Read this as the first entry of a new SF book club I joined. This is not a book I would typically pick up, but I enjoyed it anyway. The book's Big Idea (What does it mean to be human?) generally takes a back seat to the military action. The characters behave like soldiers typically do in 20th century fiction (the basic-training drill sergeant even says so!). The battle scenes (which do not play out like in WWII novels and movies) move quickly, while the between-battle scenes are quite entertaining.