tivasyk reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
enjoyed it.
720 pages
French language
Published June 20, 2016 by Actes Sud.
4 stars
(333 reviews)
Caliban's War is a 2012 science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). It is about a conflict in the Solar System that involves Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (colonies of people living on asteroids, referred to as "Belters"). It is the second book in The Expanse series and is preceded by Leviathan Wakes. The third book, Abaddon's Gate, was released on June 4, 2013. One of eight short stories and novellas published by James S. A. Corey, entitled "Gods of Risk", takes place directly after the events of Caliban's War.
Noisy Deadlines reviewed Caliban's war by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's war" on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
I read this book 6 years after the first in the series Leviathan Wakes. I am going to be honest, I was inclined to pick it up because I watched the TV Series (Season 1). And I loved it! But, I didn't want to watch the second season without reading the book first.
And I truly enjoyed reading this book!
There are POVs from various characters which makes the story interesting and keeps the pace up.
Let's start with Roberta "Bobbie" Draper: what a bad-ass character! She was my favorite! I loved to read the description of her Martian Goliath combat suit and know what it feels like to be inside of one. She is tough and compassionate. I liked the mix of strength and sensitivity.
And Avasarala is another strong female character that kicks ass. She is the deputy to the UN Secretary General. At first I didn't …
I read this book 6 years after the first in the series Leviathan Wakes. I am going to be honest, I was inclined to pick it up because I watched the TV Series (Season 1). And I loved it! But, I didn't want to watch the second season without reading the book first.
And I truly enjoyed reading this book!
There are POVs from various characters which makes the story interesting and keeps the pace up.
Let's start with Roberta "Bobbie" Draper: what a bad-ass character! She was my favorite! I loved to read the description of her Martian Goliath combat suit and know what it feels like to be inside of one. She is tough and compassionate. I liked the mix of strength and sensitivity.
And Avasarala is another strong female character that kicks ass. She is the deputy to the UN Secretary General. At first I didn't like her because she was such an oppressive authoritarian. But then we get to understand her motives, her inner feelings and we start to team up with her.
Now the events of this book take a greater scale. The protomolecule that we see in the first book starts to get really frightening (view spoiler).
One thing I didn't understand is the name of the book. What or who is Caliban? Maybe I lost this reference while reading so I'll do some digging to find out.
After I finished this book i jumped right into the Book #3 because now I want to know that will happen to the universe. What is the protomolecule? Is there going to be war against it?
And I truly enjoyed reading this book!
There are POVs from various characters which makes the story interesting and keeps the pace up.
Let's start with Roberta "Bobbie" Draper: what a bad-ass character! She was my favorite! I loved to read the description of her Martian Goliath combat suit and know what it feels like to be inside of one. She is tough and compassionate. I liked the mix of strength and sensitivity.
And Avasarala is another strong female character that kicks ass. She is the deputy to the UN Secretary General. At first I didn't like her because she was such an oppressive authoritarian. But then we get to understand her motives, her inner feelings and we start to team up with her.
Now the events of this book take a greater scale. The protomolecule that we see in the first book starts to get really frightening (view spoiler).
One thing I didn't understand is the name of the book. What or who is Caliban? Maybe I lost this reference while reading so I'll do some digging to find out.
After I finished this book i jumped right into the Book #3 because now I want to know that will happen to the universe. What is the protomolecule? Is there going to be war against it?
adastra reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Aw man, this book ends with such a mean cliffhanger!
Yashima reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
For unknown reasons I kept putting off reading this book for ... years. Even though I liked [b: Leviathan Wakes|8855321|Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)|James S.A. Corey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1411013134s/8855321.jpg|13730452]. Recently, I’ve tried to read many different books and committing to an unfinished 9 book series was probably what kept me from it. Then we watched Season 1 of The Expanse and I was amazed by the casting and when Season 2 came out I finally read this book. That I am halfway through [b: Abbadon‘s Gate] should suffice to show how much I enjoyed this one.
For those who are wanting to combine reading and watching: characters from this book are introduced at the start of season 2 but the plot of this book begins halfway through the season. Season 2 so far has also introduced characters from later books (I checked - searching via kindle can be helpful)
So the title was …
For unknown reasons I kept putting off reading this book for ... years. Even though I liked [b: Leviathan Wakes|8855321|Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)|James S.A. Corey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1411013134s/8855321.jpg|13730452]. Recently, I’ve tried to read many different books and committing to an unfinished 9 book series was probably what kept me from it. Then we watched Season 1 of The Expanse and I was amazed by the casting and when Season 2 came out I finally read this book. That I am halfway through [b: Abbadon‘s Gate] should suffice to show how much I enjoyed this one.
For those who are wanting to combine reading and watching: characters from this book are introduced at the start of season 2 but the plot of this book begins halfway through the season. Season 2 so far has also introduced characters from later books (I checked - searching via kindle can be helpful)
So the title was a bit confusing to me because Caliban is never once mentioned in the book „Caliban‘s War“ - it is helpful to look up who Caliban is. He‘s a character from The Tempest. A malformed, mottled man, half-human, half-devil.
The book starts out with a disconnect from the previous one. Some time has passed since the protomolecule and Eros crashed into Venus. Mars and Earth are gathered in a stand-off around Ganymede because of it‘s importance in growing food for the belt. We‘re introduced to a new character Bobby, a Martian marine who becomes an integral part of this books plot right from the start.
In the meantime Holden and crew have been working for Fred as privateers... with Holden apparently turning into an Ersatz-Miller.
On Earth, Avasarala gets a lot of screen time and since I like her so much, I was suffering quite a bit when all the intrigues surrounding her came to light.
And of course the protomolecule makes more appearances.
Again I loved the way that humanity-in-space is depicted in these novels. From the Epstein Drive, to the design of spaceships, to the extensive explanation on the „cascade“ of failures that later bring down a whole space station because artificial ecological systems just aren‘t complex enough ...
If you like hard SF and always wanted to fly out to Jupiter just to see what the view would be like, this series continues to deliver great views, great characters and just enough science to keep everything believable. (Disclaimer: I am not a scientist, all I know about physics is what Sheldon Cooper and r/askscience told me)
Jens Finkhäuser reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The second Expanse novel was pretty good, but felt like a bit of a let down after the first. Essentially it reboots the basic premise of the first novel with some small tweaks, and lets that be the story line for Holden and his crew.
What redeems the novel is the secondary (one might say primary) plot revolving around Chrisjen the politician. Reading Caliban's War, it becomes understandable why in the TV series they kind of collapsed both novels into one season (they didn't), because it cuts out a fair bit of duplicate plot.
This is not to say that the second instalment is bad - far from it. But it could have some more to differentiate it from the first.
If the rumours are true, and the series is inspired by the events of an RPG campaign, then this actually makes some kind of sense.
For one thing, throughout …
The second Expanse novel was pretty good, but felt like a bit of a let down after the first. Essentially it reboots the basic premise of the first novel with some small tweaks, and lets that be the story line for Holden and his crew.
What redeems the novel is the secondary (one might say primary) plot revolving around Chrisjen the politician. Reading Caliban's War, it becomes understandable why in the TV series they kind of collapsed both novels into one season (they didn't), because it cuts out a fair bit of duplicate plot.
This is not to say that the second instalment is bad - far from it. But it could have some more to differentiate it from the first.
If the rumours are true, and the series is inspired by the events of an RPG campaign, then this actually makes some kind of sense.
For one thing, throughout books #1 and #2, the protagonists get in worse and worse shape. At the end, then, there's a "reward event" which sees them patched up, and their fortunes improved.
But more importantly, it feels like the protomolecule reveal from book #1 wasn't entirely thought through. You were left with some kind of half-averted threat that never really made sense entirely. The ending of book #2 suddenly turns this threat into a new event that opens up possibilities for further exploration, just as if the authors finally had a plan in place for what was supposed to happen - never mind that a bunch of this plan half contradicts much of the speculation in book #1.
Steen Christiansen reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Although good, the book feels too much of a retread of the first novel. I like the slow development of posthuman themes, though.
Wetdryvac reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Even better than the last, though I missed the hell out of one of the main characters from the last book, and the style of writing that went with.
Strakul reviewed Caliban's war by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's war" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This was a very enjoyable book and very approachable despite being so long since I read the prior book, Leviathan Wakes. The setting is cool, as it's futuristic space-based but with plenty of realism. Characters and plot are decent as well and keep the story moving at a fast pace. It's a solid book in The Expanse series and sets the stage for future events in the series.
For my full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2017/01/book-review-calibans-war-by-james-s.html
Unruly Stacks reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The series is escalating nicely, and I'm enjoying the intensity of the characters.
Lord of Candy reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
OOOOOOOOh.. This series has my guts in a twist. I love to hate the psychology. I'm already another book down the road now and this just keeps happening so it's the MO of the authors to continuously frustrate me to the ends of the galaxy I think. I mean that lovingly... if it can be so.
First half of the book has me kicking Holden in the nuts. I mean his psychology is so broke ass it's getting everyone upset, even me. You know what's good about a funk though? It usually ends. Thank goodness.
The Roci sees more great action and our solar system sees more intrigue as so much unfolds.
The haunt in the back of my head is constantly wondering if human politics, idiocy and hubris would really take all of this so far with such potential destruction of a species at hand. I really hope not. …
OOOOOOOOh.. This series has my guts in a twist. I love to hate the psychology. I'm already another book down the road now and this just keeps happening so it's the MO of the authors to continuously frustrate me to the ends of the galaxy I think. I mean that lovingly... if it can be so.
First half of the book has me kicking Holden in the nuts. I mean his psychology is so broke ass it's getting everyone upset, even me. You know what's good about a funk though? It usually ends. Thank goodness.
The Roci sees more great action and our solar system sees more intrigue as so much unfolds.
The haunt in the back of my head is constantly wondering if human politics, idiocy and hubris would really take all of this so far with such potential destruction of a species at hand. I really hope not.
However, if you want to get a play by play, read it. ;)
M Is For Awesome reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book made up for my mediocre feels for Leviathan Wakes. Truly left me wanting more. And introduced the best character ever - Avasarala.
Paul J reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book was a great follow-on from the first book and introduction to the series. I really liked some of the new characters, especially the star Martian Marine. This book also develops the Rocinante crew further as a more cohesive crew.
Fulminata reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A good follow up to the first book in the series.
I'm really liking that there are no perfect characters in this series. Everyone makes mistakes. No one is totally in control of things at any level. I was worried at the beginning of this book that the character of Avasarala was going to break that pattern, fortunately that proved not to be the case.
Looking forward to continuing the series.
Marcel Weiss reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The frownse continues.
Enno reviewed Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #2)
Review of "Caliban's War" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I think this book might have been better than the first, even. Bobbie and Avasarala are my favorite new characters in a long time.
