The Human Division by John Scalzi, Old Man’s War Book #5
Introduction
Human Division by John Scalzi is the fifth book in the Old Man’s War series. The book is a series of 15 interrelated stories mainly about Lieutenant Harry Wilson of the Colonial Union’s B Team. Harry was a friend of John Perry, the hero of the previous novels in the series. Can the team avoid a war with the Conclave and save humanity?
Summary
The book was originally published online as 13 episodes. The episodes were collected with the addition of two more episode included.
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Recommendation
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Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Human Division by John Scalzi, Old Man’s War Book #5
Shattering Peace by John Scalzi is the seventh book in the Old Man’s War series. The Colonial Union, the Earth, and the Conclave are in an uneasy 10-year truce, but something goes wrong with their shared secret Colony of Unity. Gretchen Trujillo as a Colonial Union ambassador must find out what happened at the colony. Will Gretchen save the colony, or will the colony perish leading to the extermination of humanity?
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi is the fourth book in the Old Man’s War series. This novel tells the events from the previous story, The Last Colony, from the point of view of Zoe Boutin Perry.
Last Colony by John Scalzi is the third book in the Old Man’s War series. John Perry and his family colonized a new planet. Can he protect the colony, or will the colony perish leading to the extermination of humanity?
Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi is the second book in the Old Man’s War series. Jared Dirac is a clone with another man’s memories. He must save humanity from three allied alien races determined to destroy humanity.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett is a dark fantasy satire about the potential coming of the apocalypse. Aziraphale is an angel posing as a rare book dealer in England and Crowley is a demon living like a rock star in England. They like their lives as they are. Crowley learns about the coming of the Antichrist, so he knows the time is near, and he asks Aziraphale to help him. Can Aziraphale and Crowley avoid Armageddon and keep their comfortable lives intact?
Summary of the Novel
There are several Point of view characters in the novel.
The main characters are the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, who first meet at the Garden of Eden.
Crowley enjoys living in England at the current time. He remembers how bad it was in the 17th century and even worse in the 14th century and is happy now.
The forces of Hell give Crowley the Antichrist to swap with the baby of an American diplomat. The swap is botched unknown to Crowley. Crowley and Aziraphale try to steer the child to avoid Armageddon. But it’s the wrong child, Warlock Dowling.
The Antichrist grows up in England as Adam Young. He and his three friends call themselves The Them. Adam grows in his power as he ages.
Anathema Device is the descendant of the witch Agnes Nutter, who wrote cryptic prophecies. Anathema with the help of Witchfinder Private Newton Pulsifer try to decipher the prophecies and avoid Armageddon.
The four horsemen of the apocalypse arrive, Death War, Famine, and Pollution. All in their human form.
Recommendation
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett is a great novel if you like British humor, which I do. Twisting the premise of The Omen is inspired and turning it into a comedy is gold. Aziraphale and Crowley are perfect together. The first season of the Amazon Prime Good Omens show adapted this novel. Their second proposed but unwritten novel was the basis for season two of the show. A movie is scheduled to release in early 2026 to wrap up the story. I’m looking forward to watching that to see how it ends.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
My review of American Gods by Neil Gaiman, book 1 of the American Gods series. The Old Gods have lost power. Shadow Moon is caught up in the war between the Old Gods and the New Gods. Will Shadow survive?
Link to my review of Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card. Alvin Miller is the seventh son of a seventh son which gives him special powers in this alternate history tale of America set in 1811. In American Gods and in Red Prophet, the gods are alive and interact with people.
In November 2025, I presented Chapters Seven and Eight of the novelette named Chemithurgy to the Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop on a Zoom call. That completes the novelette version of the story. My plan is to expand the story to novella length in 2026.
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in November 2025.
In the past, I sent the stories, Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I sent out in 2020 and 2021 were Space-Dog Confession, Sleeping Sickness, Caliburnus, Popular Mechanics Re-brewed, Wormhole Generator, Runs with Scissors, and Principled Rogue.
Magazine submissions for 2021 were 4 unique stories submitted 4 times, with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 4 rejections. No submissions for 2022. None for 2023. None for 2024.
Events from November 2025.
None this month
Writing Goals for December 2025.
In December 2025, I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com, including my Writing Progress Report for December 2025.
I plan to work on a story for the Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop on a Zoom call in December 2025 for our next meeting in January 2026.
Submit the stories Space-Dog Confession, Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness, Popular Mechanics Re-brewed, and Caliburnus to other short fiction magazines.
Polish and send the stories White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.
In December 2025, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account.
Planned Events for December 2025.
The next conference I plan to attend is ConFusion in Novi, Michigan, from January 30, 2026, to February 1, 2025. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association Sponsors ConFusion.
The Gotham Writers Workshop held the Gotham Writers Conference 2023 as a virtual conference on August 12, 2023. I attended the conference at the Ace Hotel in New York City on October 25, 2019. I also attended the virtual conference from October 16, 2020, to October 18, 2020. On August 12, 2023, they held four presentations which I attended. On August 13, 2023, they held three pitching roundtables which I did not attend.
This is the link to the Gotham Writers Workshop, the sponsor of the event.
Dangerous Worlds: Finding the Stakes in Speculative Settings Panel with Susan Breen, George Jreije, Holley Cornetto, and Kemi Ashing-Giwa.
Resist the urge to focus on setting, instead focus on character. If not on first draft, do so in revision.
Figure out your why, the stakes, the message.
Brace for rejection, it is part of the process. Spend time researching writing queries.
Speak to yourself like you would speak to your best friend.
Don’t be too perfectionist. Get out of your own way. Be positive.
Saturday, August 12th at 12:15 PM
Story is the Story: Exploring Real Lives Through Fantastical Plots Panel with Mike Chen, Peng Shepard, Nicky Drayden, and Robert Repino.
The panel started with questions to the panel from the moderator.
How do you find inspiration? Find the quirk to your character to frame how they see the world.
What is your favorite non-protagonist character? The Amnesiac in the Book of M by Pend Shepard.
What is the most difficult part to revision? Don’t let your character off too easily. Up the conflict in the revision.
How are issues conveyed into your fiction? Using vampire blood as analogues as the idea of Universal Basic.
How did your life experiences inspire your characters? Reading and media.
What character tropes do you not want to see anymore? Post-apocalyptic cult,
Then there was a Q and A session with the audience.
How do you build your community? Writing Groups.
Do you research before or during writing? Outline the book, then research by reverse engineering the story.
How do you develop your character? Create character profiles. Listen to people talking at the coffee shop. Learn by writing fan fiction, since the world building is done.
What do you do if the agent likes your novel but says it is too long? Sometimes they are right byt not always.
Saturday, August 12th at 1:30 PM
Publishing GPS: Navigating Pre-Query Research presentation conducted by Sharon Pelletier.
Begin by creating a strong list of prospective agents. It’s not just a numbers game.
A query is a two-way street, just like a job interview.
Publishers Marketplace is a paid website with important information on agents.
Search agents at TOR. Search agents that represented similar books to yours.
Saturday, August 12th at 2:45 PM
Featured Author Interview: Ken Liu conducted by Seth Fried.
We all start out by working from models but break away as soon as you can.
Motivation comes from reading. How can I write it better?
Work hard to recheck your original idea for the story.
Push against the idea of being lazy. Find your voice.
Guard against eternal mediocrity.
Kill your Darlings. Get your butt on the chair and write.
Do what excites you. You will do better work following your muse.
Don’t focus on word count, focus on the story.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I enjoyed virtually attending the Gotham Writers Conference 2023. My star of the Con was Ken Liu because his interview was interesting and insightful. I attended the 2019 conference presentations in New York City. Then I attended the 2020 conference presentations and round table virtually. I attended the 2023 conference presentations and virtually. The conference was well worth the time invested, and I would like to attend next year including the round table.
Links
Recap for the Gotham Writers Conference 2020 from 10-16-20 to 10-18-20 sponsored by Gotham Writers Workshop. It was a virtual conference. I attended six presentations and a science fiction/fantasy pitching roundtable.
Recap for the Gotham Writers Conference in New York City, New York on October 25, 2019, sponsored by Gotham Writers Workshop. There were five panels and presentations at the conference. I did not attend on October 26, 2019, for the pitching roundtables.
