SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey: https://t.co/dZFTX7SjSM— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) October 6, 2020
Short Review: 8 out of 10
1/3
Short Review (cont): The second Expanse novel is just as fun as the first, as Holden and crew, a UN Diplomat, and a Martian Soldier find themselves caught in a new dangerous conflict surrounding the protomolecule.— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) October 6, 2020
2/3
Caliban's War is the second novel in James S.A. Corey's Space Opera series, The Expanse, which most people know from the hit TV show. I myself have watched the first season and a half of the TV series, which covered the first novel (while introducing elements from this novel alongside it). The result of that was that while I enjoyed the first novel, Leviathan Wakes, I wasn't blown away by it because I knew pretty much everything that was coming: it was all executed well, but the adaptation was so close it didn't add much to read it in novel form. This book however, I was mostly coming in cold, so I was curious to see if I'd like it more as a result.
And the answer is absolutely yes - Caliban's War is a really great second novel in the series that made me immediately reserve the third book in the series from my library. The story continues from where the last novel left off, but expands the number of viewpoint characters to 4 (one of the four being a major character in the show as well) and deals with a new adventure that still grows the characters in interesting ways. Nothing about the series so far is mindblowing to the point of making it must-read, but it's just so damn well executed that I found myself really enjoying, tearing through the final 300-400 pages in a single day.
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The Protomolecule has made a home on Venus, with everyone in the Solar System able to watch from afar as it builds....something, on the planet. The tension between Earth and Mars - and to a lesser extent the OPA - has only grown as a result, with both sides fearing this incredibly dangerous thing being weaponized by the other. So when Bobbie Draper, a Martian Marine stationed on the Martian part of Ganymede, hears gunfire coming from the UN portion of the moon, she expects the war to have finally started. But what she finds instead is a monster hunting the UN forces - a monster that then proceeds to kill every member of her squad.....
On Earth, Chrisjen Avasarala, assistant to the undersecretary of executive administration in the UN - one of Earth's most powerful people - desperately tries to find out what's happening and to avert all out war. But as she investigates the situation, she discovers that not only is the Protomolecule on Venus reacting to whatever happened on Ganymede, but others on Earth are happy to take advantage of the situation for their own ends....even if that means deadly war.
In Space, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have spent the last year hunting pirates for the OPA, to Holden's dissatisfaction. But when the OPA tasks them to investigate what is happening on Ganymede, they find themselves with a new mission: to help a scientist reclaim his kidnapped daughter, who was taken just before the attack. But this kidnapping mission reveals to Holden and the others that the nighmare they once thought over is absolutely not, and Holden and the crew will once again be perhaps the only force that can save the system from absolute disaster.....
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The first book in The Expanse alternated between two point of view characters - Holden and Miller - who spent most of the book in different parts of the Solar System before coming together for the last few acts to handle that book's threat. As typical for 2nd books in series, Caliban's War expands the number of viewpoints to four, with Holden returning alongside three new point of view characters: Prax (a scientist on Ganymede), Bobbie (a Martian marine), and Avasarala (a high level UN executive). The adaptation of book 1 (the first 1 and a half seasons of the show) added Avasarala to the show and part of her plotline from this book is there, so I was familiar with it, but otherwise this book's plot was mostly new to me, which was another big change from book 1.
And well, I really enjoyed the plot here, as well as the characters. Avasarala is a lot of fun as the grandmotherly politician who feels totally at home in the political game and refuses to admit when she isn't quite in control, and seeing her interact with the others - particularly Bobbie - is a lot of fun. Bobbie similarly works well as the PTSD-suffering marine, desperate to get back at the monster that killed her squad and infuriated by politics, with her own quirks here and there making her fit well as a contrast to Avasarala. Prax is a bit too omnidisciplinary of a scientist for me, but his actions as the determined but scared out of his mind father searching for his daughter make him really easy to care about.
And then there's our returning cast, the crew of the Roci, most particularly Holden, who all develop further. Holden has to learn to be a leader, how to not jump to dangerous conclusions, and how to deal with relationships - especially with Naomi, who he's been in a relationship with. We learn more about Amos here and what makes him who he is, as he finds a personal connection to the kidnapping mission the crew winds up on. And well seeing Holden and the crew pull out the same stops as usual honestly cracked me up.
The result is a space opera plot that twists turns and surprises along the way, with some damn excellent characters amidst a world in which greedy bastards put everyone at risk with their own hubris - certainly something we can emphasize with in the real world. A lot of the themes from the first book - the inequality of the Belt and differing political philosophies for example - seem to not be present here, but it still works in a really fun and intriguing plot, with a very satisfying ending that teases some big changes coming in the next book. Honestly my biggest problem with the book is Holden's lust for a certain character is just ridiculous and makes me want to shoot him and I really hope isn't going anywhere, but well it's such a minor issue as to be not worth notching down the book.
In short, Caliban's War is pretty great, and makes me want not only to read book 3, but to return to the TV series to see it fully adapted. Just a lot of fun.
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