The Human Division (Old Man's War, #5) in Beyond Reality

Mar 30, 2020 mark monday rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-modern, rain-man-reviews, super-private-journal

I'm behind on my reviews because I've been so damn busy busy busy. this book is also busy busy busy with its multiple perspectives looking at conflict and duty and political maneuvering and secret enemies from different sides, different angles, different stories. I thought this stay-at-home self-quarantining would mean I'd get to relax and focus on the things I love like books and movies but ha ha ha. the Earth finds itself suddenly un-quarantined now that the Colonial Union has been exposed and I'm behind on my reviews because I've been so damn busy busy busy. this book is also busy busy busy with its multiple perspectives looking at conflict and duty and political maneuvering and secret enemies from different sides, different angles, different stories. I thought this stay-at-home self-quarantining would mean I'd get to relax and focus on the things I love like books and movies but ha ha ha. the Earth finds itself suddenly un-quarantined now that the Colonial Union has been exposed and yet all it does is continue to be a pawn and fight with itself instead of joining galactic society, that's so Earth of it, typical humans and their divisions, ha ha ha. the best part of staying at home for me though is actually what's taking up most of my hours: interviewing and training people who want to help out during the health crisis, who want to deliver meals and do chores for seniors who truly can't leave their homes because quarantine. the best part of this book is that it illustrates the potential for humans to be good, to be their best selves, in times of stress and fear; Scalzi knows the potential for humanity is always there despite how they always get in their own way. there's a human division right now, in this country and everywhere, it's always existed, the people who want to look forward and naively think they can do right by everyone versus the people who want to protect what's important to them, they seem to think they're trying to do right by everyone but it feels like they are just trying to do right for the people who look like them and think like them. The Human Division has such a division and of course I'm rooting for the one side, but in this case the good guys are embedded with that other side who created the whole division in the first place and who are trying to get in the way of all things getting along. it's funny but not funny how a crisis like a coronavirus will make bedfellows of us all, no matter where on the divide a person lands, the virus is a threat that doesn't discriminate. there's a terrible threat in this book too, it doesn't care who it kills, it wants what it wants and so both sides get got; who knows, maybe this threat will bridge the divide and the humans will come together eventually. I mean, a boy can dream, right? ...more

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Aug 15, 2020 Kathi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

9/10
The story is told in a series of short-story-like episodes which connect to form the novel. It gives the book a somewhat disjointed feel, but the story itself is engaging and thought-provoking. The author has structured most of the episodes around pairs of key characters, with Harry Wilson and Hart Schmidt in starring roles. Other pairs are Ambassador Ode Abumwe and Captain Sophia Coloma as supporting characters in several of the episodes and Colonels Abel Rigney and Liz Egan as important st ...more

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May 06, 2013 Jo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, space-opera

The Human Division is an extension of the Old Man’s War universe. Set after John Perry lets Earth know how the Colonial Union had used and kept the planet in the dark, this is a series of stories about on one group of diplomats working for the survival of the CU and humans in general.

There are some great characters in The Human Division. Harry Wilson, Hart Schmidt and Ambassador Abumwe seem to be a mismatched team. Harry is a real smart mouth, Hart just seems to be going with the flow and Abumw ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Had the usual things you expect from Scalzi — an entertaining story without unnecessary padding, with fun dialogue and well drawn but slightly thin characters. Oh, and a fair number of uncorrected typos. >.> (Sorry, I'm a bastard. Also, being a copy editor dies hard.) This doesn't quite hang together as a novel — it started its life as a sequence of stories — but it was a fun read and decent continuation of The Last Colony. This is not a complete story, but there will be a second sequence of sto ...more

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Sep 22, 2020 Christine rated it really liked it

John writes good stories; this one is a bit different from others in the Old Man's War universe. It consists of what seem to be several short stories which do carry the plot line (but I don't think the book resolved the main question asked) ...more

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Apr 10, 2022 Richard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, ebook

Could have been four stars but I read it in novel form rather than a chapter at a time as per the electronic release, and the episodic style felt a little disjointed and just didn’t work that well for me.
As always I really liked the characters and the action but this time the plot seemed to flounder a little.
Let’s just hope the final instalment in this excellent series leads to a nice fat satisfying conclusion.

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