Elitist Book Reviews

I swear, I don't have a man crush on Daniel Abraham. Neither does anyone else here at EBR...

...OK that isn't entirely true.

Look, the dude is awesome. Whether he's writing Urban Fantasy under the name of M.L.N. Hanover, or straight-up Fantasy as Daniel Abraham, he's equally good. Same goes for James S.A. Corey, which is the name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck working together while writing Science Fiction. I don't want to sound like I'm giving all the credit to Abraham for the works of James S.A. Corey. I'm not. Ty Franck is doing his part, and absolutely killing it. I mean...geez.

I'm gonna open up here. I just don't like Science Fiction that much. I keep trying, and trying, only to find the same things that bother me. Shallow characters. Over-reliance on neat technology. Assuming the reader has a PHD in Theoretical Physics. Ignoring basic Physics that even an idiot like me can see through.

The pair that makes up James S.A. Corey somehow understand my pain, and those that share it.

ABADDON'S GATE is the third novel in The Expanse, and while it has many of the issues of the typical middle book of a series, it is still far-and-away one of the best SF series on the market today.

This newest novel follows Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante as they join a massive flotilla going to investigate the gate opened by the protomolecule at the end of CALIBAN'S WAR. Before I go on, I have to warn anyone reading this:

DON'T READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE 2ND BOOK IN THE SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(yes, extra "!'s" added for extreme emphasis)

That's your warning. Don't cry to me if you ignore it.

So yeah. Freaking Detective Miller is BACK!!! Kinda. Maybe. Is it actually him? That's a big part of the mystery of this book. Holden teaming up with a Miller that only he can see to figure out what the protomolecule was up to when it opened the gate. As is usual in the series, a whole separate group of PoV characters is introduced, who each have a huge role to play in the story.

This is where I had my biggest issues with the novel...though they really aren't that huge. By the end of each book in the series, I become used to the PoV characters outside of the crew to the Rocinante. It usually takes a while. So when they don't show up in the next novel, I lose a bit of that continuity. Same thing happened when I started ABADDON'S GATE. I just had a hard time with the new characters. Only this time I never really got over the newness of them. One seems to solely exist to show how religion and faith have progressed. The other to serve as a villain of sorts for much of the novel (though her agenda felt forced). I think my reactions are partly based on my brain saying, "Don't bother getting attached. They will be gone in the next novel anyway." Not gonna lie; to me it's a problem.

But aside from that, I don't really have much to complain about. In fact, one of those characters I'm bugged about still managed to bring in two of the elements I found most interesting in the novel: religion and faith. I'm a religious guy, and I tend to be bothered a bit by the casual dismissal of religion in 90% of SF novels. It isn't just that it isn't present, but that the authors seem to go out of their way to make it seem like anyone who does believe in any sort of religion as an idiot--including the reader. That isn't the case here in ABADDON'S GATE. Corey seems to take a realistic look at how religion and faith could continue to be a valid and inspiring parts of people's lives, regardless of how far in the future we are. The novel also has the characters tackling very hard religious issues. I have to hand it to the authors, and thank them. Thank you for not taking the easy way out.

And this is why I am so impressed by this novel, and all the others that Abraham writes. It's the attention to detail in all forms. I don't know what his or Franck's personal philosophies are. But I like that, regardless, they seem to be handling them all with respect and with care. Why is this important in storytelling? Because it makes every character that much more believable. Their varied fictional mindsets are real and distinct within the context of the story. The attention to detail here is what set this novel and series apart from all other SF.

Now, as to the story itself, and what is through the gate the protomolecule opens...well. Let's just say it opens this universe up infinitely. The series name "The Expanse" suddenly has more meaning than ever before. ABBADON'S GATE is, in essence, a transitional novel. The scale and the stakes have been increased dramatically. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

ABBADON'S GATE isn't perfect. That's OK. It still adds awesome stuff to, in my mind, the best on-going SF series out there right now.

Recommended Age: 16+
Profanity: Seems like it was more than usual.
Violence: This one was pretty violent in a few parts. As usual, it was handled extremely well.
Sex: Nothing detailed.

Here are your links. Buy them for yourself and all your friends:

LEVIATHAN WAKES
CALIBAN'S WAR
ABADDON'S GATE

Where are the great Science Fiction series? It seems like there are dozens of fantasy series out there. A new fantasy book doesn’t come out that isn’t part of a series. It’s actually getting the fantasy authors to finish their series that’s the problem now a days. But Science Fiction? Where are the series? You could make a case for a few. John Scalzi has written at least four books in his Old Man’s War universe (depending on how you count THE SAGAN DIARY, and QUESTIONS FOR A SOLDIER). Robert Charles Wilson just last year wrote the last book in his Spin “trilogy”. But neither of them was a series. A book would come out and it would be a self-contained story written in the same universe. Neither were set up from the beginning to be a small part of something larger.

Good thing we have The Expanse.

CALIBAN'S WAR (the book we’re reviewing just in case you didn’t know), is the second book in The Expanse, and the sequel to last year’s excellent LEVIATHAN WAKES. LEVIATHAN WAKES was great and was amazing. It is currently on the Hugo nominee ballot for Best Novel, and was such a success that Orbit (the publisher of the series) ordered three more books and a series of novelettes. That means we’re getting (as best as I can count) six books in the series.

Folks, that’s good freaking news, cause this series rocks!

I’m gonna talk about the book now, which will inevitably spoil the previous book. So if you haven’t read LEVIATHAN WAKES, STOP READING! You’ve been warned.

CALIBAN'S WAR picks up a year after LEVIATHAN WAKES left off. The protomolecule has crashed into Venus and strange structures are sprouting up out of the atmosphere. Tensions between Earth, Mars and the newly former Outer Planet Alliance are high. On Ganymede a strange creature tears through a unit of Martian and Earther soldiers possibly sparking a war. Instead of just two viewpoints as was the case in LEVIATHAN WAKES, here we have four. Jim Holden is back, leading his crew trying to figure out what is going on with this strange creature and generally making a nuisance of himself. He is joined this time by Bobbie who is the lone surviving soldier when the creature attack. Avasarala, a diplomat from earth trying to keep the sides from war and figure out what is really happening. And Prax a scientist on Ganymede who, in the wake of the creatures attack and the disaster that follows, is trying to find his daughter who may be the key to everything that is going on.

I’m gonna come right out and say this. I think Daniel Abraham is setting the standard for the industry right now. His fantasy book THE KING'S BLOOD (book two in his fantasy series, The Dagger and the Coin) was probably the best thing I’ve read this year. He also co-wrote this book with a friend of his Ty Frank (they write together under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey). So he is writing some of the best fantasy series and the best SF series out there. This guy is unstoppable.

My review of THE KING'S BLOOD could almost just be copied and pasted here with some of the names changed. What Abraham did so well in that book, he and Ty Frank do just as well here. The characters are well thought out and interesting. They feel like people making real decisions, and most of the time the enjoyment in the books comes from watching those decisions have effects on other characters. The interplay between the viewpoints is a joy. The world we got a glimpse of in LEVIATHAN WAKES just got a bigger and more interesting. It all works.

That being said, I’m not sure I liked it as much as its predecessor. The book is good, it set up some truly big and wonderful things, but it felt more like a set up book than a payoff. It was good and great and I love the series, but the stakes seemed a bit higher last time around and the action a bit more intense.

Those are small problems really. The book is still great, the series advancing wonderfully. And as for the ending? I won’t spoil it here, but when my dad finished reading the book (he finished a day or so before me) he called me right away wanting to talk about it. He’s certainly set us up for something special.

Age Recommendation: 14+ Depending on how you take to the language. There’s a fair bit of it in here.
Language: A lot. Three fourths of the time there’s nothing there, but one character likes to swear like a sailor and she does it well.
Violence: A bit but not much. A few scenes of monster action and a few other standoffs.
Sex: Referenced more than shown and not much.

What are you waiting for? BUY THIS SERIES!!!

LEVIATHAN WAKES
CALIBAN'S WAR

And don't forget the bonus piece of short fiction:
THE BUTCHER OF ANDERSON STATION

No, this isn’t LEVIATHAN WEPT, the short story collection from Daniel Abraham. This is LEVIATHAN WAKES, the collective effort of Mr. Abraham and his buddy, Ty Franck. Why such similar titles from the same author? Who knows. They aren’t related though. This one is new. It’s special. It has a fancy cover. Whoa, cool. But is it good? Of course it’s good. You gotta know I’m gonna love it. This guy just plain delivers.

LEVIATHAN WAKES is the first in a planned series of five books titled The Expanse, and was a book that I expected some good Ju-ju from. If you’ll remember, I’m not such a big fan of Science Fiction in general. I do have my favorites though, and James S. A. Correy (Abraham and Franck’s pseudonym) is now one of them. Add him to your list, people. Yeah.

The main story revolves around two characters: Detective Miller and Jim Holden. Holden is the XO on a space freighter that moves massive icebergs from the rings of Saturn to deep space communities built on spun-up (gravity-bearing) asteroids. Right up front, they receive a distress signal from another ship, the Scopuli, moored to a nearby asteroid. They stop to help, and stuff just starts getting shot up and blown up all over the place. It’s chaos and firepower and nukes and lotsa dead people, and only very rarely does it let up the pace and give you a chance to breathe until the bitter end.

Detective Miller works for a Belter security agency and has just been given a chump partner that grew up Earth-side. He works to keep the peace, find the criminals, and pretty much everything you’d expect from this kind of working-class schmoe. Then he gets assigned to a new case, a bogus one. It’s a snatch and grab, with Mommy and Daddy Warbucks footing the bill to have Detective Miller bring their baby home. But everything isn’t quite as it seems, and soon the trail for the girl leads Miller to the Scopuli.

And you know that has to be good for us. Just not so much for him.

There are three big pulls in this book that totally made it rock. The first, of course, was the characters. Miller and Holden are just two great viewpoints.

Holden’s your average Joe, trying to make a buck and save the universe one iceberg at a time. He’s a bit idealistic but true to his convictions. He’s honest. Someone that’s easy to root for and hard to watch get hurt, without feeling it yourself.

Miller is good at what he does. He gets in, gets out, and does his job. Click, clack, spidat! Along the way he gets blindsided though, and quickly becomes one of those characters that you just can’t take your eyes off of. Every time you see him, he’s sunken into that downward spiral just a bit further, and it leaves you wondering just how long it’ll be until he self-destructs.

The second thing LEVIATHAN WAKES has going for it is the action. There’s loads of it and it starts up right off the bat. Ships getting blown up. People dying left and right. Military warships threatening whole communities and local thugs beating on the innocent, alike. Everyone wants a piece, and it seems like there’s never a lack for something going on during this ride.

The third piece of awesomeness was the story. Not only has this pair done their homework on the plot, but the world-building was awesome. The tension between those that have been born in space and those that have lived in gravity wells their entire lives was perfect. They don’t trust each other, “they don’t belong together”, and this shows in every aspect of the character’s interactions. It isn’t long before Mars and Earth and the Belters are all pointing their guns at one another, screaming threats and seeing who’s going to fire the first shot.

The series itself is supposed to be a space opera, but this one feels more in line with a dark, noir, detective novel. Plus explosions. So much of the story was built around the mystery of the Scopuli, and of the missing girl, and how all this violence and chaos jived. We’re finding things out right up until the very end, and it was serious-awesome how it all ended up fitting together.

I did have a few issues with it. Some of the space battles felt a little too fast for me. The speed factor I have in my head for space-action is something along the lines of 2001/2010 fast, but mostly this one felt more like that old-school Asteroids game after I figured out you could move the ship around. Timing was also a bit of an annoyance, as I had a hard time keeping track of how much time was passing as the story moved on. By the end, I found out that almost a year had passed since the beginning, and that surprised me a little.

The last problem was probably the biggest one for me, and that was the secondary characters around Holden. They just didn’t hold water. Those around Miller were awesome. Nuanced, real, responsive. Most of those around Holden almost felt more like name-holders instead of people. They kept dying off and it really didn’t matter all that much to me, and seemingly only in slight manner to Holden. The one exception to this was when the two story lines merged. It was then that I saw those secondary characters surrounding Holden from Miller’s perspective, and suddenly they popped. Immediately, they were there, and not just names any more. Afterward, I went back and was actually quite surprised at how little there was in those sections, dealing with the faceless secondary characters, that made everything work for me. Abraham just knows how to do character.

The ending on this one was absolutely awesome. It closed the story we were being told, leaving plenty open from which the next one can jump. From what I’ve heard, that next book, CALIBAN’S WAR, has already been turned into the editor for feedback. How cool is that? It’ll be in my greedy little hands less than a year from now. Can't. Freaking. Wait.

If you're looking for some Space Opera Noir SF goodness, then read this one, people. It’s sure to please. It certainly did good things for me.

Recommended age: 16 plus
Language: Moderate amount
Violence: Fairly high level, occasional detail gets pretty gory
Sex: A few references and some ubiquitous tension

The James S. A. Correy Website