The Human Division by John Scalzi

Science Fiction

What Goodreads Says:

"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."

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 Abumwe does not like anyone.  The interaction between them leads to a lot of laught out loud moments.  They are the “B” team who manages to make things work in spite of the odds. Those three are from the CU.  Dani Lowen is from Earth and often finds herself working with the team.

Even though each story is separate they all come together to make a whole.  You get to know all of the characters, the history and the politics as the stories progress.  There is a cliffhanger ending but don’t despair.  Book two is in the works and is scheduled for release. The Human Division is a great addition to the series and I look forward to the next book.

Tor published The Human Division by John Scalzi in 2013.