James S. A. Corey

THE FAITH OF BEASTS is the second book in James S. A. Corey's newest series, The Captive's War. While the first book introduces us to the Carryx, their subjugated captives, and their world palace, this second novel expands the captured humans' knowledge. Alongside the information obtained in the novella, LIVESUIT, the Carryx's unending war takes on new meaning, leaving us with plenty of clues but no idea how they fit into the overall picture. You end the novel with many more questions than show more answers, plenty of hypotheses, and a greater appreciation for the masterful storytelling at hand.

THE FAITH OF BEASTS is an example of the type of deliberate storytelling that makes the authors' first series, The Expanse, so impressive. The attention to detail is exacting, suspiciously so. Even without knowing how the series will end, you get the impression that every word matters. That the placement of each sentence is important. That we are so close to understanding it all: the end goal of the Carryx, the Livesuit material, Anjiin as a targeted planet, and all of the other little unknowns that you know are part of something bigger. It is the type of careful writing that invites dissertations because there is no doubt the clues are there. All we need is that one corner piece to slot into place.

If THE MERCY OF GOD is all about establishing the Carryx as the enemy, showing us their violent but effective methods of subjugation and their numerous successes, THE FAITH OF BEASTS shakes that definition of enemy somewhat. Almost everything the humans discover about their captors raises more questions, the most important being the identity of the bad guy in all of this. The Carryx believe their foe is the deathless enemy, while the Anjiin survivors view the Carryx as their sole enemy. As in life, the answer is sure to be somewhere in the middle. At the same time, I fear that answer will also be unsettling and contain uncomfortable conclusions, if Dafyd's attitude and actions are any hint.

As with The Expanse series, THE FAITH OF BEASTS and the rest of The Captive's War series are nuanced stories. You can read them for what they are: science fiction adventure books. Or, you can dive deeper into the material and discover a wealth of philosophical, sociological, and psychological challenges built into the narrative to let you think about life in very different ways. It is more than the existence of aliens or the vastness of space that we will never be able to understand in its entirety. It isn't even about humankind's place within that vast, unknowable universe. THE FAITH OF BEASTS, if you allow it, forces you to dig even deeper to dwell on the words we choose to describe something, as well as the ideas of good or evil.

THE FAITH OF BEASTS is a profound reading experience if you want, and a fun, exciting, mysterious, suspenseful one if you want something simpler. Therein lies the beauty of the authors' stories. There is so much there for you to discover and ponder, but you can read at a superficial level for escapist entertainment purposes and enjoy them as much. No matter how you approach the story, though, you will finish the novel blown away by its scope, its level of detail, and the fascinating story contained therein. show less

After I found the middle trilogy of The Expanse a bit rough, the opening book of the final trilogy is a return to form. Humanity is increasingly an interstellar civilization, but that comes under threat as General Duarte and the Laconian Navy return through the gate they vanished across so many years ago-- now with fantastic destructive powers in their hands, thanks to their use of the protomolecule. The book alternates between the Laconian occupation of Medina Station (where the Rocinante show more crew get caught out) and a wider vision of the Laconian invasion of the solar system (as they crush Earth, Martian, and Belter resistance).

Like the best of The Expanse books, this one balances character, action, and engaging plot twists; despite its large size, I read it quickly, and I found it more engaging than any Expanse novels since Abaddon's Gate. While I wouldn't say the middle books had to be the way they were, one can see how the set-up they did is paying off as The Expanse moves toward a climax and a conclusion. The book is suspenseful; Holden and the Rocinante crew work best when they're on the back foot, scrappy underdogs trying to push their way out of situations so complex as to be beyond the capacity of a handful of cargo haulers, and that really comes across here as they have to figure out how to deal with an occupying force. Lots of good character moments, lots of clever action. I was a big fan of Singh's arc, the commander of the occupying forces. The Expanse is back, and I ended the book hyped for number eight.

One quibble, though, and I can't decide if it's a big quibble or a little quibble. There's a thirty-year jump between this book and the last! I'm fine with that on principle, but Holden and the other Rocinante crewmembers aren't written like sixty-somethings, they're still written like thirty-somethings. In terms of characterization, it's like they were all held in stasis for those three decades. Clarissa, for example, still comes across as someone they barely know, even though they've literally spent half their lives working with her! It just totally fails to convince, and was seemingly only done for plot reasons: Laconia needed three decades to develop to the point where it could threaten the solar system. I feel like a more sfnal solution could have been found, protomolecule time shenanigans or something. But as annoying as it is, once the book gets underway, you basically stop thinking about it, so they kind of get away with it? Like I said, I don't know if it's a little quibble or a big quibble.

One last thing, mostly an observation. The character of Drummer was technically in the first couple books, but she was really just a passing reference. She debuted on season 2 of the television program (2017), and over the next couple years her role got bigger and bigger because the actress who plays her (Cara Gee) was so good they wanted to give her more to do; Drummer replaces roles played by different characters in books three and five. Persepolis Rising was the first book to be written after season 2 went into production, and suddenly Drummer has a huge role in it, one of those moments where the adaptation feeds back into the original. And it's easy to see how the show could maneuver the character to be in the same position as the book one by this point in time, so the two versions who had somewhat different stories would end up converging into one! Neat. (Except that between when I finished Persepolis Rising and wrote this review, it was announced that The Expanse would come back for a sixth season, but not a seventh, so there never will be a tv version of these events. Oh well.) show less

Awesome start to a series! I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of the characters at the beginning, but once I got used to the cadence of the story, I was fine.

The main characters are very well written and highly likeable. Each were developed carefully and expanded slowly through the story in ways that were highly satisfying. I look forward to following them through the next eight books.

The plotting and mystery were stellar. I'm not a person who enjoys hard science-fiction or fantasy show more that belabors a setting or system of magic. Novels about space exploration or colonization usually bore me. There are a few that I've enjoyed, but they fell clearly into the space opera +1 category. Perhaps they were space opera and western. Or they cross the line between space opera and a war saga. Then there's the space opera and detective noir. Space opera and horror. The first book from The Expanse has all of the above, and each adds to the story. There's even a bit of romance and humor.

The book's writing and pacing is stellar. Leviathan Wakes had me from the first chapter. Who is this woman? How did this happen? I must find her. It's revealed in fits over the course of the book until the mind-blowing climax.

I'm so happy that this series has so many books AND that the series is finished. This is clearly a win for my 2025. show less

This was so much fun! Not as mindblowingly good as Leviathan Wakes, but that’s because I’m comfortable with the world now and so the added depth here didn’t wow me as much as in the first one. It’s a great mystery and adventure, perfectly plotted with all sorts of twists, and involves some very cool science fact and science fiction. I especially like how richly human the characters are—they’re not stereotypes, they don’t fall into tropes, they get to be awesome and vulnerable, show more courageous and terrified—and how their actions and mistakes turn the plot, instead of the other way around.

Recommended, but you do have to read the books in order if you don’t want to get massively spoiled.

7/10 show less