The human division

Format:

Book

Title:

The human division

Author:

Scalzi, John, 1969-

ISBN:

9780765333513

9781447290476

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

New York : Tor, 2013.

Physical Description:

431 pages ; 22 cm

General Note:

"A Tom Doherty Associates book."

Contents:

The B-team -- Walk the plank -- We only need the heads -- A voice in the wilderness -- Tales from the Clarke -- The back channel -- The dog king -- The sound of rebellion -- The observers -- This must be the place -- A problem of proportion -- The gentle art of cracking heads -- Earth below, sky above -- After the coup -- Hafte Sorvalh eats a churro and speaks to the youth of today.

Summary:

B Team leader Lieutenant Harry Wilson counters hostile alien forces, angry humans and unpredictable elements from the universe in order to protect the interests of the Colonial Union.

Subject(s):

Space colonies -- Fiction.

Genre:

Science fiction, American.

Science fiction.

Fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	Fic (sf) Scalzi, J. 2013	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	SCI-FI SCALZI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	SCI-FI Scalzi, J.	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Silver Falls Library	SF SCALZI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	Scalzi	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Following the events of The Last Colony , John Scalzi tells the story of the fight to maintain the unity of the human race.

The people of Earth now know that the human Colonial Union has kept them ignorant of the dangerous universe around them. For generations the CU had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now the CU's secrets are known to all. Other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance--an alliance against the Colonial Union. And they've invited the people of Earth to join them. For a shaken and betrayed Earth, the choice isn't obvious or easy.

Against such possibilities, managing the survival of the Colonial Union won't be easy, either. It will take diplomatic finesse, political cunning...and a brilliant "B Team," centered on the resourceful Lieutenant Harry Wilson, that can be deployed to deal with the unpredictable and unexpected things the universe throws at you when you're struggling to preserve the unity of the human race.

Being published online from January to April 2013 as a three-month digital serial, The Human Division will appear as a full-length novel of the Old Man's War universe, plus--for the first time in print--the first tale of Lieutenant Harry Wilson, and a coda that wasn't part of the digital serialization.

Author Notes

John Michael Scalzi was born May 10, 1969 in California. He attended the University of Chicago. During his 1989 -1990 school year he was the editor-in-chief of The Chicago Maroon. After graduating in 1991, Scalzi took a job as the film critic for the Fresno Bee newspaper, eventually also becoming a humor columnist. In 1996 he was hired as the in-house writer and editor at America Online. When he was laid off in 1998, he decided to become a full-time freelance writer and author. His first published novel was Old Man's War. His other works include Agent to the Stars, The Ghosts Brigades, The Androids Team, The Sagan Diary, The Last Colony, and Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas. In 2014 his title, Locked In, made The New York Times Best Seller List.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Scalzi's hectically paced and philosophical continuation of the Old Man's War series is an invigorating and morally complex interstellar thriller with heart. The human Colonial Union has lost the trust of neighboring worlds due to allegations that it's been delaying Earth's technological development so it can "farm" Earth for colonists and soldiers. When the Polk, a Union ambassadorial starship, is obliterated while on a secret diplomatic mission with the alien Utche, the Union sends in a "B-team"-rebellious and unorthodox Lt. Harry Wilson, meek diplomatic assistant Hart Schmidt, and aggressive ambassador Abumwe-to seal negotiations and discover who (or what) destroyed the Polk. Scalzi injects the thrilling wonder of escapist science fiction with the painful despair of human betrayal and selfishness, focusing as much on conflicts of the heart as on warring alien civilizations. First released as digital serial installments, the book's chapters reverberate with cliffhanger suspense, building and resolving a central conflict while building on more complex story arcs. Deeply realized characters and stinging webs of political and social deceit lend mystery and emotionally harsh realism to a thrilling setting of deep space and distant worlds. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Scalzi (Redshirts, 2012, etc.) offers his fifth in the Old Man's War series. The Colonial Union keeps peace among the universe's humans, albeit one fractured after Earth's withdrawal. Blame John Perry and Jane Sagan, Roanoke Colony leaders. Earth's billions had provided Colonial Defense Forces troopers and outpost settlers, which allowed the Colonial Union to cope with the machinations of the Conclave, an alliance of alien (nonhuman) species. Scalzi rockets characters through assorted space adventures, with repeated appearances by Lt. Harry Wilson, CDF technician and Earth native, who finds himself wherever the action is, whether that's in space disarming a missile trap set for the Utche, an alien species with whom the Colonial Union is negotiating, or caring for an ambassador's dog whose survival figures into an alien civil war. Other players pop up repeatedly, including two CDF colonels, a hard-line ambassador and a female starship captain. Starships use "skip drive" to outwit Einsteinian physics and "skip drones" to communicate across light years. Human characters communicate in dialogue laced with 21st-century humor and irony, even among the CDF troopers (repurposed 75-year-old earthlings) equipped with "BrainPals," neural-computer implants. The aliens too function with socioethical and political mores replicating Machiavelli, authoritarians or third-rate dictators. Laced with oddball humor, the plot is not so esoteric that a newbie to sci-fi's outlier world cannot follow, and the science buy in isn't so great as to cause those who mastered introductory physics to stumble. The story simply launches human quandaries and foibles into the universe--greed, aggression, duplicity, arrogance, chauvinism and other distinctly human negatives--where they are imposed on alien circumstances, creatures and environments. Females share power and failure equally, but sex and romance take a back seat to wildcat settlements, derring-do heroes, missiles fired and messages misunderstood, all of which are offset by stunning technology, imagined landscapes and the covert destruction of Earth Station by spaceships piloted by brains-in-boxes. That makes for a gateway to the next episode. A Heinlein-like adventure for a serious sci-fi fan.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Sort of a mixed bag here from the author of Redshirts (2012) and other fine sf novels. Scalzi's writing is as readable as ever, but the story set in the universe of his Old Man's War (2004) is a bit unfocused. But that's probably unavoidable, given that the novel began life as a 13-part online serial. Here's the premise: the Colonial Union is on the outs from planet Earth, the union's big secret that it has used humanity as a sort of factory for its soldiers having recently been revealed. An allied group of alien races, the Conclave, is courting humanity, offering safety in their vast numbers, but this could spell disaster for the CU. Each of the book's 13 interconnected stories adds a piece to the picture, using multiple points of view to move the narrative forward. Readers expecting a straightforward sequel to Old Man's War and its follow-ups may be disappointed, but any new novel from the extremely talented Scalzi is always good news, and this one, despite its experimental feel and shifting narrative, is one more proof that he's an unqualified A-lister in the genre.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal Review

In this collection of linked stories, army technician Harry Wilson and diplomatic corp officer Hart Schmidt are just two of the memorable characters trying to improve the reputation of humanity in a galaxy where everyone seems against them-even the population of their home planet, Earth. With a knack for crafting entertaining interstellar politics and diplomacy, Scalzi tells 13 discrete stories (originally sold serially online), each with its own perspective and tone. All told, these add up to one satisfying and very fun whole. VERDICT Featuring the author's trademark humor, clever dialog, and a hefty dose of action, this is a wonderful addition to Scalzi's "Old Man's War" universe. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.