The Ghost Brigades is a sequel to Old Man’s War, however it has something of a loose connection and can easily be read as a stand alone novel. Most of the background covered in Old Man’s War is touched upon in The Ghost Brigades.

In the future, an overcrowded and resource stripped Earth begins colonizing the galaxy, thanks to the advent of the skip drive (allowing faster than light travel). As it turns out, the galaxy is filled with many aggressive star traveling species, competing for the choicest planets to colonize. The Earth colonies are protected by the Colonial Defense Force (CDF). The CDF is composed of elderly Earth residents who, facing death, volunteer for military service in exchange for a new lease on life, literally. At the age of 65, volunteers are enrolled and DNA samples taken. A clone is developed and at age 75, the consciousness of the volunteer is transferred to his new, genetically and technologically enhanced (think Six Million Dollar Man) clone body.

As it turns out, some volunteers die between the ages of 65 and 75. Seems a waste to just throw away a perfectly good clone body, thus The Ghost Brigades are born, CDF special forces with no previous life experiences. This novel tracks the experiences of such a brigade and one member in particular, Jared Dirac, who is just a little different than the other brigade members.

If you liked Old Man’s War or any military themed hard science fiction, you’ll certainly like The Ghost Brigades. In fact, I can say that I felt The Ghost Brigades was marginally better than its predecessor. The science is good, the characters are engaging and the action maintains a good pace throughout the work. ( )

This didn't feel like a sequel--it could easily stand on its own, but having read The Old Man's War, the story is even more compelling.

This was a very fast read and a true page turner. The character arc for Jared Dirac keeps you deeply connected to the story. ( )

Good story. Good characters. But not as satisfying as the first in this series. ( )

A sequel to "Old Man's War", the story continues following Jane Sagan, an important character from the previous book, but it can stand alone very well which gets in an extra 1/2 star. If you've read the previous book, you can guess that this story follows the special forces & a lot of questions about them get answered.

I can't put my finger on it, but I wasn't quite as taken with this book as the previous one. It still receives high marks & was quite well done. The plot was basically a mystery, but done in a neat way that kept me guessing throughout. There was plenty of action, but also some interesting philosophy & exploration of humanity - what makes us people or humans? While asking such heavy questions, the book never bogged down, which is quite a trick.

I'm definitely reading more by this author & getting his books for one of my kids. I highly recommend him to anyone who liked Heinlein's early books, Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" or "All My Sins Remembered" or Steakly's "Armor". ( )

As with Old Man's war, this sequel was a pageturner. Scalzi's greatest strength as a writer is definitely his humor. Even though his characterization of Jared is compelling, I have to admit I do miss old John Perry. As in the prequel, Jane Sagan (Perry's "ghosted" wife) is one of the main characters, which allows for further exploration of the Scalzi's universe. ( )