 Cover of first edition (hardcover) | |
| Author | John Scalzi |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Old Man's War series |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
Publication date | 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 384 [1] |
| ISBN | 9780765354068 |
| Preceded by | Old Man's War |
| Followed by | The Last Colony |
The Ghost Brigades is a science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, the second book set in his Old Man's War universe. [1]
The Colonial Defense Forces (CDF) learn that one of their top consciousness transfer scientists, Charles Boutin, has turned traitor and sparked an unprecedented alliance between three other species to wipe out humanity. While investigating Boutin's clumsy attempt to fake his own death, the CDF discovers that Boutin had successfully stored a copy of his consciousness in a computer. The colonial Special Forces, nicknamed "The Ghost Brigades," create a CDF soldier body with Boutin's DNA to try to implant the copy of Boutin's consciousness into the new brain, to learn where Boutin has escaped to and what his intentions really are. After the attempt seemingly fails, the soldier (named Jared Dirac, after Paul Dirac) becomes a private in the Special Forces and is assigned to a platoon commanded by Jane Sagan. On the off chance that Boutin's consciousness does emerge, Sagan and her superiors are determined to keep an eye on Jared. Time passes and an experience that reminds Dirac of Boutin's daughter Zoe leads Boutin's consciousness to emerge. Jared slowly becomes more and more like Boutin while losing his own personality traits, but retains his individuality and his strong moral opposition to Boutin's philosophy and actions. When the extent of Boutin's treachery becomes known, it's clear there will be some difficult choices required to stop Boutin's alliance with the Rraey, Eneshan and Obin.
A mission to the moon where Boutin is helping the Obin build their consciousness transfer technology, led by Sagan and Dirac, is catastrophically compromised by Boutin's use of a backdoor to disable the soldiers' BrainPals and render many of them catatonic. Dirac is interrogated by Boutin, who decides to transfer his own consciousness into Dirac's body in an attempt to infiltrate and destroy the Colonial Union. The transfer succeeds, ending Dirac's consciousness. Dirac is able to posthumously neutralize Boutin by leaving a Trojan horse in a BrainPal message, oxidizing his body's smart blood and killing him. Boutin's daughter Zoe is retrieved by the survivors of the mission, including Sagan. At the end of the book, Sagan is offered retirement in order to keep her from disclosing sensitive information she received from Boutin; she accepts and retires with her future husband John Perry, adopting Zoe. The Obin proceed to sign a treaty with the CDF that ends hostilities.
All of the colonial defense forces are given genetically altered bodies with all sorts of upgrades, with the special forces getting the most. These soldiers are born into these bodies, and only through their BrainPal do they know what to do. This universe is a hostile place and these upgrades are the bare minimum the CDF can give them just to hold their own. Travel in the universe is done by skip drive, an instantaneous means of transportation. Jane Sagan, Harry Wilson and John Perry are the only primary characters returning from Old Man's War .
The Ghost Brigades introduces the following races:
A brain transplant or whole-body transplant is a procedure in which the brain of one organism is transplanted into the body of another organism. It is a procedure distinct from head transplantation, which involves transferring the entire head to a new body, as opposed to the brain only. Theoretically, a person with complete organ failure could be given a new and functional body while keeping their own personality, memories, and consciousness through such a procedure. Neurosurgeon Robert J. White has grafted the head of a monkey onto the headless body of another monkey. EEG readings showed the brain was later functioning normally. Initially, it was thought to prove that the brain was an immunologically privileged organ, as the host's immune system did not attack it at first, but immunorejection caused the monkey to die after nine days. Brain transplants and similar concepts have also been explored in various forms of science fiction.
The Man with Two Brains is a 1983 American science fiction black comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner.
Ultra-Humanite is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared as a recurring adversary of Superman, and was among the first villains faced by him. He was designed to be the polar opposite of Superman; while Superman is a hero with superhuman strength, Ultra-Humanite is a criminal mastermind who has a crippled body but a highly advanced intellect. The Ultra-Humanite served as Superman's nemesis until Alexei Luthor and his Silver Age counterpart Lex Luthor were introduced in the comics. The origins of the super-criminal known as the Ultra-Humanite are shrouded in mystery. Even he claims not to remember his true name or appearance and attributes his vast intellect and mental prowess to scientific experiments of an unknown nature.
John Michael Scalzi II is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Old Man's War series, three novels of which have been nominated for the Hugo Award, and for his blog Whatever, where he has written on a number of topics since 1998. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2008 based predominantly on that blog, which he has also used for several charity drives. His novel Redshirts won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel. He has written non-fiction books and columns on diverse topics such as finance, video games, films, astronomy, writing and politics, and served as a creative consultant for the TV series Stargate Universe.
Castle Roogna is a fantasy novel by British-American writer Piers Anthony, the third book in the Xanth series. The castle itself is also the residence of the present King of Xanth.
The Hate-Monger is the name of several different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Brain is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Commonly as a frequent enemy of the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans, he is a French genius and criminal mastermind.
Monsieur Mallah is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. He is the gorilla servant of and, in time, the partner to Gorilla Grodd, and the Brain while serving as an enemy of the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans.
Mind uploading, whole brain emulation, or substrate-independent minds, is a use of a computer or another substrate as an emulated human brain. The term "mind transfer" also refers to a hypothetical transfer of a mind from one biological brain to another. Uploaded minds and societies of minds, often in simulated realities, are recurring themes in science-fiction novels and films since the 1950s.
Biological naturalism is a theory about, among other things, the relationship between consciousness and body, and hence an approach to the mind–body problem. It was first proposed by the philosopher John Searle in 1980 and is defined by two main theses: 1) all mental phenomena, ranging from pains, tickles, and itches to the most abstruse thoughts, are caused by lower-level neurobiological processes in the brain; and 2) mental phenomena are higher-level features of the brain.
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science is a 1979 book by the astrophysicist Carl Sagan. Its chapters were originally articles published between 1974 and 1979 in various magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, Physics Today, Playboy, and Scientific American. In the introduction, Sagan wrote:
As long as there have been human beings, we have posed the deep and fundamental questions. ... If we do not destroy ourselves, most of us will be around for the answers. ... By far the most exciting, satisfying and exhilarating time to be alive is the time in which we pass from ignorance to knowledge on these fundamental issues.
Old Man's War is a military science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, published in 2005. His debut novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006.
Arnim Zola is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by Marvel Comics. He is a master of biochemistry and a recurring enemy of Captain America and the Avengers. The character first appeared in Captain America and the Falcon #208, and was created by writer/artist Jack Kirby. When he was first introduced, Zola was a Nazi scientist experimenting with genetic engineering during World War II. His skills as a geneticist drew the attention of the Red Skull, who recruited him into Hydra to aid their efforts to create super soldiers. One of his experiments led to the brain of Adolf Hitler being copied into a being later known as Hate-Monger. Later in life, Zola transferred his own mind into a sophisticated robot body which protected it by storing it in its chest and displaying a digital image of Zola's face on its chest plate. This robot body allowed Zola to survive until modern times, as whenever it is destroyed, Zola could simply upload his consciousness into a new body.
Machinesmith is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably as a regular enemy of Captain America. He specializes in robotics, and is able to make convincing robotic doubles of other superhumans. His own mind was ultimately transferred to a robotic body.
Aleksander Lukin is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America vol. 5 #1, and was created by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. He serves as the main antagonist of the first Winter Soldier storyline.
The Last Colony is a science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, the third set in his Old Man's War universe. It was nominated for a 2008 Hugo Award in the Best Novel category.
Zoe's Tale is a science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi. It is the fourth full-length book in the Old Man's War universe.
The End of All Things is a science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, the sixth book set in the Old Man's War universe.
Replicas is a 2018 American science fiction thriller film directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and written by Chad St. John, from a story by Stephen Hamel. The film tells the story of a neuroscientist who violates the law and bioethics to bring his family members back to life after they die in a car accident. It stars Keanu Reeves, Alice Eve and Thomas Middleditch.
| Authority control: National |
|---|
