The Human Division by John Scalzi

The Human Division by John Scalzi is the fifth book in the Old Man’s War series. It’s a string of 15 short stories—some more loosely connected than others—that intermittently follow Harry Wilson—a character whom we’ve not seen since The Ghost Brigades—and these stories collectively tell the tale of humanity’s struggle to preserve its unity amidst an intergalactic conflict between Earth, the Colonial Union, and the Conclave. This is the first book of Scalzi’s that I’ve read that didn’t really work for me as a whole. While I do love Harry Wilson, these stories are just too disjointed to ever really reach the heights of the books that came before it. It’s not a bad book, by any means. I think it’s just that the Perry Family Saga was so good that it left me wanting more, and this is not really the more that I was wanting. But I’m going to go ahead and give a brief rundown of each of these stories, and which ones worked for me and which didn’t.

The first story, The B-Team, kicks off with the diplomatic ship, the Clarke, being tasked with a crucial mission after the A-team is ambushed and presumed dead. The B-team works to navigate a sensitive negotiation with an alien race to prevent another incident, and their success here sets the tone for the rest of the book. This is the first story that involves Harry Wilson, whose diplomacy skills and ingenuity become more and more invaluable as the stories progress. This one was pretty good. 4 out of 5 stars.

The next story—Walk the Plank—shifts focus to a remote colony world, where a wildcat colony (a colony that hasn’t been authorized by the Colonial Union) faces a rather dire situation after the arrival of a wounded stranger. This story is told through a transcript of an interrogation, and I found it to be an immediate dip in quality. 2 out of 5 stars.

The next one—We Only Need the Heads—gets back to the diplomacy and espionage themes and catches back up with Harry Wilson as he joins a Colonial Defense Forces platoon on a covert mission to dismantle an unauthorized human colony on an alien planet. This one is definitely better than the second story, but not quite as good as the first. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

A Voice in the Wilderness—the next story—deviates a bit from the central conflict to follow Albert Birnbaum, a shock jock on Earth who becomes an unwitting pawn in the larger interstellar political game. His transformation from a cynical commentator to a pivotal figure in shaping public opinion on Earth’s relationship with the Colonial Union adds some depth to the political landscape of the series, and it’s got a gut-punch of an ending. Despite its lack of Harry Wilson, it’s my favorite story in the book thus far. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Tales from the Clarke follows Captain Sophia Coloma in a sort of series of vignettes as she tries to convince representatives from Earth to purchase an aging spaceship from the Colonial Union. Save for an explosive moment of excitement, this one is a bit less memorable than a lot of the others. 3 out of 5 stars.

The Back Channel follows Hafte Sorvalh, General Gau of the Conclave’s second-in-command, as she attempts to resolve a diplomatic crisis with the humans. Sorvalh is a great character, and this story does a great job of showing some of the inner workings of the Conclave. 4 out of 5 stars.

The next story—The Dog King—is, for me, the first five star story of the bunch. Harry Wilson is assigned the seemingly simple task of watching an ambassador’s dog while they navigate sensitive negotiations with a race of aliens, but what ensues is a series of hilarious, calamitous blunders that are anything but simple. While this story feels a little bit like a distracting side quest, it’s a fantastic one, and a worthwhile detour that separates the middling first half of the book from the much better second half. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Sound of Rebellion follows Lieutenant Heather Lee and her squad as they attempt to put a stop to a rebellion on a colony world. This one starts out pretty slow but ramps up at about the halfway point and ends with a bang. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Observers, the ninth story, returns to the Clarke, which is hosting some dignitaries from Earth when some black-op hijinks ensue. This one feels like well-trodden ground and is, for me, the least good story of the back half of the book—however, it introduces Danielle Lowen, a diplomat and potential love interest for Harry, and she is a fantastic, whip-smart character, so this one gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This Must Be the Place follows Hart Schmidt, Harry Wilson’s friend and assistant to Ambassador Abumwe, and this story is essentially a character study that focuses on Hart’s familial drama. Hart is a great character, and even though this one feels like one last side quest before the book launches into its final act, it’s a worthy pitstop—plus it’s named after my favorite Talking Heads song. 4 out of 5 stars.

A Problem of Proportion details a meeting between Ambassador Abumwe and Hafte Sorvalh of the Conclave that gets attacked by an unexpected third party. This is another one that starts off pretty slow, with a lot of expository dialogue, but it definitely picks up, and quite a bit actually happens in this one. It ends up being a really good story that sets the stage for the final two. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Gentle Art of Cracking Heads explores the tension between the Colonial Union and the governments of Earth. While Harry has had plenty of chances to show his mental acuity throughout the stories thus far, this is really the first time we get to see him be a real badass. We also get to spend more time with Danielle Lowen. This is a really good penultimate episode. 4 out of 5 stars.

Earth Below, Sky Above, the final story of the main collection of stories in The Human Division, is hands-down the best of the entire bunch. The diplomatic efforts of the book up to this point come to a head in a high-stakes summit on Earth, with the fragile alliances and the threat of war looming over the negotiations. This story pulls out all the stops. It’s paced impeccably, and the climax is positively spectacular. 5 out of 5 stars all day.

So, that’s it for the main stories of the book, but there are two more included as extras.

After the Coup is a sort of prequel story that takes place several months prior to the first story in the book, The B-Team. In this one, the Clarke crew struggles to negotiate a treaty with some aggressive aliens, who demand a demonstration of humanity’s superhuman soldiers, which leads to Harry—the only CDF soldier of the group—being the one to step up to the plate. It’s a good story, and I think this would have been a much better opener for the book than The B-Team, as it would have allowed us to connect with Harry right out of the gate. 4 out of 5 stars.

The final story is called Hafte Sorvalh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today. The story is pretty much exactly what the title states it is. This is a fun if completely superfluous little story that follows Sorvalh as she visits Washington DC and has a Q&A session with some kids on a field trip. 4 out of 5 stars.

This book is much less thematically cohesive than the rest of the books in the series, which therefore makes it much less thematically resonant, but perhaps the most coherent theme found in this one is the delicate art of diplomacy in maintaining peace and forging alliances. From the first story to the last, there is a clear emphasis on negotiation over conflict. Harry Wilson also has a somewhat satisfying arc in his evolution from a simple albeit highly competent technician to an invaluable player in both diplomatic and combat scenarios. This adds a layer of unlikely heroism to the mix. Stories like Walk the Plank and We Only Need the Heads touch on the dangers and ethical considerations of colonial expansionism, and the book takes a look at the impact of colonization on both the colonizers and the indigenous populations. There are other themes to be found, certainly, but these are the ones that stood out to me, not least because they’ve all been explored and in greater depth in the previous books in the series.

When I average my star ratings of all the individual stories, The Human Division comes away with a 3.9 out of 5. Again, the book is not bad by any means, it’s just less character-driven and thematically resonant than the four books that came before it, and it’s clear to see why. In the book’s acknowledgements, Scalzi himself talks about how much hard work it was to get thirteen stories to be able to stand alone and at the same time fit together as a singular work when it was all said and done. I wouldn’t say that this was a resounding success, but it wasn’t an all-out failure, either. It’s above-average popcorn fiction with some good character moments and action-packed set pieces, and a good—if not entirely necessary—addition to the Old Man’s War universe.