The Ghost Brigades, John Scalzi
The Ghost Brigades, John Scalzi
19 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
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The Ghost Brigades

Author: John Scalzi

Narrator: William Dufris

Unabridged: 10 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/12/2008


Synopsis

John Scalzi's eagerly anticipated sequel to the extraordinary Old Man's War

The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. They're young, they're fast and strong, and they're totally without normal human qualms.

The universe is a dangerous place for humanity—and it's about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.

Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers -- a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin's DNA, Jared's brain should be able to access Boutin's electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.

At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutin's memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason's for Boutin's betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his "father," he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanity's mere military defeat…

About John Scalzi

JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular science fiction authors of his generation. His debut, Old Man's War, won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Redshirts (which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel), The Last Emperox, and The Kaiju Preservation Society. Material from his blog, Whatever (whatever.scalzi.com), has earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

About William Dufris

William Dufris began his audio career in London, England. He co-found the audio production company The Story Circle, Ltd in the UK. In the US, he founded Mind’s Eye Productions and co-founded Rocky Coast Radio Theatre in addition to The AudioComics Company, for which he is producer, director, actor and engineer. Durfis was nominated six times as a finalist for the APA's prestigious Audie Awards. He garnered eighteen Golden Earphones Awards through AudioFile magazine, which honored him as one of The Best Voices at the End of the Century. Of his work, AudioFile said, "William Dufris commands a dazzling array of voices that bring to life the dozens of audiobooks he’s narrated." His audiobook credits include many of Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, Ph.D.'s works, such as Days of Infamy and Pearl Harbor, in addition to George McGovern’s Abraham Lincoln, Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon and John Scalzi’s The Ghost Bridges.Dufris acted on stage and in television and is best known as the original North American voice of the cartoon character Bob in Nickelodeon's popular children's show, Bob the Builder. Additionally, he worked with legendary director Dirk Maggs on his audio drama productions of Spider-Man.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kemper on March 27, 2011

James Cameron and John Scalzi Share An Awkward Elevator Ride James Cameron: Could you hit the button for the top floor, please? John Scalzi: Sure. Say, aren’t you James Cameron? JC: That’s right. My friends call me King of the World! Ha Ha! Just kidding. JS: Right. JC: You look kind of familiar. Have we......more

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on May 01, 2021

The mind and consciousness are popular toys on the playground of sci-fi, but hardly anyone satirized their up and downloading, editing, and maddening like Scalzi does. Always a big topic, now a main idea in the second part of the amazing series of one of the rare really funny sci-fi writers, the simu......more

Goodreads review by Anne on May 18, 2025

Thank you to everyone who told me I was wrong. I appreciate all of you who bullied me into reading this one after I didn't catch feels for the first book in the series. Sometimes it happens that way. And I'm a big enough person to admit it. While Old Man's War sets up the universe from the POV of a ger......more

Goodreads review by Emily on June 08, 2024

(2.5) This was rough. I really enjoyed book 1 but struggled with this one. The author definitely likes to write the same MC every time and this is the first time I found myself tired of it. Hoping book 3 will work better since we apparently go back to the same MC as book 1.......more

Goodreads review by mark on August 28, 2016

overall this is a fun, fast-paced, and competently written novel. after finishing this book, I immediately wanted to read more - a good sign! and it is a thoughtful novel - I really liked how it carefully and quietly lays down small but important plot points that are clearly going to be even more im......more


Quotes

“Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalzi’s astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master…The novel’s tone is right on target, too—sentimentality balanced by hardheaded calculation, know-it-all smugness moderated by innocent wonder. This virtuoso debut pays tribute to SF’s past while showing that well-worn tropes still can have real zip when they’re approached with ingenuity.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Old Man's War

“Solid…[Scalzi] sidesteps most of the cliches of military science fiction, delivers fast-paced scenes of combat and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise.” —San Francisco Chronicle on Old Man's War

“Thought-provoking!” —Entertainment Weekly on Old Man's War

“Smartly conceived and thoroughly entertaining, Old Man's War is a splendid novel.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Gripping and surpassingly original. It's Starship Troopers without the lectures. It's The Forever War with better sex. It's funny, it's sad, and it's true.” —Cory Doctorow on Old Man’s War

“John Scalzi is a fresh and appealing new voice, and Old Man's War is classic SF seen from a modern perspective--a fast-paced tour of a daunting, hostile universe.” —Robert Charles Wilson

“I enjoyed Old Man's War immensely. A space war story with fast action, vivid characters, moral complexity and cool speculative physics, set in a future you almost want to live into, and a universe you sincerely hope you don't live in already.” —Ken MacLeod


Awards

  • Prometheus Award Nominee