The Light Brigade - by Kameron Hurley (Paperback)

About the Book

"'The war has turned us into light. Transforming us into light is the fastest way to travel from one front to another, and there are many fronts, now. I always wanted to be a hero. I always wanted to be on the side of light. It's funny how things work out.' Soldiers in the war against Mars, The Light Brigade, live brief lives, but the veterans are starting to be affected by changes in their bodies and minds, slipping in and out of time, or are they simply going mad? From Hugo award-winning author of The Stars Are Legion is a novel about interplanetary warriors who are losing their humanity."--

Book Synopsis

NAMED BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AS A BEST BOOK OF 2019

"Passionately brutal, fierce, and furious in voice and pace. It's a particularly cinematic experience of war, Full Metal Jacket meets Edge of Tomorrow." --The New York Times

From the Hugo Award---winning author of The Stars Are Legion comes a science fiction thriller about a futuristic war during which soldiers are broken down into light in order to get them to the front lines on Mars.

They said the war would turn us into light.
I wanted to be counted among the heroes who gave us this better world.

The Light Brigade: it's what soldiers fighting the war against Mars call the ones who come back...different. Grunts in the corporate corps get busted down into light to travel to and from interplanetary battlefronts. Everyone is changed by what the corps must do in order to break them down into light. Those who survive learn to stick to the mission brief--no matter what actually happens during combat.

Dietz, a fresh recruit in the infantry, begins to experience combat drops that don't sync up with the platoon's. And Dietz's bad drops tell a story of the war that's not at all what the corporate brass want the soldiers to think is going on.

Is Dietz really experiencing the war differently, or is it combat madness? Trying to untangle memory from mission brief and survive with sanity intact, Dietz is ready to become a hero--or maybe a villain; in war it's hard to tell the difference.

Review Quotes

"Starship Troopers meets Edge of Tomorrow. A call for us all to be the light in dark times."--Rebecca Roanhorse, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Trail of Lightning

"[A] brutal futuristic exploration into the meaninglessness of war and the legacies of corporate greed."-- "-- KIRKUS REVIEWS *Starred Review *"

"A smart, brutal, and structurally sophisticated military science fiction tale with a time travel twist."-- "PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * Starred Review *"

"Highly recommended for not only sf fans but anyone interested in a thrilling and troubling vision of the future."-- "Booklist * Starred Review *"

"Hurley is one of the most important voices in the field, and Light Brigade is some of her best work. This is the real thing."---- James SA Corey, "author of the bestselling Expanse series"

"The Light Brigade" is passionately brutal, fierce and furious in voice and pace...It's a particularly cinematic experience of war, "Full Metal Jacket" meets "Edge of Tomorrow," close up in the muck and blood and horror."-- "The New York Times"