Caliban's War
I started reading the Expanse books when I couldn't figure out how to watch the TV show that began airing last year. They're fun, exciting books that deal with a time period science fiction tends to skip over. Humanity has colonized the moon and Mars and established mining operations on various asteroids and moons of the outer planets. But we're still traveling at sub-light speeds, which keeps us confined to the solar system. And all the same old prejudices and politics are with us.
In the second novel, the alien threat begins to take shape. New characters are added and bring exciting points of view. Once again, the action is centered on the search for a young girl, though this one is much younger. Humanity remains on the brink of war as everyone vies to get ahead before the alien threat on Venus makes its next move.
What I appreciated about this book was the additional characters. There are four viewpoint characters instead of two, and their stories come together much more quickly. I always love the duality of seeing a character from inside their own head and as someone else sees them. It paints more complete picture of a human, and it's here in spades as the various characters butt heads and try to put forth their own agendas.
These books are exciting and fun. Science fiction is a good genre when the world seems bleak, because it carries with it the inherent promise of tomorrow. Even if we have the same old problems two or three hundred years from now, we'll at least be around to have those problems. As bleak as this book got at times, it was still reassuring as a whole. It was exactly what I needed to read in the wake of both giving birth and the devastating election.
In the second novel, the alien threat begins to take shape. New characters are added and bring exciting points of view. Once again, the action is centered on the search for a young girl, though this one is much younger. Humanity remains on the brink of war as everyone vies to get ahead before the alien threat on Venus makes its next move.
What I appreciated about this book was the additional characters. There are four viewpoint characters instead of two, and their stories come together much more quickly. I always love the duality of seeing a character from inside their own head and as someone else sees them. It paints more complete picture of a human, and it's here in spades as the various characters butt heads and try to put forth their own agendas.
These books are exciting and fun. Science fiction is a good genre when the world seems bleak, because it carries with it the inherent promise of tomorrow. Even if we have the same old problems two or three hundred years from now, we'll at least be around to have those problems. As bleak as this book got at times, it was still reassuring as a whole. It was exactly what I needed to read in the wake of both giving birth and the devastating election.
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