This book takes place in a world where only retirement-age people are eligible to join the galactic military and, enticed by the vague promise of becoming young again, a LOT of them do.

Straight up, the entire book is carried by action, plot, and worldbuilding mysteries. There is very little emphasis on character development or relationships. However, in my opinion there was enough plot and mystery to successfully hold this book up and carry it over the finish line.

I was interested in how the military was making people young again. What wars are they fighting and against whom, and why? When we got into the actual fighting, the action, tactics, and dynamics of the various alien races and the military itself held my attention. What are the Ghost Brigades? What in the WORLD is going on with the Consu?

Any hangups (Would everyone really spend their first day in a new body having sex? Why does everyone, after they get their new bodies, seemingly not retain any "elderly" quality in their personality? Is age and experience truly that skin-deep? What makes John, seemingly so ordinary in his before life, continually excel and dominate as a soldier, to the point where the book itself references his success as almost excessive?) weren't that disruptive to my reading experience and didn't really matter to the story.

Overall, reading this book was effortless and enjoyable. I honestly had to look up the main character's name again before writing this, but I think that's partially deliberate, and he's supposed to be a sort of generic everyman figure. A fun sci-fi to zip through, and I'm definitely interested in exploring more in this universe.