The Human Division

Old Man's War, Book 5

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Following the events of The Last Colony, John Scalzi tells the story of the fight to maintain the unity of the human race.

The people of Earth now know that the human Colonial Union has kept them ignorant of the dangerous universe around them. For generations the CU had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now the CU’s secrets are known to all. Other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance - an alliance against the Colonial Union. And they’ve invited the people of Earth to join them. For a shaken and betrayed Earth, the choice isn't obvious or easy.

Against such possibilities, managing the survival of the Colonial Union won’t be easy, either. It will take diplomatic finesse, political cunning…and a brilliant "B Team", centered on the resourceful Lieutenant Harry Wilson, that can be deployed to deal with the unpredictable and unexpected things the universe throws at you when you’re struggling to preserve the unity of the human race.

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

Not cohesive

Did not have the same arc with conclusion as the other books. Individual stories are good, but the chapters lack cohesion.

Hart and Wilson make you laugh the whole read!

A good story with great comedic parts. Hoping all the background builds on the next book. New characters are great and the old ones continue to shine with Scalzi's flare.

The Saga Continues

This is a story we can't get enough of.
The Human Division adds richness to the Old Mans War saga with some great new characters and the further adventures of one our favorite "Old Farts".
Once again Scalzi leaves me wanting more.

A different kind of storytelling

And that's a good thing! Like many others have said, this is a sci-fi serial in book form. And like a good serial, each episode furthers the main story while also introducing and resolving a sub-story of its own. The narrator does an excellent job, the characters are engaging, and overall the story manages to be both focused and grand in scope. You will enjoy this.

would make a great show or movie series

great space opera! Would male a great sci-fi tv series or movie franchise! look forward to seeing the old man series on the screen.

Another great read!

This is another great book in the series Old Man’s War. I love the humor and sarcasm of the characters. I also enjoy the narrator, with the exception of his pronunciation of the names and some of the words in Portuguese. I wish they had checked better before the performance. For the rest it’s thumbs up.

I love this series

Another great book from John Scalzi.It compliments the series so well. I also like the reader.

Great story. I wish the “so and so said” every sentence would be dropped.

To much “so and so said” with every sentence. The actual story is really good.

Finally, some fun bits

I learned of John Scalzi from his light-hearted books, like Redshirts, Agent to the Stars, KPS and Starter Villain. The Old Mans War books were a fair bit heavier. Definitely good books, but more for grown-ups. This book "feels" like the reward for making it through those books, to get some comic relief. Still some heavy matter, but also a touch of (dad/parent) humor here and there. Definitely going to continue with this series.

Structured Like a TV Series

I haven't read Old Man's War, so I'm approaching The Human Division as a new series, a spin-off set in the OMW universe. In fact, the way the book was written -- chapters called episodes published weekly -- this omnibus volume has the feel of a TV series. For me, this is a good thing.

But it's more than just the publication schedule (13 episodes, the standard for a cable drama). The way the episodes and the overall story are plotted are key to the feel of a TV series. The episodes stand up on their own, for the most part, as complete stories, and they also figure into the overall story arc -- attempts by various forces to either divide the human race scattered across the galaxy from Earth or keep them united.

Every other episode centers on the main characters -- Colonial Union officer Harry Wilson, diplomatic aide Hart Schmidt, and ambassador Ode Obumwe (there are several other major recurring characters). In between, the stories follow other characters, some of whom figure more or less as the overall story unfolds. The emphasis on characterization over plotting is highly successful, as it would be on the best TV series.

The book ends with a cliffhanger that leaves the central mystery unresolved, anticipating the next entry in the series, due out this year (2015) -- indeed, in announcing the next entry, John Scalzi said "The Human Division has been renewed for a second season".

Having previously listened to all of Scalzi's novels except any of the OMW series, I was worried about having a narrator other than Wil Wheaton, who is my favorite. But William Dufris, who reads most of the OMW series, is excellent as well. Maybe not as funny as WW, but maybe this series is not supposed to be as funny (though Harry Wilson is a bit of sarcastic Scalzi cut-up, and Dufris does him justice).