Caliban's War

Honestly somewhere between 3.5 to 4 stars. This was still pretty darn good and if you enjoyed the first book, you're likely to enjoy this one too. But I will say that the first book does feel a bit more intense and page-turning than this one did. I was also a bit less satisfied with the ending of this one, but I still gave it a pretty high rating because 1) Avasarala and 2) that epilogue.

I have to give props to Corey for just being so masterful at writing some delightfully entertaining science fiction. Like the first book, this really feels like a TV show in a book, in the best possible way. It's the kind of TV show that keeps you at the edge of your seat as you uncontrollably binge the whole season. This isn't going to be as deep and philosophical as a lot of major science fiction works, but the entertainment value of this one is through the roof.

Avasarala is probably one of my favourite characters introduced. She's a grumpy, possibly Indian grandma who also happens to be one of the most influential political figures on Earth. She cusses as much as she breathes, but her curses are some of the most delightful pieces of savagery I've seen around. Though clearly Avasarala's job is pretty much her whole life, we also get to see her as a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. Hey, who knew career women could also have a wholesome family life? Everything about her was so relatable tbh.

I continue to like Amos more and more, and also to have a complicated impression of Holden. I like him being around inasmuch as that we get to see his heroics being continually shot down by the Rocinante crew. He's definitely got a case of annoying-heroism but I like that the book uses him to dismantle that male-protag stereotype that's all too common in SFF. I just love it whenever Amos or pretty much anyone else in the crew hauls his ass back in line. I also gotta say that I didn't look forward to reading Prax's chapters in the beginning because they were just so depressing. Maybe it's the time of life I'm at now but anything to do with children being treated badly really just gets me.

The plot in itself is actually... kinda similar to book 1? We start the book with the POV of someone who goes missing, and then the POV of someone who witnesses a massive amount of death and destruction and is generally discredited. A character in the book wants so badly to find the missing person. We then spend a lot of time in the book hunting around for said missing person, and as usual we have Earth and Mars perpetually threatening to go to war in the background. That's pretty much the same beats in books 1 and 2.

Spoilery thoughts: I am very indifferent towards Prax for most of the book, but felt that he was sus near the end. Unfortunately though there was no big reveal at the end of this book to make that pay off. Aside from his love for his daughter and botany, it kinda felt like Prax didn't really have much substance - which made me wonder if he was hiding something. It was all very subtle (and may also be me overthinking things) but I felt like when other characters like Avasarala etc. observed him casually, something always felt a little weird, or off, or just not right. However, I'm glad that Prax and Mei were reunited in the end, it's just all so happy that it leaves me a little sus, like it's too good to be true.And that's also my issue with the ending, really, and which probably made me knock a star off. The stakes felt higher in book 1 and the ending sequence to it was suitably intense. In this one, I don't think I ever felt like the stakes were as high, but I was still expecting a similarly explosive ending - it didn't happen. Holden's short sojourn aboard the Agatha King was pretty anti-climactic, and then even the confrontation between Amos, Prax, and Merrien went by pretty quickly. Nobody was in any danger in that one. I fully expected Mei to have been in some way affected by the protomolecule, if not infected exactly, but that didn't happen either. I expected her to exhibit some worrying sign suddenly after they brought her back to the ship - but that also didn't happen. I'm not sure if this might possibly be a development in later books, but my philosophy for series in general is that if there are not even hints about it in this current book I'm reading, it still counts against it as something unanswered, as not everyone would read to the end of a series.What did pull me back was that epilogue. The bit with Holden endlessly watching the video of Venus, Naomi leaving the area, and then... Detective Miller appearing. That sent chills down my spine. The reveal was done so well there and it made me exclaim out loud. What the hell is he still doing here? How is he still alive or in one piece? How did he get onto the ship without any one knowing? Is he infectious?!?!?! Ahhhhh!!!!

This is increasingly shaping up to be a series that I'll likely see all the way through to the end and good luck to me on that, seeing as how many books there are in it.