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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
This is my favorite of the Old Man's War series. I think in part because of how successfully Scalzi interweaves 13 short stories into a complete novel. Not only does this literary device allow him to include a wider range of characters, but it makes the moments when connections are finally made between different events all the more satisfying.
I really liked the "serial" method with chapters being from the pov of different characters
Originally published as standalone short stories, but here collected in novel form, we follow what happened after the human division.
The on the surface unrelated stories provides a variety of impact points in the human universe showing the distrust and resentment between the human fractions. And slowly we see a combined picture of approaching doom and a controlling force behind it all.
Not the best in the series, but worthwhile for fans like me.
The on the surface unrelated stories provides a variety of impact points in the human universe showing the distrust and resentment between the human fractions. And slowly we see a combined picture of approaching doom and a controlling force behind it all.
Not the best in the series, but worthwhile for fans like me.
I liked this, though I can see how others wouldn't and I can imagine being immensely frustrated if I had been a subscriber to the weeklies and expecting something more like the Old Man's War novels.
These linked short stories are a window into the fear, confusion and chaos in the Colonial Union and on Earth following the shake-up at the end of The Last Colony. The tales mostly occupy an awkward niche, not quite epic conflict but not slice of life stories of 'ordinary' people either. The clue is in the title really, the characters of "The Human Division" have moments of brilliance and heroism, they visit strange lands and influence momentous events, but they are still in many ways, functionaries, cogs in a larger machine and have nothing like a full understanding of the events they are embroiled in.
We end on a cliffhanger, that will presumably re resolved in this summer's sequel, "The End of All Things", but I found myself not that bothered by the cliff hangers as this collection seemed to be so much about the battles rather than the war it seemed fitting.
These linked short stories are a window into the fear, confusion and chaos in the Colonial Union and on Earth following the shake-up at the end of The Last Colony. The tales mostly occupy an awkward niche, not quite epic conflict but not slice of life stories of 'ordinary' people either. The clue is in the title really, the characters of "The Human Division" have moments of brilliance and heroism, they visit strange lands and influence momentous events, but they are still in many ways, functionaries, cogs in a larger machine and have nothing like a full understanding of the events they are embroiled in.
We end on a cliffhanger, that will presumably re resolved in this summer's sequel, "The End of All Things", but I found myself not that bothered by the cliff hangers as this collection seemed to be so much about the battles rather than the war it seemed fitting.
Originally published as an online series, The Human Division is a fantastic addition to the Old Man's War series. Harry Wilson is one of the secondary characters from the first book in the series and I loved getting to see him in action in this book. He may be my favorite character in the series, besides, of course, John Perry. There's just something about his sarcastic wit and amazing self-awareness that felt incredibly authentic. The interwoven story lines of the episodes were also solid and came together in ways I wasn't altogether expecting. All in all I really liked this book and. Ant wait to read the next one.
Hmm. This... felt like filler? I can't tell if I missed something or if it really was just a big lead-up to The End Of All Things (currently reading that). It was good, and interesting, but felt a bit slow.
Love John Scalzi. Love this particular Scalzi universe. Loved the the serial format. And I'm thrilled to hear that more books in this "series" are forthcoming!
While sci-fi is a "now and then" genre for me, I find that I do love Scalzi's style of sci-fi storytelling. While there's plenty of tech and spaceship and alien planet weirdness to keep me entertained, it's the characters themselves - be they human, post-human, or alien - that are truly fascinating and entertaining.
I've been enjoying a new chapter of The Human Division delivered to my e-reader every Tuesday for the last thirteen weeks - and I'm terribly sad that it's over. No more waking up excited and dropping any and all other reading to dig into the latest crazy adventure that's just arrived on my Nook.
I definitely recommend The Human Division - and anything by John Scalzi.
While sci-fi is a "now and then" genre for me, I find that I do love Scalzi's style of sci-fi storytelling. While there's plenty of tech and spaceship and alien planet weirdness to keep me entertained, it's the characters themselves - be they human, post-human, or alien - that are truly fascinating and entertaining.
I've been enjoying a new chapter of The Human Division delivered to my e-reader every Tuesday for the last thirteen weeks - and I'm terribly sad that it's over. No more waking up excited and dropping any and all other reading to dig into the latest crazy adventure that's just arrived on my Nook.
I definitely recommend The Human Division - and anything by John Scalzi.
Scalzi is my favorite sci-fi writer, hands down. His stories are riveting and the technological advancements he's created in his world are detailed, integral to his plots, and just fun. His characters are not as dynamic or deep as those of other authors, but they're believable and his witty humor makes me turn the pages as much as the plots.
This is a weird book to review. It’s a collection of short stories at the start. By the end it turns more into a standard narrative. Each of them and the overarching story were all really good. But unlike the earlier books you’re left with more questions than answers. If you’ve read the earlier books, you know what you’re getting into. It’s a fun ride on the sci fi military political train with your cavalcade of characters with names you see once and never again while our very unlikely hero tries to beat the odds.
Somehow I hadn’t realized there were additional books in the Old Man’s War setting until coming across this one in a used bookstore. It’s a fascinating construction, divided into “episodes” rather than chapters, each of which really does stand alone, for the most part. This allowed Scalzi to choose a different tone for the various episodes, and therefore showcase his more serious hard SF as well a bit of his more absurd writing (I’m thinking of The Dog King episode here, as well as the “extra” episode After the Coup). Some of these stories would get five stars from me, including the Harry Wilson-focused opening episode (The B-Team) and the later Tales from the Clarke. Wilson is a fairly standard Scalzi character: supremely confident, yet modest and unassuming, with more than a dash of sarcasm. He’s a great protagonist here, and contributes to the book’s best twists, and best humorous points as well. Sorvalh is also great, and I wish we’d seen more of her - the closing epilogue episode featuring her is surprisingly good. The climactic conclusion is spectacularly done, though it calls out for reading the next in the series, which I certainly plan to do now that I know it exists.