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2013 Book Review #77: The Human Division
Title: The Human Division
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science Fiction (part of series)
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: A series of linked short stories examining the fallout from The Last Colony.
Thoughts: This was originally released as individual short stories, which could be bought one at a time, and then was gathered up into a single book. I'm not really sure how well it worked as individual stories. Each story/chapter does have a beginning/middle/end, but I'm not sure some of the later ones would have much resonance if you read them on their own. None of them would stand up all that well without having read previous books in the series.
It's nice to get a chance to explore the wider universe of Old Man's War, outside Perry and Sagan's perspectives. I appreciate the moral ambiguity built in--the Colonial Defense Forces are assholes and what they did to Earth is deeply problematic, but they had good reasons. And most of the people involved are decent people. Those who aren't, aren't cackling baddies but complex individuals. We meet diplomats and spaceship captains, but also politicians' children and talk radio hosts. It's an interesting exploration.
There is a plot that threads through all the stories, and the last is suitably dramatic to be a climax for the collection. It's a disappointing ending, though--all along, we discover over and over that someone is screwing around with both the humans and the Conclave. But as far as I can tell, no hints are dropped. We know as little about the identity of the mysterious third party by the end of the last story as we knew at the end of the first story. Clearly, he's building up to something, but it would have been nice to have at least a little resolution here.
Others have complained that every major character, including the aliens, have the same voice and that voice is John Scalzi. (That is, it's the same voice as he writes his blog in.) It's true. From an artistic standpoint, it's a flaw. On the other hand, I find Scalzi's voice endlessly entertaining. So while everyone may snark the same snark, I really enjoyed the snark and chose not to hold it against him.
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Science Fiction (part of series)
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: A series of linked short stories examining the fallout from The Last Colony.
Thoughts: This was originally released as individual short stories, which could be bought one at a time, and then was gathered up into a single book. I'm not really sure how well it worked as individual stories. Each story/chapter does have a beginning/middle/end, but I'm not sure some of the later ones would have much resonance if you read them on their own. None of them would stand up all that well without having read previous books in the series.
It's nice to get a chance to explore the wider universe of Old Man's War, outside Perry and Sagan's perspectives. I appreciate the moral ambiguity built in--the Colonial Defense Forces are assholes and what they did to Earth is deeply problematic, but they had good reasons. And most of the people involved are decent people. Those who aren't, aren't cackling baddies but complex individuals. We meet diplomats and spaceship captains, but also politicians' children and talk radio hosts. It's an interesting exploration.
There is a plot that threads through all the stories, and the last is suitably dramatic to be a climax for the collection. It's a disappointing ending, though--all along, we discover over and over that someone is screwing around with both the humans and the Conclave. But as far as I can tell, no hints are dropped. We know as little about the identity of the mysterious third party by the end of the last story as we knew at the end of the first story. Clearly, he's building up to something, but it would have been nice to have at least a little resolution here.
Others have complained that every major character, including the aliens, have the same voice and that voice is John Scalzi. (That is, it's the same voice as he writes his blog in.) It's true. From an artistic standpoint, it's a flaw. On the other hand, I find Scalzi's voice endlessly entertaining. So while everyone may snark the same snark, I really enjoyed the snark and chose not to hold it against him.
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Seriously, no clue what's going on. That's bizarre.