Calliban's War by James S.A. Corey

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Second verse, same as the first –intrasolar medium-future scifi heavy on the politics with occasional alien goo monster horror set pieces. It even introduced a new character whose arc depends entirely on his pain over the fact that a girl he cares about is missing. That being necessary to replace the nearly identical plotline from the first book that was resolved, you understand. At least take 2 was way less psychosexually creepy.

Basically, it's another summer blockbuster. Splashy, surprisingly good writing, but there's a slickness to it, a photogenic quality to everyone's pain, such that nothing seems more than skin deep. And the putative hero's self-righteous angst wankings are still as interesting as watching mold grow, but hey, that comes with the territory.

I'm being pretty snide over a book that I actually enjoyed. I did enjoy it. But let's not fool ourselves: I read this at the audio version of speedreader rates in careless jolts of attention, and it doesn't really deserve anything more than that from me.

Oh, except for the sections on the kickass lady Martian marine and the even kickasser grandma who is also a UN bureaucrat and how they save the solar system. I paid way more attention to those sections, and if the book had been 100% them, we would be having a completely different conversation right now, let me tell you.




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