“The Human Division: The B-Team” by John Scalzi, 2013

“The Human Division: The B-Team” by John Scalzi, 2013

"Colonial Union Ambassador Ode Abumwe and her team are used to life on the lower end of the diplomatic ladder. But when a high-profile diplomat goes missing, Abumwe and her team are last minute replacements on a mission critical to the Colonial Unions future. As the team works to pull off their task, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson discovers there's more to the story of the missing diplomats than anyone expected...a secret that could spell war for humanity."

I really love the idea of a B-team of not-quite professional-grade diplomats who nonetheless have great improvisational skills. I think that it's a lot easier for us to imagine ourselves as, rather than being part of the A-team of brilliance and unfettered success.

And oh, it does feel good to return to this universe; Scalzi's "Old Man's War" universe. This universe  is one where humanity fights for its survival among other intelligent species all searching for the few viable colony worlds that exists, and uses supersoldiers to do it.

 The B-Team grabbed my attention right away with the sudden death and destruction in space and spends the rest of the story solving the mystery of the vanished ship.

Scalzi accomplished his mission of creating a story complete unto itself and yet the beginning of a longer story arc.

The logic used by Harry Wilson to solve the mystery of the missing ship was reminiscent of the robotic puzzles in I, Robot by Isaac Asimov.

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars) - I really liked it.