Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Caliban’s War” is the part 3 of the Expanse trilogy and an enjoyable sequel to last year’s “Leviathan Rises”. The story introduces three new POV characters and focuses a lot more on the politics of the inner planets in Corey’s universe than the first instalment. James Holden returns as a key POV character and I am sad to say remains little more than a device to keep the plot moving. This, by itself, is not a bad thing because I am not sure where exactly the author(s) can do with such an open and transparent character.
The book also introduces Chrisjen Avarasala, Bobbie Draper and Praxdike Meng as the three other characters. Of all the three, the “foul mouthed granny” / uber politician Avasarala is the most enjoyable and injects some wry humour and political sophistication to the plot of the expanse series. Bobbie Draper is a martian marine, and we get told over and over again what a fine albeit *huge* specimen of humanity she is. Not a single chapter feature Bobbie Draper goes by without the author’s mentioning her size, or how she towered over and intimidated everyone in the room. Praxdike Meng is a botanist who is based in Ganymede when the book kicks off. His search for his kidnapped daughter presents the drive of the main narrative of Caliban’s war. I found his character difficult to care about, and again his POV chapters were not as enjoyable as those of Bobbie and Avasarala.
The existence of the proto-molecule is now known all over the solar system and Caliban’s War explores the reaction of the various players to its existence. We follow the action as it moves from the UN on Earth and on to the finale of the book which is based around the outer planets. There are a couple of standout action sequences, both involving Bobbie, but the action is a bit more subdued than that in Leviathan Wakes. The final few chapters of the book also seem a little anti-climatic after all the build up. But the plot progresses and a sagging conclusion can be forgiven given that this is not the final book in the series.
Caliban’s War is an enjoyable and fast paced read. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has read the first instalment in the “Expanse” series. I wish the authors would have rounded out some of the new characters and had a more satisfactory conclusion. I give it 3 stars out of 5 and look forward to the next instalment in the Expanse series due out next year.