Caliban's War
Ratings753
Average rating4.3
I have not seen the show after season 1 so this is new material for me to imagine. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Finally getting all the disparate characters together in one ship. Really great scifi.
“Todo imperio crece hasta que las cosas empiezan a escapar a su control. Empezamos peleándonos por ver quién se quedaba las mejores ramas de los árboles. Luego, bajamos de ellos y luchamos por hacernos con el control de una buena extensión de terreno llena de árboles. Después, alguien empezó a montar a caballo y los imperios se extendieron a lo largo de cientos y miles de kilómetros. Gracias a los barcos cruzamos los océanos. Gracias al motor Epstein, llegamos a los planetas exteriores...”
Luego del Incidente Eros le toca a Ganímedes irse a la mierda. Un monstruo protomolecular kamikaze salido de quién sabe dónde ataca a los soldados de la Tierra y Marte en una de las lunas más importantes de los planetas exteriores. En Venus la protomolécula sigue dando señales de no querer morir de insolación. La tensión política se incrementa mientras los gobiernos luchan por ver quién la tiene más grande.
Tal vez a muchos les haya pasado esto al revés. Para mí ha estado cerca pero no superó la primera parte, tal vez debido a la frescura inicial, esa grata bienvenida a un nuevo universo. Se sintió casi un poco de lo mismo con algunas cosas nuevas aquí y allá, con una protomolécula que va aprendiendo y evolucionando cual IA. El desarrollo sigue siendo ridículamente bueno, tal vez de lo mejor que he podido leer en space opera junto con La Vieja Guardia de Scalzi. Si en El despertar del leviatán me irritaba Holden, ahora ese exasperante lugar se lo ganó Prax. Me gustó lo de Bobbie aunque en esta segunda parte el Oscar va para la abuelita más poderosa del sistema solar: Avasarala. Por favor, que alguien me diga si ya puedo comenzar con la primera temporada de la serie.
¿Se habría quedado todo esto en un libro si Miller hubiera apuntado al Sol? Tal vez. Felizmente, no.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick takes post to catch up–emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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90% of the reason I'm doing this in a Quick Take post is because if I don't cover it in a paragraph or two, I'll take 15 pages (or the equivalent). I'm kicking myself so hard for not jumping on each installment of this series as soon as it was published (although, if I did, I would be missing out on the audiobooks). I read the first book shortly after publication, but missed the release of this book—so before I realized it I was two novels and over a thousand pages behind, and I just couldn't find the time to catch up.
Anyway, this might not have been the right time to listen to a novel about an unexpected, largely unknown, biological enemy of all humanity and the inexplicable reactions of several governments to it—through the eyes of people living in fairly enclosed spaces. Still, it's gripping, imaginative, wonderfully told and very compelling. I can't wait to see what's next (although, I'm pretty apprehensive of it, too). I loved the new characters and hope they stick around.
Caliban's War est le deuxième volume de la saga de science-fiction The Expanse signée James S.A. Corey, le nom de plume du duo composé des auteurs Daniel Abraham et Ty Franck. Ayant déjà vu les trois premières saisons de la série TV qui adapte ce cycle de SF pour le petit écran, je connaissais déjà l'essentiel de l'intrigue de cette deuxième tome :
La principale différence avec le premier volume, c'est que nous suivons désormais le récit à travers quatre points de vue. Là où le premier tome alternait les narrations de Jim Holden et Joe Miller, celui-ci s'enrichit de nouveaux points de vue : Joe Miller n'est plus présent suite à la conclusion du livre précédent, mais Holden l'est toujours et est rejoint par trois nouveaux narrateurs :
- Bobbie Draper est une marine de l'armée martienne et la seule survivante de l'attaque de la dernière évolution de la protomolécule qui a tué toute son escouade sur Ganymede
- Chrisjen Avasarala est une politicienne influente aux Nations Unies, qui tente de comprendre ce qui se passe sur Ganymede et d'éviter l'escalade vers la guerre entre la Terre, Mars et l'OPA
- Praxidike Meng est un botaniste qui a grandi et travaillait sur Ganymede jusqu'à l'évacuation de la station suite aux tensions militaires entre la Terre et Mars qui ont suivi l'attaque de la protomolécule ; depuis, il recherche sa fille de cinq ans, enlevée par son médecin quelques heures avant l'évacuation
Ces nouveaux personnages apportent un regard neuf sur l'univers de The Expanse en explorant des points de vue différents : Bobbie est le premier narrateur venu de Mars, Avasarala nous dévoile les coulisses de la politique terrienne et interplanétaire, et Prax nous sert de voir le récit à travers le regard d'un homme “normal” dont le quotidien est bouleversé par les événements qui se déroulent autour de lui et malgré lui. Quant à Jim Holden, il reste égal à lui-même : capitaine fidèle à son équipage et à ses principes, quoiqu'un peu tourmenté par la mort de Joe Miller.
J'ai adoré ce livre : je ne sais pas s'il est meilleur ou juste aussi bon que le premier, mais je l'ai dévoré en redécouvrant l'intrigue déjà suivie dans le série TV. A moins que ma mémoire ne me joue des tours, certains événements m'ont semblé différents entre le livre et la série, ce qui ne serait pas étonnant. Quoiqu'il en soit, le récit est passionnant, bien aidé par une mécanique bien huilée et une structure narrative qui alterne les narrateurs au fil des chapitres pour ménager le suspense, ou en créer un peu artificiellement parfois. C'est en tout cas diablement efficace.
J'ai maintenant très envie de plonger dans le troisième tome de la saga, même si je vais me forcer à lire au moins deux ou trois romans en attente avant de répondre à l'appel de Jim Holden et ses compagnons.
I just loved Chrisjen Avasarala for her no holds barred speaking and the fact that the author had her telling you exactly what political intrigue was about to happen. I HATE when the author has folks sneaking around in the background generating trouble. I think, they think they're creating anticipation but all they do is make me want to stop reading their work.
Pacing was even better than [book:Leviathan Wakes|8855321] and I was at first disheartened to see my favorite character from it was gone but I took a keen interest in Bobbie Draper.
I'll be reading the next in the series.
Good book for character and world building. This one is much more political and less action compared to the originally. Feels a little slow and the ending a bit flat.
Leviathan Wakes ???????????????Caliban's War ???????????????
I might possibly have a new favourite series!
The plot picks up a while after the first book ends and introduces a few new point of view characters along the way. I really loved the writing in this series so far, I find it a really exciting combination of description and plot. The additional points of view were hit and miss, but none were bad. I simply got attached to some characters more than others.
There is a cliffhanger in the final section of the book that has me dying for the next.
An excellent blend of cinematic sequences (action and otherwise) and “hard science” science fiction. There is absolutely some hand-wavy technology and science, but there is respect for the scale of space and the realities of inter-planetary travel and that makes my nerd heart happy.
Great series so far.
I accidentally read book two of their series first. Oops. Time to read book one as a flashback now 🤣
It is very possible that had my schedule allowed, I would have read this book in one sitting. It is just what I wanted from a science fiction story. I'm looking forward to continuing with the series and also the show. Hopefully the show is picked up and continued.
Another fantastic sci-fi epic
The second book in a series is always the decider as to whether you're going to carry on with it. The first book introduces you to the characters and where things are headed and the second book has to not only introduce new intriguing characters for you to love, but also continue on the story with an interesting plot that further envelops you in the world you spent a whole book falling in love with. This book does that. I love the characters more. New great characters have been introduced and the interesting story that emerged in the first book has continued and got even more interesting for the third!
Wow! Space battles, too much politics and amazing and horrible things happening on Ganymede,Io and Venus.
This is one of my favorites of the whole series because the two best characters - Bobbie Draper and Chrisjen Avasarala show up. Plus with the Prax/Amos bromance it's just chef's kiss.
Book 2 of The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey is a fantastic follow-up that pulls off the unusual feat of being a better book than the first book in a series.
This one follows James Holden and his small crew as they find themselves once again in the middle of events swirling around the solar system. On the “other thread” you get to meet U.N. Undersecretary Christen Avasarala and see her fight a political battle against nearly insurmountable odds. The third major character is Bobby Draper, a Martian marine who encounters and survives an early protomolecule monster encounter.
All of this maneuvering occurs under the ominous transformation occurring on Venus after the events of the first book sent the protomolecule there, instead of Earth.
Along the way, you get to know these extremely interesting characters, see them change, and handle some pretty sticky dilemmas in creative ways.
Overall, while the Expanse books fall into the category of “Space Opera,” I'd caution you against thinking of them that way. Space Opera has become synonymous with the concept of cliche space stories. They reuse and recycle old themes, characters, and situations and you end up with very similar stories. Sometimes it's just a re-worked western set in space. They tend to be fun, fast reads, but the common theme is cliche. There is essentially nothing cliche about these books. They are original and gritty. The characters are far outside the norm, and you get to know them and their motivations very well.
Add to that the fairly realistic way in which real physics are dealt with, and you give the story a bit of a hard science-fiction edge.
[book:Caliban's War 12591698] continues the story of Captain Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante after the events on the Eros space station brought the various factions of the solar system to the brink of war. Time has passed, and the crew is running odd jobs for the OPA. Meanwhile, we are introduced to three new characters. There's a tough Mars Marine named Bobbie, a grieving botanist from Ganymede named Prax, and a foul mouthed, cunning politician from Earth named Chrisjen Avasarala. The story progresses nicely in Caliban's War. We get more insight into some of the crew. Prax has a compelling story. Bobbie is potentially an interesting character, though she often feels out of place and doesn't get much of a chance to shine... but she's set up nicely for future books. Avasarala is a favourite here, slickly navigating through the politics of the ongoing protomolecule plot as Venus is closely being watched. Pacing is about the same as Leviathan Wakes, starting with some slow intrigue build-up, and exploding into fantastic blossoms of action in the second half.
Real firefly vibes from this one, with darker undertones, and chrisjen... I love her now.
I should have written my comments earlier, a few months later and I can't precisely remember which parts happened in each book since they all fit together in the same story. I started reading Leviathan Wakes based on the recommendation by John Moltz on The Talk Show.
As you can see by the fact that after the first book I continued through the rest of the series, I liked the books. I kept wanting to read more about the compelling characters who make up the crew of the Rocinante. Besides the crew I also loved the characters of Avasarala and, in Abaddon's Gate, Reverend Doctor Annushka Volovodov.
I enjoyed the future that the authors write, especially that it is not all rainbows like Star Trek. Except for the Nauvoo, which was intended to be a generational ship used by the Mormons (I love that idea!), the future was pretty bleak. And then that one glimmer of hope was hijacked and stolen.
Another thing that jumped out at me is that, with the exception of the Epstein (fusion) drive, none of the human technology in the books is magic. Even the fusion drive doesn't challenge our knowledge of physics, a few hundred years of new technology makes everything seem very plausible. Well, the gates are magic, but they're alien technology, so I give them a pass.
Last item of praise for the series: the aliens are alien! We don't understand the alien technology, we can't communicate effectively with it (Miller shows just how much we can't) and it is just so weird. I don't recall a story that presented such truly alien aliens. And, despite that, the second book covers how we tried to exploit their technology, even though we don't understand it at all.
Leviathan Wakes starts out strong, dumping you into the mystery of Julie Mao and the destruction of the Canterbury. I was captivated immediately and loved how the mysteries progressed and intertwined.
Loved loved loved this one, even more than I did the first. It's quite different tonally from the first - I think the most apt comparison would be to think about the changes in the first two movies of the Alien film series. Despite those differences, it still keeps the intriguing storyline of the protomolecule, the interplanetary politics get deeper and more interesting, and the newly introduced characters are fun and exciting.
What I thought was interesting about this, as well, was that the point of view characters are all connected by recent experiences of trauma, and their attempts to deal with and overcome that trauma. Reactions to post-traumatic stress is a topic that rarely gets mentioned in the sci-fi realm, especially when looking at episodic/series-based fiction, and it was nice to read a novel that took a realistic and humanistic approach towards it.
I think this book might have been better than the first, even. Bobbie and Avasarala are my favorite new characters in a long time.
I loved Leviathan Wakes, Book 1 of the Expanse trilogy, and fortunately Caliban's War does not suffer from the typical sophomore slump. It was great returning to the world introduced by the writing tag team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.
It's a blockbuster of a book. The protomolecule isn't content to ferment quietly on Venus and a modified organism has decimated a station on Ganymede forcing a tense standoff between Earth and Mars. It's the literary version of a summer tentpole movie with action beats in every chapter. I even enjoyed the political machinations scattered throughout the book. They've got a seriously diverse cast of characters and some of the most bad ass ladies in sci fi, anchored once again by a search for a missing girl. I'm already clearing the reading calendar for Book 3: Abbadon's Gate.