Review: Caliban's War (The Expanse #2)
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4 stars. PHEW. I did it. Another one. These books are frankly a bit exhausting. I've never actually read an absolute pageturner that made my eyes glaze over so much. That's not a criticism, just an observation, really. But still: my commitment to my vague 2020 reading challenge remains strong. I WILL FINISH WHAT I START.
Caliban's War brings back the crew of the Rocinante to fight another day, or should I say, another form of the protomolecule that plagued the solar system in Leviathan Wakes. This time, though, we get fun new characters. Instead of alternating between Holden and Miller, we are introduced to: a scientist desperate to find his missing daughter, who is apparently at the heart of an evil corporate scheme (another one lol … or the same one?), a large Martian soldier named Bobbie, who spends the book trying to find her place in politics, and a high-up UN government official whose hardass insane personality is actually really charming.
I missed grumpy old Miller, but I LOVED Avasarala.
I mentioned a lot of worldbuilding detail in my review of the first book, and I want to either reassure or warn future readers that the attention level needed here remains pretty high. At least, it did for me. I love space battles and stars and alien science, and the authors do a great job of dumbing things down when absolutely necessary, but I had a very hard time grasping certain things like the mechanics of the ships. I am reading this with an English Literature degree, after all.
That being said, the world expands (ahem) here quite nicely. I did enjoy the juxtaposition of petty human political infighting ("the game") with the very serious, mysterious apocalyptic threat spewing monsters at civilization. I also appreciated the fact that, unlike in many books, characters who go through traumatic events get totally traumatized. It was refreshing to read about these folks struggling to process or recover from haunting events.
I still hate Holden and Naomi. In fact, I think I kind of just hate Holden...?
Anyway, these books are must-reads for sci-fi fans and I would call them an excellent escape if the political infighting wasn't so damn FRUSTRATINGLY FAMILIAR. These are strange times.