Scalzi continues to use the Old Man’s War universe to address issues of youth, death, purpose, identity, and what it means to be human. There are some key differences, though. OMW had a strong element engaging issues of integrating what Nick Carr would term “intellectual technologies” into our established patterns, but Ghost focuses on what it’s like to be born and raised with such technologies already integrated.

The concept of choice plays a prominent role in this story. Characters make many important choices in any story, but few writers focus on the process, purpose, or value of choice the way Scalzi does. Each character has to make a choice, and, though in most cases the conclusions are foregone, it is the act of choosing that gets the attention. The freedom to act according to one’s own will is given an extremely high value, particularly in the context of the military, where choice is, shall we say, “limited.”

Above all of these issues, though, the meaning of collective and individual humanity is at the forefront again. “How am I human?” and “How human am I?” are the two most prominent questions, and no strong answer is given.

The writing suffered from the same drawback as Old Man’s War: a lot of telling, possibly not enough showing. Again, the story was engaging and fun, the writing was great, and it was a fast, enjoyable read.