Caliban's War

I really like the James S.A. Corey team up. I enjoy the way they organize their stories so that the fact that there are 2 people writing this really doesn't become an issue. The chapter structure aligned with each of the 4 POVs provides variety in the writing and helps keep the pace fairly brisk considering the length of the book.

I read Leviathan Wakes last year and loved it, but have had the sequel sort of sitting on my shelf. Part of the reason was I wasn't sure I wanted to continue without Miller's viewpoint. I don't mind Holden, but he was a little too simple for my tastes. The three new POV characters, however, were all equally engaging, particularly Avasarala. I love a foul-mouthed grandmother, okay? Who doesn't? The Firefly vibe is still pretty strong in this second volume and the dialogue has a distinctly Whedon feel. That's probably a big part of why I like the series so much, though.

I liked the emphasis the book had on Holden's character slowly turning into Miller. To me, it said this is what happens to you if you work for The Man too long. Holden takes a lot of shortcuts on his idealism road, and it's interesting to watch him shift between idealism and pragmatism instead of just choosing the moral high road by default. Contrasting him against Prax was a nice touch. That said, I thought the transformation was a little forced at times and could have used some more fleshing out in the beginning of the novel instead of everyone suddenly shouting “You're turning into Miller!” in the middle.

Now... as for the ending. Holy freaking flying monkeys! I expected Miller's consciousness to survive the protomolecule's sciency woogledy boogledy Venus takeover, but I did not expect him to just appear in the hallway. I had to go back and re-read that page just to make sure I wasn't grossly misinterpreting something/Holden was having a hallucination of some sort. Nope. Looks legit. I am not sure whether this is sloppy or awesome yet and really need the third book to find out. The first book left me comfortable waiting to see what happened next. This one emphatically does not and book 3 isn't out till June. Damn it.

Overall, a very fun space opera shoot ‘em up with witty dialogue and fun characters. Any Firefly fans out there should give this series a go. I suggest you wait until book 3 is out in June though because I am going to spend the interim blinking in confuzzlement.