a about a buck a piece, but have done us a disservice buy adding their default “OR 1 CREDIT”. We generally think a credit gives us a full 12 to 40 hour book. If you don’t pay attention, this episodic “book” could cost you 13 credits (virtually $130), or it could be $13 if you bought each episode with actual money. I believe, in the future, Audible will offer “The Human Division” for a single credit, just as was Jim Butcher’s “Side Jobs”, a collection of Dresden short stories. However, that does not help us now.

In summary, good move Scalzi, bad move Audible.

Fun listen -

Any additional comments?

This was a fun - pulpy - story with good narration and enjoyable characters. I am very Glad that I had just listened to Tor.com since the back story buried in that book made this one that much more fun. I will definitely be listening to the whole series but I'm going to try to pace myself to get the full "Serial Novel" effect.

Said said said said said

I am not exaggerating, good short story made painful by whoever was in charge of the print to audio conversion. The reader was great, but if it had been longer than 2 hours I wouldn’t have made it through the whole thing, reader said.

Thoroughly Entertaining

I was enthralled in the saga. Your attention will be captured from the beginning to the end. Loved the manuvering of power. Each character's show of power is what made the impact of the story for me. Great performances.

Frustrated

Frustrated that I paid for story that was already in this full book series. Waste

Short, a bit on the nose, overly simple, but

This book belongs to that class of Sjalzi books that are mostly banter. Adults cutting each other down, endlessly. I find it very tedious. But all in all Scalzi's a good writer, a good entertainer, and so I stick with it.