Caliban's War (The Expanse, 2) by James S. A. Corey
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Caliban's War (The Expanse, 2)

4.7

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37,849 ratings


The second book in the NYT bestselling Expanse series, Caliban's War shows a solar system on the brink of war, and the only hope of peace rests on James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante's shoulders. Now a Prime Original series.

HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SERIES

We are not alone.

On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system.

In the vast wilderness of space, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have been keeping the peace for the Outer Planets Alliance. When they agree to help a scientist search war-torn Ganymede for a missing child, the future of humanity rests on whether a single ship can prevent an alien invasion that may have already begun . . .

The Expanse

  • Leviathan Wakes
  • Caliban's War
  • Abaddon's Gate
  • Cibola Burn
  • Nemesis Games
  • Babylon's Ashes
  • Persepolis Rising
  • Tiamat's Wrath
  • Leviathan Falls

Memory's Legion

The Expanse Short Fiction

  • Drive
  • The Butcher of Anderson Station
  • Gods of Risk
  • The Churn
  • The Vital Abyss
  • Strange Dogs
  • Auberon
  • The Sins of Our Fathers

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ISBN-10

0316129062

ISBN-13

978-0316129060

Print length

624 pages

Language

English

Publisher

Orbit

Publication date

June 25, 2012

Dimensions

6 x 1.63 x 9.25 inches

Item weight

1.5 pounds



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  • If life transcends death, then I will seek for you there. If not, then there too.

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ASIN :

0316129062

File size :

1312 KB

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Editorial reviews

"This breakneck tale will have readers itching for book three." -- "Publishers Weekly"


Sample

Prologue: Mei

Mei?” Miss Carrie said. “Please put your painting work away now. Your mother is here.”

It took her a few seconds to understand what the teacher was saying, not because Mei didn’t know the words—she was four now, and not a toddler anymore—but because they didn’t fit with the world as she knew it. Her mother couldn’t come get her. Mommy had left Ganymede and gone to live on Ceres Station, because, as her daddy put it, she needed some mommy-alone-time. Then, her heart starting to race, Mei thought, She came back.

“Mommy?”

From where Mei sat at her scaled-down easel, Miss Carrie’s knee blocked her view of the coatroom door. Mei’s hands were sticky with finger paints, red and blue and green swirling on her palms. She shifted forward and grabbed for Miss Carrie’s leg as much to move it as to help her stand up.

“Mei!” Miss Carrie shouted.

Mei looked at the smear of paint on Miss Carrie’s pants and the controlled anger on the woman’s broad, dark face.

“I’m sorry, Miss Carrie.”

“It’s okay,” the teacher said in a tight voice that meant it wasn’t, really, but Mei wasn’t going to be punished. “Please go wash your hands and then come put away your painting work. I’ll get this down and you can give it to your mother. It is a doggie?”

“It’s a space monster.”

“It’s a very nice space monster. Now go wash your hands, please, sweetheart.”

Mei nodded, turned, and ran for the bathroom, her smock flapping around her like a rag caught in an air duct.

“And don’t touch the wall!”

“I’m sorry, Miss Carrie.”

“It’s okay. Just clean it off after you’ve washed your hands.”

She turned the water on full blast, the colors and swirls rushing off her skin. She went through the motions of drying her hands without caring whether she was dripping water or not. It felt like gravity had shifted, pulling her toward the doorway and the anteroom instead of down toward the ground. The other children watched, excited because she was excited, as Mei scrubbed the finger marks mostly off the wall and slammed the paint pots back into their box and the box onto its shelf. She pulled the smock up over her head rather than wait for Miss Carrie to help her, and stuffed it into the recycling bin.

In the anteroom, Miss Carrie was standing with two other grown-ups, neither of them Mommy. One was a woman Mei didn’t know, space monster painting held gently in her hand and a polite smile on her face. The other was Doctor Strickland.

“No, she’s been very good about getting to the toilet,” Miss Carrie was saying. “There are accidents now and then, of course.”

“Of course,” the woman said.

“Mei!” Doctor Strickland said, bending down so that he was hardly taller than she was. “How is my favorite girl?”

“Where’s—” she began, but before she could say Mommy, Doctor Strickland scooped her up into his arms. He was bigger than Daddy, and he smelled like salt. He tipped her backward, tickling her sides, and she laughed hard enough that she couldn’t talk anymore.

“Thank you so much,” the woman said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Miss Carrie said, shaking the woman’s hand. “We really love having Mei in the classroom.”

Doctor Strickland kept tickling Mei until the door to the Montessori cycled closed behind them. Then Mei caught her breath.

“Where’s Mommy?”

“She’s waiting for us,” Doctor Strickland said. “We’re taking you to her right now.”

The newer hallways of Ganymede were wide and lush and the air recyclers barely ran. The knife-thin blades of areca palm fronds spilled up and out from dozens of hydroponic planters. The broad yellow-green striated leaves of devil’s ivy spilled down the walls. The dark green primitive leaves of Mother-in-Law’s Tongue thrust up beneath them both. Full-spectrum LEDs glowed white-gold. Daddy said it was just what sunlight looked like on Earth, and Mei pictured that planet as a huge complicated network of plants and hallways with the sun running in lines above them in a bright blue ceiling-sky, and you could climb over the walls and end up anywhere.

Mei leaned her head on Doctor Strickland’s shoulder, looking over his back and naming each plant as they passed. Sansevieria trifasciata. Epipremnum aureum. Getting the names right always made Daddy grin. When she did it by herself, it made her body feel calmer.

“More?” the woman asked. She was pretty, but Mei didn’t like her voice.

“No,” Doctor Strickland said. “Mei here is the last one.”

“Chysalidocarpus lutenscens,” Mei said.

“All right,” the woman said, and then again, more softly: “All right.”

The closer to the surface they got, the narrower the corridors became. The older hallways seemed dirtier even though there really wasn’t any dirt on them. It was just that they were more used up. The quarters and labs near the surface were where Mei’s grandparents had lived when they’d come to Ganymede. Back then, there hadn’t been anything deeper. The air up there smelled funny, and the recyclers always had to run, humming and thumping.

The grown-ups didn’t talk to each other, but every now and then Doctor Strickland would remember Mei was there and ask her questions: What was her favorite cartoon on the station feed? Who was her best friend in school? What kinds of food did she eat for lunch that day? Mei expected him to start asking the other questions, the ones he always asked next, and she had her answers ready.

Does your throat feel scratchy? No.

Did you wake up sweaty? No.

Was there any blood in your poop this week? No.

Did you get your medicine both times every day? Yes.

But this time, Doctor Strickland didn’t ask any of that. The corridors they went down got older and thinner until the woman had to walk behind them so that the men coming the other direction could pass. The woman still had Mei’s painting in her hand, rolled up in a tube so the paper wouldn’t get wrinkles.

Doctor Strickland stopped at an unmarked door, shifted Mei to his other hip, and took his hand terminal out of his pants pocket. He keyed something into a program Mei had never seen before, and the door cycled open, seals making a rough popping sound like something out of an old movie. The hallway they walked into was full of junk and old metal boxes.

“This isn’t the hospital,” Mei said.

“This is a special hospital,” Doctor Strickland said. “I don’t think you’ve ever been here, have you?”

It didn’t look like a hospital to Mei. It looked like one of the abandoned tubes that Daddy talked about sometimes. Leftover spaces from when Ganymede had first been built that no one used anymore except as storage. This one had a kind of airlock at the end, though, and when they passed through it, things looked a little more like a hospital. They were cleaner, anyway, and there was the smell of ozone, like in the decontamination cells.

“Mei! Hi, Mei!”

It was one of the big boys. Sandro. He was almost five. Mei waved at him as Doctor Strickland walked past. Mei felt better knowing the big boys were here too. If they were, then it was probably okay, even if the woman walking with Doctor Strickland wasn’t her mommy. Which reminded her…

“Where’s Mommy?”

“We’re going to go see Mommy in just a few minutes,” Doctor Strickland said. “We just have a couple more little things we need to do first.”

“No,” Mei said. “I don’t want that.”

He carried her into a room that looked a little like an examination room, only there weren’t any cartoon lions on the walls, and the tables weren’t shaped like grinning hippos. Doctor Strickland put her onto a steel examination table and rubbed her head. Mei crossed her arms and scowled.

“I want Mommy,” Mei said, and made the same impatient grunt that Daddy would.

“Well, you just wait right here, and I’ll see what I can do about that,” Doctor Strickland said with a smile. “Umea?”

“I think we’re good to go. Check with ops, load up, and let’s release it.”

“I’ll go let them know. You stay here.”

The woman nodded, and Doctor Strickland walked back out the door. The woman looked down at her, the pretty face not smiling at all. Mei didn’t like her.

“I want my painting,” Mei said. “That’s not for you. That’s for Mommy.”

The woman looked at the painting in her hand as if she’d forgotten it was there. She unrolled it.

“It’s Mommy’s space monster,” Mei said. This time, the woman smiled. She held out the painting, and Mei snatched it away. She made some wrinkles in the paper when she did, but she didn’t care. She crossed her arms again and scowled and grunted.

“You like space monsters, kid?” the woman asked.

“I want my mommy.”

The woman stepped close. She smelled like fake flowers and her fingers were skinny. She lifted Mei down to the floor.

“C’mon, kid,” she said. “I’ll show you something.”

The woman walked away and for a moment Mei hesitated. She didn’t like the woman, but she liked being alone even less. She followed. The woman walked down a short hallway, punched a keycode into a big metal door, like an old-fashioned airlock, and walked through when the door swung open. Mei followed her. The new room was cold. Mei didn’t like it. There wasn’t an examination table here, just a big glass box like they kept fish in at the aquarium, only it was dry inside, and the thing sitting there wasn’t a fish. The woman motioned Mei closer and, when Mei came near, knocked sharply on the glass.

The thing inside looked up at the sound. It was a man, but he was naked and his skin didn’t look like skin. His eyes glowed blue like there was a fire in his head. And something was wrong with his hands.

He reached toward the glass, and Mei started screaming.

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About the authors

James S. A. Corey

James S. A. Corey

James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham, author of the critically acclaimed Long Price Quartet, and writer Ty Franck. They both live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.


Reviews

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

37,849 global ratings

Amazon Customer

Amazon Customer

5

Better than the First

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2012

Verified Purchase

The first book in the Expanse series, Leviathan wakes, introduced a not too distant future in our own solar system where an alien life form has been discovered. It probably wouldn't have caused much trouble, but an evil company is trying to understand the potential of the molecule and also start a war between Mars and Earth to cover up their nefarious activities until it is too late. In so doing, they start a chain reaction of events that could wind up wiping out humanity altogether.

After the disastrous conclusion to the first novel, this one picks up 18 months later with James Holden and three new characters. This book advances the story in every way imaginable, showing the increasingly ominous signs of the alien molecule which has made Venus its home and the political machinations that these events engender. We get a good look at Earth politics and more evil plots that are afoot.

This book is better than the first in nearly every way. The action is more engaging, and the characters more fleshed out. While I didn't like Holden's character all that much in the first novel, and his crew felt completely one dimensional, everyone's personality really shines in this one. The new characters are all spot on, each point of view consistent and realistic throughout the novel.

Plus the plot is way cooler than the first. I don't think the story slowed down at all from the original. I would argue that it is actually much more fluid and fast paced because of the increased character POVs, you can pretty much expect something interesting to happen in each chapter as events unfold. There was a fair amount of introspection, especially with Holden, but it didn't get too bogged down because even the character development had to take place quickly in between all the crazy stuff happening. Also, I love politics and this is something the first novel didn't have nearly enough of.

This book could have easily sucked given all the cliches it deals with, but instead it is one of the best books I have read all year. I can judge that because I read it really fast right after finishing second book in the Dagger and Coin series (awesome book as well). What's interesting to me is that even though I have traditionally liked fantasy more than SF, and even though both books were excellent, I really enjoyed reading Caliban's War more.

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2 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Kindle Customer

5

Almost as good as Leviathan Wakes

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is definitely another very good book in the Expanse series. Most people will probably consider it as good as the first one. I think it was almost as good as the first one but I will get back to that.

Holden and his friends are back. Unfortunately all the dirtbags that wanted to turn the alien protomolecule into a weapon without much thought about the potential consequences were not cleaned out after the events in the first book. So, it is up to the good guys to save the day…again.

As with the first book in the series this is a quite well written book. The story is good and each of the characters are very well done. So much that you really enjoy reading and following them even though you might not really like the characters themselves. Although having said that, most of the characters that you follow any closer you probably will like most of the time.

Again this book is more of a futuristic thriller than a space opera where we get to follow the various players while they slowly discover and foil the latest devious plot by the bad guys. That is not to say that the book is missing action. It has that as well, both in space and on the ground. After the events in the last book Miller is gone but two other players are introduced and although they, well at least one of them, are rather different from Holden and his team the author(s) manage to make reading about them as enjoyable as the other ones. Also, as with the first book this one arrive at a decent enough conclusion without ending in a real cliff-hanger but at the same time it opens a huge door into the next book at the end which makes you look forward to the next one.

So why did I write that it was almost as good as the first book?

Well as you know if you have read any of my reviews I just hate politics. While the first book managed to keep the politics present but at the same time in the back it is much more in the foreground in this one. It is especially brought to the front by the fact that one of the persons we are following is smack in the middle of the despicable political and treacherous game. Having said that, she was one of the persons that I liked the most. She is a real bitch but a very likable one, and she is on the side of the good guys.

While I am at it I also have to say that I miss Miller as a counterpart to Holden which, when standing on his high moral horses and whining, can be rather tiresome. Actually I think holden is the character, among the good guys, that I like the least.

Bottom line is that this is a very good book though. Now I have to make up my mind if I am going to read something else in between or just dive straight into the next one.

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Nathan LeClaire

Nathan LeClaire

5

great

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2024

Verified Purchase

This is such a good book. The sci-fi ranges from medium to hard, creating a vivid landscape and relatable characters. Holden can be a bit annoying of course, but the plot arcs are far more entertaining than in the show. The book held my attention during this epoch where the show didn’t, avoiding the cringe moments. Without giving any spoilers, it’s safe to say this installment of The Expanse series is fantastic. Fans of the show will enjoy seeing familiar characters in a more engaging context. Overall, a great read!

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