Caliban's War

Loving this series. Hope the Syfy series does it credit!

I very much enjoyed Leviathan Wakes, but found it to be a bit troubling at times. Mostly that Holden and Miller were just so close together as characters and while they may have had different beliefs, they were very similar characters no matter what.

Caliban's War addressed that issue and added in a whole slew of main characters that really brought something different to the table. We still got to follow Holden around while he tilted at windmills, but we saw events unfold from a few different points of view, which really added to the overall experience.

While the last book was exciting, this one was a lot harder to put down after I grew familiar with the cast of characters. There was, of course, a grand convergence between the main characters but it didn't feel forced, it felt welcome.

The story was well-crafted and I was legitimately excited to see what happened next when I got to the end of the book without feeling like anything was forced or ridiculous. Sure, there might not be a lot of “hard science” as to what exactly is going on, but that rarely gets in the way of enjoying the book.

Four stars, but with a bit of hesitation. It just doesn't reach the quality of the third book and sadly has some stretches of boredom and cliché talk. Also the characters somehow felt a bit more cliché than in the last book.

Still it is a very enjoyable read from start to finish, especially if you like sci-fi pop-corn style books.

A sequel that's every bit as good as the first book. I like the new characters and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Great read. It's missing my favorite character from book 1 so the tone changes from a gritty detective noir feel to a more generic actiony feel. But still a fantastically fun read.

I loved this book as can be seen by the rating. It built brilliantly on the good first book and added some really original characters. It finished on a great cliffhanger so bring on number 3.

Loved the pace of the book. A tad hard to follow at times, but the story itself more than makes up for that. A must-read for Mass Effect fans.

The Expanse series is like reading FireFly on steroids

Pirates, Space Marines, interplanetary intrigue, crowd funding a spaceship to find a kidnapped girl, and Vomit Zombies... What more do you want in a book?

Ik heb maar één negatief punt: de slechteriken zijn echt wel minder-dan-eendimensionele slechteriken. Het zijn er van het genre “duister militair-industrieel complex”, en we krijgen zelfs geen begin van zwijm van verklaring wat of waarom.

Voor de rest: rollicking good fun, gelijk ze zeggen.

Het is een jaar na Leviathan Wakes, Jim Holden en crew doen klusjeswerk voor de Outer Planet Alliance (grote politiek-militaire speler nummer drie in het zonnestelsel, na Aarde en Mars).

Ganymedes, de grootste maan van Jupiter (en van het hele zonnestelsel trouwens — een wistjedatje), is de graanschuur van de mensheid: massief belangrijk, dus, maar ook fragiel: het blijft natuurlijk een artificieel ecosysteem.

En dan gaat het (wat hadt ge gedacht) mis: een gespannen situatie tussen marines van Aarde en Mars lijkt te ontploffen — maar het is geen gevecht tussen die twee, het is een soort monster dat meteen doet denken aan het alien gedoe uit het eerste boek, dat op één na iedere soldaat afslacht en Ganymedes in spiraal van system collapse duwt.

Crisis, natuurlijk: is het een alien? Is het een wapen van Mars dat losgeraakt is? Of van Aarde? Of van de OPA?

Alweer spannend, alweer vintage space opera, alweer goed. Een aantal bijkomende POVs, naast Jim Holden die (gelukkig) wat minder idealistisch en vlak blijkt te zijn, is er ook Roberta ‘Bobbie' Draper (die ene niet-afgeslachte soldaat), Praxidike Meng (wetenschapper op Ganymedes, op zoek naar zijn ontvoerde dochter), en Chrisjen Avasarala (de bejaarde assistant to the UN's undersecretary of executive administration, eigenlijk één van de meest machtige vrouwen op Aarde).

En een cliffhanger, gedomme. Abaddon's Gate (niets te maken met Warhammer, ga ik van uit) komt uit op 4 juni 2013.

I really like the James S.A. Corey team up. I enjoy the way they organize their stories so that the fact that there are 2 people writing this really doesn't become an issue. The chapter structure aligned with each of the 4 POVs provides variety in the writing and helps keep the pace fairly brisk considering the length of the book.

I read Leviathan Wakes last year and loved it, but have had the sequel sort of sitting on my shelf. Part of the reason was I wasn't sure I wanted to continue without Miller's viewpoint. I don't mind Holden, but he was a little too simple for my tastes. The three new POV characters, however, were all equally engaging, particularly Avasarala. I love a foul-mouthed grandmother, okay? Who doesn't? The Firefly vibe is still pretty strong in this second volume and the dialogue has a distinctly Whedon feel. That's probably a big part of why I like the series so much, though.

I liked the emphasis the book had on Holden's character slowly turning into Miller. To me, it said this is what happens to you if you work for The Man too long. Holden takes a lot of shortcuts on his idealism road, and it's interesting to watch him shift between idealism and pragmatism instead of just choosing the moral high road by default. Contrasting him against Prax was a nice touch. That said, I thought the transformation was a little forced at times and could have used some more fleshing out in the beginning of the novel instead of everyone suddenly shouting “You're turning into Miller!” in the middle.

Now... as for the ending. Holy freaking flying monkeys! I expected Miller's consciousness to survive the protomolecule's sciency woogledy boogledy Venus takeover, but I did not expect him to just appear in the hallway. I had to go back and re-read that page just to make sure I wasn't grossly misinterpreting something/Holden was having a hallucination of some sort. Nope. Looks legit. I am not sure whether this is sloppy or awesome yet and really need the third book to find out. The first book left me comfortable waiting to see what happened next. This one emphatically does not and book 3 isn't out till June. Damn it.

Overall, a very fun space opera shoot ‘em up with witty dialogue and fun characters. Any Firefly fans out there should give this series a go. I suggest you wait until book 3 is out in June though because I am going to spend the interim blinking in confuzzlement.

When I reviewed Leviathan Wakes, I mentioned that I sat on that book for too long and was kicking myself for it. This time, I didn't make that mistake, and now I have to live with the repercussions - waiting another year for the third volume.

Readers of Leviathan Wakes will be able to step into the pages of this book without pause. The writing duo that makes up James S.A. Corey took an approach I have to respect - there's no backstory, no summation of the previous novel, not even an awkward chapter of “well, you remember when we did this thing just happened a day ago for us but was up to a year ago for the reader?” It also means that the 600+ pages of this book are written with the intent of making this story move forward.

Book two begins with the tensions between Mars and Earth still high. On the breadbasket and nursery of the outer Solar System, Ganymede, the tensions is broken with an attack by a creature that is very reminiscent of Eros. Is this a sign that the protovirus has spread out from Venus, or is this another example of greed gone wrong?

While Leviathan Wakes was well balanced between Holden and Miller, this second book is more wholly Holden's story. There are four other characters with POV time, but Holden is a solid 30% of the book, and like before, he doesn't always know when to keep his mouth shut - which is probably why we like him. He's the cocky know it all who's too busy trying to do the right thing to notice when he's totally messing it all up. Our new cast members, besides the always lovable band of rogues that is the crew of the Rocinante, include a Martian gunnery sergeant, an Earther politician, and a botanist from Ganymede, Pax.

Which, sadly, is why I reluctantly did not give this a full five stars. The story of Caliban's War begins and centers around the disappearance of Pax's daughter, Mei, which as far as plot devices go is a great one. I know as a father I wouldn't let a little thing like interplanetary hostilities or marauding alien viruses get in my way if one of my girl's was kidnapped. What bothered me, as readers of Leviathan Wakes will understand, is that this is the second time in a row we've used the missing daughter gambit to justify our adventure. I have nothing but respect for the collective brains that made this book, I just wish that they had done something a little different this time. Yes, without getting spoilerly, the plot device works, probably even better than it did it in the first book. It makes sense of what we learn and it fits - its just too bad we've done this before.

Is there fighting? Of course!

Are there starships on fire off the shoulders of Orion? Sort of, if by Orion you mean Jupiter.

Is it space opera? You bet. Spaceships whiz and the fate of worlds - and humanity - can be seen in the balance. If that's your thing, then there's no good excuse for why you aren't reading the Expanse series with me.

I have had so much fun discovering this series, I'm only upset that I now have to wait for Abaddon's Gate. The crew of the Rocinante really gels into a likable unit in this book and the new characters of Chrisjen and Bobbie do not disappoint. My only regret and also relief is that nobody you love dies. An excellent follow-up to Leviathan Wakes.

Caliban's War is the sequel to Leviathan Wakes. However there is enough backstory covered that you can read it stand alone. (Though why you would want to do that I don't know, as they are both crackin' good space opera.)
The story picks up a little over a year after the end of Leviathan Wakes. Jim Holden and the crew of the the Rocinante have spent that time chasing down pirates in the asteroid belt and beyond. But, something really strange and bad has started happening on Ganymede, and the Rocinante and crew are dispatched there to find out what is going on. Meanwhile, on Earth high level political maneuvering has started. The Ganymede disaster has precipitated a crisis, and a power struggle has started involving double-crossing and backstabbing of the highest order. On top of that the alien entity on Venus is stirring and it might have some connection with what's happening on Ganymede. Add in a distraught father and a clutch of children kidnapped by a gang of sociopaths with unknown motives and you have all the elements needed for a ripping good story. And that is what Caliban's War is.
One side note – the name of the book is somewhat of a mystery to me as there isn't a character named Caliban in the story. (Caliban of course is one of the primary characters in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Perhaps I should go back and re-read that to try to find what inspired the name.)
Highly recommended.

I was so excited to read this book, and even with the great pedestal I placed it on, it was as good as it could be! I had high expectations, and they were fulfilled.

This second book in the Expanse series adds 3 new perspectives with only 1 perspective continuing from the first book. And 2 of these perspectives are women! Yay! I love that a book written by 2 dudes passes the Bechdel test. I don't think the first did so much, but this one definitely does, and both of the women kick ass, one literally so. The other is a powerful women in the UN who also happens to cuss like a pirate. Her name is Avasarala and she's my favorite perspective character.

The story is great – feels like a second book in the series for sure, but I think that's to be expected. The story picks up not too long after the first. Venus is a terrifying mess, and a new military monster is attacking a base. The UN on Earth gets involved in the politics of Mars and the outer solar system as well. There's a lot more Political Intrigue and less Action, but the suspense is still very much there. It also doesn't have that almost noir feeling the first one did, but this one isn't so much a detective novel. Although there is a crime (kidnapping) and some detecting, it's not the major story.

No vomit zombies in this one either.

I flew through this book just like its predecessor, and I am eagerly, eagerly, EAGERLY awaiting the third in the series.

A bit more of a slow burner with a greater focus on the political wrangling, but given a new favorite character in Crisjen Avasarala, a ridiculously sailor mouthed politician.