Note: I meant to put up this review after I finished reading the book. Back in February. Oops.
As with Leviathan Wakes, I found Caliban’s War to be most enjoyable. 4 out of 5 stars, once again. And once again, this review comes with spoilers.
There are many great things in this book that is missing in a lot of science fiction stories. At least, in the stories that I have read so far. The science and technology in this book are exemplary, and the plot is very interesting. However, there are also a few issues that I find to be quite jarring. I’ll talk about the jarring things first, and then talk about what is great after.
This book, and I feel certain that this will be an issue throughout the entire series, has the scope of Americentrism. Granted, James S. A. Corey (the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) is an American. White, and I presume cisgender and heterosexual. Every so often, this comes through in the story in unnecessary or disturbing ways. Race and language comes up a number of times as if it is odd for humans to be diverse and adaptive in the future:
“The Mariner Valley had originally been settled by Chinese, East Indians, and Texans. Alex had the dark complexion and jet-black hair of an East Indian. Coming as he did from Earth, Holden always found it strangely disconcerting when an exaggerated Texas drawl came from someone his brain said should be speaking with Punjabi accents” (pages 20 - 21). We’re still early in the book, and for some reason this Earther is put off by a dark-skinned Martian who has a Texan drawl. Here in the 20th century, Texas is already 4% Asian and 3% two or more races, and this story takes place in the far future (according to the Expanse Wiki, though not confirmed, this book should take place around 2353CE). By then, the world should be much more mixed and diverse racially, especially in the Americas.
“Her personal assistant—a European boy named Soren Cottwald—detached himself from the back wall and followed her” (page 47). A European boy. Like, is he from all of Europe? Or is the EU now a nation and all those interior nations are just states? Also, why do we need to know that he’s European?
“Sadavir Errinwright was darker skinned than she was, his face round and soft. It would have been in place anywhere in the Punjab, but his voice affected the cool, analytic amusement of Britain,” (pages 50 - 51). Someone needs to check out the resource “Writing With Color”.
“He had a European accent that would have melted butter” (page 93). What is an ‘European accent’?
For some reason, sex and gender are still very hetero and binary, with some armchair psychology thrown in:
“Bobbie nodded. She’d noticed it too. Some men had a large-woman fetish, and Bobbie had gotten the hair-raising sense that he might be a member of that tribe. They tended to have unresolved mommy issues, so she generally steered clear” (page 335). Um, okay. That is making me wonder why the author is thinking that.
““Good, because I don’t use sex as a weapon,” Bobbie said. “I use weapons as weapons”” (page 335). I would imagine so - she is a Marine. How quickly the men in this book forget that Bobbie is a member of the Martian Congressional Republic Marine Corps is both startling and depressing, as if social mores have stagnated over the 3 centuries between now and then.
“He had the kind of handsome face that made Bobbie instinctively want to like him, and medically untreated male-pattern hair loss that said he didn’t care whether she did. Choosing not to use his wealth to fix a problem as treatable as thinning hair actually made him seem even more in control” (page 335). One of the reasons why I like Star Trek is because Picard is bald. Society doesn’t care about hair loss - it is a natural part of life.
“He didn’t hold their ingrained prejudices against them, because he knew that meeting Naomi would be the cure for it” (page 578). Yeah, no - that’s not how racism works. I mean, sure, they may see Naomi as one of the good ones, if they take the time to get to know her, but that doesn’t instantly undo systemic racism overnight. It takes years of learning and actively trying to be a better person. It just doesn’t work that way. Granted, Holden wouldn’t know that - like the writers (probably), he’s never had to be on the receiving end of it.
As I said in my review of Leviathan Wakes, it’s obvious that (white) men wrote this.
But it’s not all bad. Actions have consequences, characters are aware of each others’ strengths and flaws, and there is science. SCIENCE!
“Holden’s an idiot, but he’s not stupid” (page 99). “Holden thinks he’s a hero, power to the people, information wants to be free blah blah blah, but he’s a fucking moron” (page 386). And that’s true - he’s a fucking idiot. He doesn’t think about his actions, and when combined with his white knight complex, he goes and makes the worst choices possible. If he’s given time to think, or if Naomi is there to tell him that he’s being an idiot, he’ll make better choices. But his feelings of self-righteousness gets him fired eventually, as well as it should have. He’s not a plucky hero who can break the rules and come out smelling like roses, and if he fucks up, he has to pay for it.
One of my favorite things to happen in this book is to find out that people who aren’t from Earth get agoraphobia. That makes perfect sense - imagine coming from a place where the sky literally does not exist. You have a dome overhead or live in tunnels all your life. The only time you’re outside is when you’re suited up for EVA. The air you breathe is recycled with technology, there are no wide-open spaces, and the horizon is the end of the dome if you aren’t in a tunnel. It’s probably easier to adjust to being in a dome or underground than the other way around. And just imagine what it must be like for those born in an O’Neill Cylinder! The sky is the ground!
There is some wonderful talk about the reach of empires and how it always exceeds its grasp in chapter 47. I always get the feeling that it’s a criticism of empires. It is well said.
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