The Sound of Rebellion

The Human Division #8

by John Scalzi

The Colonial Defense Forces usually protect humanity from alien attack, but now the stability of the Colonial Union has been threatened, and Lieutenant Heather Lee and her squad are called to squash a rebellion on a colony world. It seems simple enough but there's a second act to the rebellion that finds Lee captive, alone, and armed with only her brains to survive.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Space Opera, Short Stories, Military Fiction, Ebooks

29 pages, Unknown Binding

First published March 5, 2013

About the author

John Scalzi, having declared his absolute boredom with biographies, disappeared in a puff of glitter and lilac scent.

(If you want to contact John, using the mail function here is a really bad way to do it. Go to his site and use the contact information you find there.)

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well here's a new thing: props to Scalzi for showing a woman soldier in peril, but with nothing sexy about it whatsoever.

That sounds sarcastic, but really, it's refreshing not to have bad guys leering at women and threatening them with sexual violence as a plot point.

Anyway, clever, clever, clever. And intriguing. Eagerly awaiting next week. And the rest.

I bought it.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eight episode of Scalzi's Human Division delivered a bit more action and suspense and a return of Lt. Lee (first appeared in the third episode 'We Only Need the Heads'). My only quibble came from the ending and the rather abrupt silence of Lee's thoughts.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Episode 8 of the Human Division. Quite a bit more action in this one than the others and there was more cohesion with the larger story than the last episode. I enjoyed it but I do have to say that there are only 5 episodes left in the story and I was hoping by this point there would be a better picture of what the bigger story is...all I seem to know is Earth and the CU are still having issues...a bunch of diplomatic missions have happened....at some point he's going to have to let us into the larger story arc and start tightening the strings of this plot.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels a little more connected to the plot than the last episode, but I'm still not sure I can see how this is all going to come together. Awesome female lead character for this episode, though, and a fun escape method that fits in well with everything we already know about the CDF and what they're capable of, while not being obvious or too much of a deus ex machina type situation.

[S.A Reidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, what's this? Heather Lee is alive! .I swear this is more than de ja vu, Heather and her ship sound familiar because The Clarke has mentioned the Tubingen before. Or maybe the dimensions are just merging and I'm picking up on the storyline where The Tubingen ambush was literally the opening to this series and the reason the B-Team now has special "ignore them but use them" status.

Just when I was getting used to having Schmidt, Wilson and the rest of The Clarke back - a curveball.

Plot/Storyline/Themes:
I swear John Scalzi can write a compelling story about paint drying and turn it into a rivetting, daring espionage saga with high stakes. Case in point, a room in a hole somewhere and a CDF soldier in it, naked, no weapons and strapped to a chair...

Character Development/Favorite Character:
Heather Lee is the type of person who would do well in a kidnapping situation. As in, resourcesful and bound to escape.
Removing your combat uniform was a defensive procedure, nothing more.”
“I’d believe you more if you hadn’t slapped me awake,” Lee said.

And guess what?! BrainPal!

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
Heather's mind thrpugh process of wlimination and analysis figuring out exactly where she's being held. What a boss!
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Even naked and blind, a Colonial Defense Forces soldier is a formidable opponent” (Two, being a very well mannered but shrewd kidnapper)
🖤 “If you were fuzzy on who you were, there were going to be other critical gaps in your knowledge base and you wouldn’t know what they were.” (Big facts - and not just in a kidnapping scenario)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts :
■ Here me out, the BrainPal is soo melded to the brain nueral passages and nervous syatem that it just can't be removed. And that is AWESOME!
■ CDF uniform is apparently badass
■ CDF soldier in or out the uniform is deadly.
■SmartBlood

StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment in this series of inter-connected episodes forming a larger narrative arc. Because of that, it is a bit hard to rate & review them individually without knowing what else happens. I'll do a separate review & rating for the entire novel of all thirteen episodes, The Human Division. I really liked this episode though, so that's why it gets 4 stars. A couple of CDF soldiers have been captured by rebels after their ship had been sent to help quell rebellion on one of the Colonial Union's worlds. This story is from the point of view of Lt. Heather Lee, who wakes up naked and strapped to interrogation chair while a mechanically altered voice tells her how she will be questioned and tortured if she doesn't provide answers. Even though she can't use her BrainPal (computer inside her brain) to communicate with anyone outside the room she's in, she is able to use to help figure out where she is and how she might be able to escape. The rest, dear reader, is for you to discover.

[Anissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting installment in the serial that centers around Lt. Heather Lee & her abduction in Zhuang Guo. She figured out a unique way to map her surroundings & that was most enjoyable. I was more intrigued by the the conversation with the Secretary toward the end & what that's going to mean as we go further than what took place at Zhang Guo. Poor Jefferson. Looking forward to the next.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this eighth short story focusing on the consequences of the split between the Colonial Union and Earth, Skalzi takes us into the head of a lieutenant captured after putting down a nascent uprising on a Colonial Union world in which at least some of its citizens want to break away and join earth. It’s a great little tale, tense with danger, and featuring a smart protagonist who uses her wits to get out of a very bad situation. To make the story even better, she capitalizes on tech that’s been referred to in other stories, but uses it in ingenious ways. It’s just a great story all around and has me chomping at the bit to read the next one.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Karlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the series more as I went through each episode. At first I struggled because it seemed like random stories set in this universe. But as it continued and I realized it was interwoven story lines I enjoyed them more. The main characters were enjoyable. It's pretty traditional sci fi fare but still worth the read.

[Call me Jeeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a brothel the single greatest line ever. When you want to torture someone choose a brothel because nobody will ask questions.
This the best book of the series so far. I love the sound mapping built into the brain buddy. And then to be able to set it a blaze. Great science, hard science in a small novelette . Great job Scalzi!

[Emz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting and suspenseful episode unfolds as Lieutenant Heather Lee is taken prisoner on a planet in the midst of a revolution. She must use all her skills and cunning to plan and execute her escape, saving her fellow CDF soldiers. Her cunning was truly remarkable.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"Are you ready to begin?"

Lee wakes naked, bound, eyes covered and transmission via her brain pal.shielded. Who, why and where? A tale of deductions.
nation by William Dufris is superb once again.
Recommended

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, again, fun, but I’m hoping all these individual booklets come together into something cohesive at the end!

[Durval Menezes]

I was reviewing my want-to-read list and realized I've read this one already, as part of the "Human Division" novel (which is nothing more than a collection of these episodes plus a few extras).

[D. Darko · Rating 5 out of 5]

CDF Soldiers kick ass!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique and clever

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good how to on escaping from captivity, assuming one has the proper tools 😆

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one

[x x x · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Amazing grasp of conversation with pacing and diplomatic issues per the various governments I've dealt with across their failures and flaws.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A CDF lieutenant helps quash a rebellion on a colony and is soon after taken captive. She uses her brain to figure out how to escape with a subordinate and report back to her superiors. Recommended

[Amy Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another chapter of the whole

[Steve Smythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice change in the story

This was a nice journey with a clever way to describe the environment. Loved it. I also enjoyed the intrigue.

[Karl Schaeffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rebellion on a CDF world leaves a CDF platoon leader in a precarious state.

[Katie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the cleverness of Heather Lee. Brilliant

[elsalmon L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colonial Union Defense Force is called to crush a CU colony rebellion and loses solders that become hostages to the rebels.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the entirety of The Human Division, comprised of 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.

My first thought about this, the latest story in the Old Man's War universe from John Scalzi, was annoyance that I hadn't read it whilst it was being released. The individual episodes each come to around 25 or 30 pages on my Nook (except for the first and last parts) and it would have been fun to read them and have the cliffhangers as it happened. In the end, though, being able to read the entire thing in one go was also pretty cool.

At the end of The Last Colony, John Perry and the Conclave revealed the nature of interstellar warfare and diplomacy to the citizens of Earth. This story details some of the fallout from that decision, dovetailing neatly with the B-team mentioned in the first episode and their attempts to remedy the diplomatic events that occur as a result. It's a welcome return to the universe from Scalzi, who has mostly stayed away from writing more tales here for the last five years (since the the publication of Zoe's Tale). I really enjoyed catching up with the universe, and the episodic nature of the story was handled extremely well.

Looking forward to reading Scalzi's next works in this direction, both from the perspective of this universe and the perspective of episodic storytelling.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the eighth installment in John Scalzi's The Human Division serial novel. There will be five more, released over the next five weeks. While I would expect feeling more of a sense of coherence with a greater plot at this point in the series, I'm pleased with what we're getting, instead.

This episode brings back Lieutenant Heather Lee, who we last saw in We Only Need the Heads . She's the main focus this installment, and it starts with her waking blindfolded, bound, and without her uniform that enhances her genetically engineered body.

I couldn't help but think of a recent episode of The Walking Dead, with a character bound to a chair and in a hurry to get out. While Lee's escape is more planned than Glenn's, it's no less impressive. She has even fewer resources at hand, but uses what she has to great effect.

This book may be related to the overall whole than I'm giving it credit for, but, even if it doesn't, I don't mind. I would read an entire book of Lieutenant Heather Lee's exploits, overarching plot or no. I loved this episode.

I listened to this installment on audio, once again. Not only were William Dufris's voices and emphasis spot on, but he had a voice modulator to replicate the effect within this episode. I would have had a much harder time imagining what it sounded like without that aid. I highly recommend listening to these on audio, if you can.

[Marcelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another chapter of «The Human Division» that leads away from the galaxy-hopping misadventures of Lieutenant Harry Wilson, Ambassador Ode Abumwe, and Hart Schmidt, but it's very different than when it previously happened, in the chapter Walk the Plank, for here we follow Lieutenant Heather Lee and her squad on a shore leave-turned-kidnapping. A lot of the action in this chapter is reminiscent of the first books from the Old Man's War such as The Ghost Brigades, where John Scalzi focuses straight on Colonial Marines.

It's less clear, so far, how relevant the events narrated here will affect the overall story. It seems more of a demonstration of the fallout that's happening throughout human space. Ultimately, it's not very important: this is a chapter as enjoyable as any other of the series. Novel. Whatever.

[Lis Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entry in The Human Division, and this time the focus turns away from the Clarke and her diplomatic "B Team." The stability of the Colonial Union is being challenged, and Colonial Defense forces, normally dedicated to defending the CU against alien enemies, has to put down a local rebellion on one of the CU planets. When they think it's over, a small group of CDF soldiers discover there's a second act, and find themselves prisoners of someone who hasn't accepted the result of the first act. Lieutenant Heather Lee, last met in We Only Need the Heads, wakes up alone, bound, blindfolded, and talking to a disembodied voice. She has no resources except her brain in finding a way to identify her captors and escape from them.

Character development and plot are as tightly bound together as possible in this story, with considerable success. This is also a case where the story is enhanced by listening to the audio version, which William Dufris as usual reads extremely well.

Recommended.

I bought this story.

[Pierre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review for the series of the Human Division. I have read all the 13 books in a row, this was my first time reading John Scalzi.
I was at first disturbed by the series: more than 400 different races, some with very unfriendly intents toward each other, but all at about the same technological development level and strength which makes it none really prevails? It just does not fit with my idea of technological advancement and species competition.
Anyway, I decided to forget about the impossibility of this situation and focus on the story, which I must admit is quite good and interesting.
The concept of releasing several stories, which at first sounds independent from one another is also quite attractive.

This book will not be among my most favourite books, but still a good read which makes me want to discover more the work of John Scalzi.