約翰·斯卡爾齊（John Scalzi）美國當紅科幻作傢，現任美國科幻與奇幻作傢協會主席。2005年，他以《來自12個星球的敵人》（Old Man’s War）一書成名，入圍該年度雨果奬最佳長篇小說，並憑藉此書獲得2006年度約翰·W.坎貝爾奬最佳新人奬。隨後齣版的一係列科幻小說，都毫無例外地登上各大暢銷書排行榜，更6次入圍雨果奬各大奬項。

The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. They're young, they're fast and strong, and they're totally without normal human qualms. The universe is a dangerous place for humanity--and it's about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did. Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers -- a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin's DNA, Jared's brain should be able to access Boutin's electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades. At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutin's memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason's for Boutin's betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his "father," he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanity's mere military defeat...