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The Captive's War #1.5
Livesuit
The first novella set in the universe of James S. A. Corey's epic Captive's War series.
Humanity's war is eternal, spread across the galaxy and the ages. Humanity's best hope to end the endless slaughter is the Livesuit forces. Soldiers meld their bodies to the bleeding edge technology, becoming something more than human for the duration of a war that might never end.
For more from James S. A. Corey, check The Captive’s
The Mercy of Gods
The
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
Drive
The Butcher of Anderson Station
Gods of Risk
The Churn
The Vital Abyss
Strange Dogs
Auberon
The Sins of Our Fathers
Humanity's war is eternal, spread across the galaxy and the ages. Humanity's best hope to end the endless slaughter is the Livesuit forces. Soldiers meld their bodies to the bleeding edge technology, becoming something more than human for the duration of a war that might never end.
For more from James S. A. Corey, check The Captive’s
The Mercy of Gods
The
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
Drive
The Butcher of Anderson Station
Gods of Risk
The Churn
The Vital Abyss
Strange Dogs
Auberon
The Sins of Our Fathers
Audible Audio
First published October 1, 2024
780 people are currently reading
5240 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 691 reviews
November 4, 2024
Space Marines
in
Powered Armour
fight a
Bug War
in the Captive’s War universe.
Livesuit armour.
My dead pixels copy was a brief 90-pages. The book had a 2024 US copyright.
James S. A. Corey is the nom de plume of the writing team of American authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Together they have written more than 20-books and several short stories, principally in their Expanse series, but not exclusively. I have read many of their books. The most recent being The Mercy of Gods (The Captive’s War, #1) (my review).
It’s recommended the first novel in the Captive’s War series be read before this one. Although, it is not completely necessary. Note that there was a reference to the events of The Mercy of Gods made in the story, as having occurred in the past.
TL;DR Synopsis
Human volunteers, of an elite force fight the planet-side minions of the Carryx on a level playing field with physically invasive, powered armour. However, the volunteers were unaware of the true extent of their sacrifice.
The Review
I typically don't review novellas, but this one merited it.
The James S. A. Corey writing team seeded the decade-long publishing of The Expanse series with novellas in the long intervals between novels to keep their readers in-the-game. After several of the novels, and with the world building under my belt, I came to like these novellas better than the novels. They appeared more frequently. They were quick reads. They contained snippets of all the hard-ish, science fiction I liked from the series. It’s apparently their intention to continue this practice with their current Captive’s War series?
I approached this novella expecting it to be an updated, version of Starship Troopers , and it was. Although, it also included a bit of the Time Dilation from the The Forever War too. Note that the Space Marines in the story were never referred to as such, or as Starship Troopers, but that’s what they were.
The story’s prose was good, and it was immaculately groomed. I found no errors. This is typical of the James S. A. Corey writing team’s work.
However, I thought the book started out differently than it ended, at least prose-wise. The first few pages, had me thinking this was a work of Literary Science Fiction.
Descriptive prose was good. The action sequences were on par with the high-standard of author’s previous work. Being a MIL-SF story, it was packed with combat. Although, some readers may be disappointed that they were all ground combats, and not space battles? I always enjoy the author's dialog. In particular, the pithy short sentences they tend to use. Interestingly, there was the appropriate use of F*bombs, something I don’t recall from previous stories?
There was only a single POV-- Kirin. He reminded me of updated, Millennial version of Johnnie Rico , although more introspective and wary of authority. Kirin leaves, a good life and love to join the Space Marines with his best friend Piotr. Through natural ability and attrition, he rises to non-commissioned officer in the Livesuited human special forces.
There were several other humans in the human forces with Kirin. Piotr just happens to be assigned to Kirin’s mixed-gender Squad .
Note there was no: “Sex, drugs, and rock’n roll” in the story, although there was no prohibition of music appreciation. However, sex and substance abuse was discussed.
There was carnage and property destruction. (Its MIL-SF!) The body count was genocidal. The Carryx cleansed captured human planets. The Space Marines slaughtered aliens, including Carryx warriors in great numbers. The violence was: physical, edged-weapons, and futuristic, infantry weapons. It was moderately graphic, as were the woundings.
Plotting was good. The number of combats, and interludes felt correct. I did see The Reveal coming. A niggling complaint, was the end could have been drawn-out for a few more pages. I would have liked a bit more of Kirin's dwelling on his future in the final scene.
World building was good. However, it was only vaguely hard science fiction. For example, the humans have FTL Travel (the brane-slip) and other “sufficiently advanced technologies indistinguishable from magic”. The space marines went between star systems in what reminded me of the Rodger Young . These exist alongside more prosaic, conceivable future technologies like: mosquito-sized drones, “smart” ammunition, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) helmets. The titular Livesuits were an update to the powered armor trope, using new Millennium tech-concepts.
I was left with this vague feeling that given the available tech, why was there still need for boots on the ground in future combat? Why not just release nano-swarms (as appeared in Captive’s War) into the atmosphere to re-cleanse the planet of the Carryx invaders?
Summary
I started this series with great expectations of a short, well-written MIL-SF story. It was better than I expected.
In particular, the story had all the high-tech flags waving, cannons firing, smoke and bugles blowing requisite of MIL-SF. It was a modern update of the old timey MIL-SF tropes that I had known and loved.
The story was also a lot more cynical than those old timey stories. That also was a reflection of modern sensibilities.
This story was amongst the most: well-written, somewhat gritty, semi-hard, military science fiction I’ve read in the last year or two. It was also blissfully short. I liked the main character. I also liked his stoicism, when he realized just how F*ked he was, but that it was for a just cause.
Livesuit armour.
My dead pixels copy was a brief 90-pages. The book had a 2024 US copyright.
James S. A. Corey is the nom de plume of the writing team of American authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Together they have written more than 20-books and several short stories, principally in their Expanse series, but not exclusively. I have read many of their books. The most recent being The Mercy of Gods (The Captive’s War, #1) (my review).
It’s recommended the first novel in the Captive’s War series be read before this one. Although, it is not completely necessary. Note that there was a reference to the events of The Mercy of Gods made in the story, as having occurred in the past.
TL;DR Synopsis
Human volunteers, of an elite force fight the planet-side minions of the Carryx on a level playing field with physically invasive, powered armour. However, the volunteers were unaware of the true extent of their sacrifice.
The Review
I typically don't review novellas, but this one merited it.
The James S. A. Corey writing team seeded the decade-long publishing of The Expanse series with novellas in the long intervals between novels to keep their readers in-the-game. After several of the novels, and with the world building under my belt, I came to like these novellas better than the novels. They appeared more frequently. They were quick reads. They contained snippets of all the hard-ish, science fiction I liked from the series. It’s apparently their intention to continue this practice with their current Captive’s War series?
I approached this novella expecting it to be an updated, version of Starship Troopers , and it was. Although, it also included a bit of the Time Dilation from the The Forever War too. Note that the Space Marines in the story were never referred to as such, or as Starship Troopers, but that’s what they were.
The story’s prose was good, and it was immaculately groomed. I found no errors. This is typical of the James S. A. Corey writing team’s work.
However, I thought the book started out differently than it ended, at least prose-wise. The first few pages, had me thinking this was a work of Literary Science Fiction.
They were all sinners who’d reported to purgatory together, and together they suffered and washed away their sins.That was, of the same ilk as Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. A GR friend has previously identified these scribblings as being in-character to a specific James S. A. Cory partner.
Descriptive prose was good. The action sequences were on par with the high-standard of author’s previous work. Being a MIL-SF story, it was packed with combat. Although, some readers may be disappointed that they were all ground combats, and not space battles? I always enjoy the author's dialog. In particular, the pithy short sentences they tend to use. Interestingly, there was the appropriate use of F*bombs, something I don’t recall from previous stories?
There was only a single POV-- Kirin. He reminded me of updated, Millennial version of Johnnie Rico , although more introspective and wary of authority. Kirin leaves, a good life and love to join the Space Marines with his best friend Piotr. Through natural ability and attrition, he rises to non-commissioned officer in the Livesuited human special forces.
There were several other humans in the human forces with Kirin. Piotr just happens to be assigned to Kirin’s mixed-gender Squad .
Note there was no: “Sex, drugs, and rock’n roll” in the story, although there was no prohibition of music appreciation. However, sex and substance abuse was discussed.
There was carnage and property destruction. (Its MIL-SF!) The body count was genocidal. The Carryx cleansed captured human planets. The Space Marines slaughtered aliens, including Carryx warriors in great numbers. The violence was: physical, edged-weapons, and futuristic, infantry weapons. It was moderately graphic, as were the woundings.
Plotting was good. The number of combats, and interludes felt correct. I did see The Reveal coming. A niggling complaint, was the end could have been drawn-out for a few more pages. I would have liked a bit more of Kirin's dwelling on his future in the final scene.
World building was good. However, it was only vaguely hard science fiction. For example, the humans have FTL Travel (the brane-slip) and other “sufficiently advanced technologies indistinguishable from magic”. The space marines went between star systems in what reminded me of the Rodger Young . These exist alongside more prosaic, conceivable future technologies like: mosquito-sized drones, “smart” ammunition, and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) helmets. The titular Livesuits were an update to the powered armor trope, using new Millennium tech-concepts.
I was left with this vague feeling that given the available tech, why was there still need for boots on the ground in future combat? Why not just release nano-swarms (as appeared in Captive’s War) into the atmosphere to re-cleanse the planet of the Carryx invaders?
Summary
I started this series with great expectations of a short, well-written MIL-SF story. It was better than I expected.
In particular, the story had all the high-tech flags waving, cannons firing, smoke and bugles blowing requisite of MIL-SF. It was a modern update of the old timey MIL-SF tropes that I had known and loved.
The story was also a lot more cynical than those old timey stories. That also was a reflection of modern sensibilities.
This story was amongst the most: well-written, somewhat gritty, semi-hard, military science fiction I’ve read in the last year or two. It was also blissfully short. I liked the main character. I also liked his stoicism, when he realized just how F*ked he was, but that it was for a just cause.
October 13, 2024
4.5
Loved it. Great exploration of how, in order to preserve humanity, we lose our humanity. I'm more interested in Dafyd and my crew with the Carryx but this was great to read.
Loved it. Great exploration of how, in order to preserve humanity, we lose our humanity. I'm more interested in Dafyd and my crew with the Carryx but this was great to read.
November 7, 2024
A chilling little story with a decidedly military sci-fi feel featuring some great characterizations and sense of camaraderie, sleek tech and plenty of battle action. Other than the fact that we have humans from a myriad of worlds battling some truly monstrous alien invaders of unknown origin, it remains to be seen how this all ties into the people, events and settings from the first book and the larger story that's clearly at play here.
October 1, 2024
[Original Bulgarian in the bottom, might as well write something in English as early as I am]
The authors (I recently learned that the name is a pseudonym for two authors) continue to write science fiction that is interesting to me, someone who is not that big a fan of the genre.
Livesuit is a pretty good addition to the pile of questions that The Mercy of Gods had already raised. The authors' style remains strong, light, and very readable, and the plot of this short novella is well-crafted and concise. The ending of the novella leaves you craving more, whether it be other novellas or the main series, but for that, you'll have to wait. If only the reader could enter subjective time to make it go faster.
---
Авторите (скоро разбрах, че името е чадър за двама автори) продължават да пишат фантастика, която е интересна за мен, човек, който не е никак голям фен на фантастиката.
Livesuit е доста добро допълнение към купчината въпроси, които The Mercy of Gods вече бяха събрали, стилът на авторите продължава да е силен, лек и четим, а сюжетът на тази кракта новела е много добре изпипан и стегнат. Краят на новелата те оставя жаден за още, било то други новели или главната поредица, но за това ще трябва да се чака. Само да можеше да влезе читателя във субективно време, за да стане по-бързо.
The authors (I recently learned that the name is a pseudonym for two authors) continue to write science fiction that is interesting to me, someone who is not that big a fan of the genre.
Livesuit is a pretty good addition to the pile of questions that The Mercy of Gods had already raised. The authors' style remains strong, light, and very readable, and the plot of this short novella is well-crafted and concise. The ending of the novella leaves you craving more, whether it be other novellas or the main series, but for that, you'll have to wait. If only the reader could enter subjective time to make it go faster.
---
Авторите (скоро разбрах, че името е чадър за двама автори) продължават да пишат фантастика, която е интересна за мен, човек, който не е никак голям фен на фантастиката.
Livesuit е доста добро допълнение към купчината въпроси, които The Mercy of Gods вече бяха събрали, стилът на авторите продължава да е силен, лек и четим, а сюжетът на тази кракта новела е много добре изпипан и стегнат. Краят на новелата те оставя жаден за още, било то други новели или главната поредица, но за това ще трябва да се чака. Само да можеше да влезе читателя във субективно време, за да стане по-бързо.
October 1, 2024
If you came to The Captive's War looking for a new setting but the same excellent character work, ponderous prose regarding space and humanity's role there, intense action, and interesting factions as you experienced in The Expanse, you've found it.
I do not intend to disparage The Mercy of Gods, but I do see the issues with relatively uninteresting characters with little to no depth. This does not continue in Livesuit, where the characters are immediately more engaging, personal, and interesting.
This is the story you've been looking for, and it gives me great hope for this series as a whole. I am a fan of The Mercy of Gods, but where that book can feel slow and "dare I say it" low stakes at times, Livesuit opens the book of the universe, and its pages are gilded!!!!
I do not intend to disparage The Mercy of Gods, but I do see the issues with relatively uninteresting characters with little to no depth. This does not continue in Livesuit, where the characters are immediately more engaging, personal, and interesting.
This is the story you've been looking for, and it gives me great hope for this series as a whole. I am a fan of The Mercy of Gods, but where that book can feel slow and "dare I say it" low stakes at times, Livesuit opens the book of the universe, and its pages are gilded!!!!
October 2, 2024
The thing that this reminds me of the most strongly is Old Man's War by John Scalzi. It explores themes much like the ones in Livesuit: soldiers recruited under dire circumstances, given special suits to rely on, not given all the information they really should have been given. Livesuit also shares themes with Forever War, by Joe Haldeman, particularly the weirdly chaotic effects of relativistic time dilation on receiving news and orders.
But with all those similarities, Livesuit is very much unique in its story. Humans are recruited to fight alien aggressors. They are put into Livesuits that allow them to fight in any environment and will patch them up to keep fighting if they are injured. This is then taken to what, in hindsight, seems like the obvious (and chilling) conclusion, but I didn't even come close to guessing at it before the reveal.
This is one that I will probably revisit, now that I know the ending, to look for other clues. The most obvious one is the communication from Mina (or Mira? the name kept changing... possibly an editing issue).
At any rate, I highly recommend this one. It is not necessary to have read the first book of Captive's War to enjoy this, but if you have read it, you will have more context for what's going on (and probably make some connections to things not yet explained in the main series).
But with all those similarities, Livesuit is very much unique in its story. Humans are recruited to fight alien aggressors. They are put into Livesuits that allow them to fight in any environment and will patch them up to keep fighting if they are injured. This is then taken to what, in hindsight, seems like the obvious (and chilling) conclusion, but I didn't even come close to guessing at it before the reveal.
This is one that I will probably revisit, now that I know the ending, to look for other clues. The most obvious one is the communication from Mina (or Mira? the name kept changing... possibly an editing issue).
At any rate, I highly recommend this one. It is not necessary to have read the first book of Captive's War to enjoy this, but if you have read it, you will have more context for what's going on (and probably make some connections to things not yet explained in the main series).
October 5, 2024
Great twist ending!
October 27, 2024
Good tale...4.5 🌟 stars... it grabs you off the bat and doesn't slow down...
November 12, 2024
This novella, though set in the world of the Mercy of The Gods, can be read independently.
The writing, the characterization and the world building are brilliant, especially considering the length of the story.
It's great, but deeply sad and left me with a feeling of hopelessness.
The writing, the characterization and the world building are brilliant, especially considering the length of the story.
It's great, but deeply sad and left me with a feeling of hopelessness.
September 6, 2025
Ok ok 🫡 I added this suit to my *wishlist* -right next to the spaceship, pink ray gun and pet alien.
March 30, 2025
This is a short story that is part of a series. So far the series has only one novel which I recommend reading before this one to understand what is going on here. In this one we follow a group of humans as they partake in the war against the aliens that are attempting to take over planets.
This easily exceeded my expectations and this is what I expect from these authors. I liked the novel from this series but I was not blown away by it. This was so much better as it incorporated so many aspects. I am amazed at how these authors are able to accomplish this within a small length of pages. It is an intelligent story that has plenty of action. I loved the tie in with the first novel as to fight off the enemy do we have to become them. The highlight for me was how the authors easily display what these heroes sacrifice so we can live our lives. These authors in previous works do a wonderful job of mimicking real life situations and they do it again here.
When reading any offering from these authors I have come to the point where I easily expect an intelligent story with the science and entertaining me at the same time. I expect to love the characters and for them to make me emotional. Once again they delivered on these expectations and I am ready for the next offering in this series.
This easily exceeded my expectations and this is what I expect from these authors. I liked the novel from this series but I was not blown away by it. This was so much better as it incorporated so many aspects. I am amazed at how these authors are able to accomplish this within a small length of pages. It is an intelligent story that has plenty of action. I loved the tie in with the first novel as to fight off the enemy do we have to become them. The highlight for me was how the authors easily display what these heroes sacrifice so we can live our lives. These authors in previous works do a wonderful job of mimicking real life situations and they do it again here.
When reading any offering from these authors I have come to the point where I easily expect an intelligent story with the science and entertaining me at the same time. I expect to love the characters and for them to make me emotional. Once again they delivered on these expectations and I am ready for the next offering in this series.
October 4, 2024
Disappointing in the series context - maybe if you want horror sf or a forever war pastiche you will like it more, but I am not a fan of either and except for having the humans seemingly as the main enemy of the Caryx, I cannot say there was anything really of interest. One can give it a pass since the blurb makes clear its main point anyway.
November 28, 2024
I always like scifi about cutting edge technology that merges the human body with some kind of tech (usually suits of some kind or another) and I got just that here.
Obviously (and this might become important later as orientation for the next novels in this new series), humanity is fighting one hell of a war against either one huge foe or a conglomerate of many. Thus, such tech / suits might give humans the edge we need.
The worldbuilding was off the charts for this short story what with the chaos of combat, the disprientation when you don't even know who/what the enemy actually is, but also the soldiers' surroundings.
It's quite amazing how the two authors are great with novels but equally great with short stories (usually, authors are great at one OR the other only).
Really cool extra though I should have waited with reading this because now I want the next novel all the more (already a problem after the first volume) though I know I'll have to be patient. *sighs*
Obviously (and this might become important later as orientation for the next novels in this new series), humanity is fighting one hell of a war against either one huge foe or a conglomerate of many. Thus, such tech / suits might give humans the edge we need.
The worldbuilding was off the charts for this short story what with the chaos of combat, the disprientation when you don't even know who/what the enemy actually is, but also the soldiers' surroundings.
It's quite amazing how the two authors are great with novels but equally great with short stories (usually, authors are great at one OR the other only).
Really cool extra though I should have waited with reading this because now I want the next novel all the more (already a problem after the first volume) though I know I'll have to be patient. *sighs*
December 31, 2024
A different (and very engaging) perspective of The Mercy of Gods universe while also a thoughtful exploration of how humanity is lost in the attempt to save it and the cost to those who answer the call to do so. Without a lot of pages this manages to be layered, with an interesting premise and engaging characters. The action scenes were well put together and the world building (livesuit) was presented in a way that did not feel info-dumpy but organically fit with the story. Very good stuff and has me excited for the next installment in the series.
December 23, 2024
Damn that was god. Dark, gritty, twist at the end. Really good stuff.
May 22, 2025
[3.5/5 stars] I liked this novella. Not because it hit all the same deeply humanistic notes that I’ve come to expect from a JSAC production, which it did, but because of how richly it expanded the Captive’s War universe.
Now I know more of what’s out there. And whether or not these livesuit players will have any roll in upcoming books, or if our time with them was more to provide hope that all is not lost… it was a tangent well worth reading. I got confused during the non-linear timeline switches a few times, but overall got the gist enough that it didn’t seem to affect my enjoyment.
I’m a big fan of the Expanse. Love the first Captive’s War book. And liked this one a full star more than I thought I would. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3
Find me on Booktube at: The Obsessive Bookseller
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com
Other books you might like:
Now I know more of what’s out there. And whether or not these livesuit players will have any roll in upcoming books, or if our time with them was more to provide hope that all is not lost… it was a tangent well worth reading. I got confused during the non-linear timeline switches a few times, but overall got the gist enough that it didn’t seem to affect my enjoyment.
I’m a big fan of the Expanse. Love the first Captive’s War book. And liked this one a full star more than I thought I would. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3
Find me on Booktube at: The Obsessive Bookseller
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com
Other books you might like:
October 7, 2024
This acts as an interesting puzzle piece and is fun to try to figure out how you're supposed to apply it to the main series. But in terms of an actual story, it left a lot to be desired. I feel like I've read a dozen Alastair Reynolds stories that did the same thing but better.
June 2, 2025
Book 1 had me on the fence, leaning heavily towards wanting to like the series, but still a bit on the fence. If this novella is any indication of the future, then there is no question I will love this story moving forward. This was a nice edition to the world with some call backs to book 1 and some real philosophical elements to ponder, especially the final page…I really enjoyed it and wished it was more than a novella.
November 13, 2024
This was a bit of a surprise - there's a lot of graphic violence and I actually stopped the audio book at a couple points to take a break from it. No really novel tropes or concepts but certainly done really well. Our first person protagonist, Kirin, has signed up to fight in an endless war against non-human species and defend human colonies/settlements. The "Livesuit" sounds like it's really a death sentence -- which makes me wonder why people would continue to sign up for a tour of duty if they never see anyone return from their tours. I also wonder about the micro drone technology and why such advanced technology as drones and live suits couldn't be remotely operated (like Enders Game).
Still - I liked the protagonist, appreciated his internal musings and conflicts and am left with a sense of sadness as he contemplates his fate. Excellent anti-war novella.
Still - I liked the protagonist, appreciated his internal musings and conflicts and am left with a sense of sadness as he contemplates his fate. Excellent anti-war novella.
Read
October 3, 2024Well that was horrifying.
March 31, 2025
This is one of the short stories in James SA Corey’s new series called The Captive’s War; I expect there will be more. The short stories are often quite important in these long series as glue between books and explanations about things that we need to know later.
It wasn’t very captivating, on the other hand it was short and the ending was really good.
It wasn’t very captivating, on the other hand it was short and the ending was really good.
November 27, 2024
A fantastic military sci-fi novella that I would recommend even as a stand alone read, easily. It doesn't necessarily enhance or rely on the Mercy of Gods/Captive War "experience" as there's not enough connecting tissue between the two to really nail down how one relates to the other even timeline wise, but it's recognizably a second piece of the same quilt and the distance works to its advantage. I was very pleased with it.
January 21, 2025
“Are you going to be okay?” They both know he wasn’t talking about the one person but the war. Not the one death but the billions.
The Mercy of Gods didn’t work for me at all and was a very disappointing reading experience. But a couple of people told me that I might enjoy this one better as it has more action and is paced better. It definitely is both those things but this too didn’t work for me and I’m definitely dropping this series.
This book is supposed to be a vignette of what happened somewhere in the endless war. It doesn’t follow a character I’m invested in at all. By the end of the book, the main character discovers something that should have the reader shook but I was only indifferent. The main character, secondary characters and supporting cast all were so bland and stereotypical soldiers found in every other military/ sci-fi book. None of them had any personality or quirks. It also doesn’t add anything to the world building, and doesn’t even set up an or hook the reader with an event that has or will shape the rest of the series. And if it is intended to be a smaller taste of how the rest of the series will go, then I’m just not intrigued at all.
One of the secondary characters is used as a device to aid the reader in understanding and connecting with the emotional journey of the main character but the secondary character is mute for most of the book and doesn’t say anything except - trust me, we’re fighting the good fight. Another secondary character leaves a message with an obvious mistake to the main character that is just either inconsistent or is supposed to serve as a red herring but what it was a red herring for we do not know. It doesn't distract me from seeing the main issue or question at that point because there was no main issue or question.
Also, the past-present dual timeline narrative kills any sort of stakes because we know the present. I also don’t understand why they made the choice to jump between timelines from paragraph to paragraph without any indication. It only takes away from the immersion and leads to confusion.
Coming to technology, the Livesuit idea is nice but as with Mercy, it doesn’t feel like the world or technology of a universe that is thousands of years into the future. They’re using brane technology instead of the warp drive or wormholes for light speed travel and that was exciting. Finally a sci-fi novel was using quantum mechanics concepts but except for that one word, nothing about it is mentioned and it is intentionally left without any explanation.
All in all, this is a series that is not for me based on the first two installments. I do not like the character work, the world building and tech, or the action. I do appreciate that other might not feel the same about the stuff I’ve mentioned and your mileage might vary.
The Mercy of Gods didn’t work for me at all and was a very disappointing reading experience. But a couple of people told me that I might enjoy this one better as it has more action and is paced better. It definitely is both those things but this too didn’t work for me and I’m definitely dropping this series.
This book is supposed to be a vignette of what happened somewhere in the endless war. It doesn’t follow a character I’m invested in at all. By the end of the book, the main character discovers something that should have the reader shook but I was only indifferent. The main character, secondary characters and supporting cast all were so bland and stereotypical soldiers found in every other military/ sci-fi book. None of them had any personality or quirks. It also doesn’t add anything to the world building, and doesn’t even set up an or hook the reader with an event that has or will shape the rest of the series. And if it is intended to be a smaller taste of how the rest of the series will go, then I’m just not intrigued at all.
One of the secondary characters is used as a device to aid the reader in understanding and connecting with the emotional journey of the main character but the secondary character is mute for most of the book and doesn’t say anything except - trust me, we’re fighting the good fight. Another secondary character leaves a message with an obvious mistake to the main character that is just either inconsistent or is supposed to serve as a red herring but what it was a red herring for we do not know. It doesn't distract me from seeing the main issue or question at that point because there was no main issue or question.
Also, the past-present dual timeline narrative kills any sort of stakes because we know the present. I also don’t understand why they made the choice to jump between timelines from paragraph to paragraph without any indication. It only takes away from the immersion and leads to confusion.
Coming to technology, the Livesuit idea is nice but as with Mercy, it doesn’t feel like the world or technology of a universe that is thousands of years into the future. They’re using brane technology instead of the warp drive or wormholes for light speed travel and that was exciting. Finally a sci-fi novel was using quantum mechanics concepts but except for that one word, nothing about it is mentioned and it is intentionally left without any explanation.
All in all, this is a series that is not for me based on the first two installments. I do not like the character work, the world building and tech, or the action. I do appreciate that other might not feel the same about the stuff I’ve mentioned and your mileage might vary.
January 5, 2025
The Mercy of Gods is the first book in the Captive‘s War series (a planned trilogy) and one of my favourite SF novels of 2024. This is the first novella in this world. A nice snack between books. It can be read independently.
At first glance a military SF. A galaxy spanning war against a multitude of aliens, some of which we have already met in the 1st novel. Human soldiers are melded to powered armour that protects them, deals with injuries, makes them stronger and self sufficient. Perfect soldiers. On the downside the soldiers are locked inside those suits—no physical human contact, no drinking or eating—and feeling no pain means missing awareness of their own bodies.
Some food for thought in only 90 pages. Very reflective and with an ending that I eventually suspected and that was a bit horrific. Well done.
I could see Kirin‘s story continuing. I hope we will meet him again.
Comfortable audiobook narration by Jefferson Mays, the same narrator as for the Expanse novels.
At first glance a military SF. A galaxy spanning war against a multitude of aliens, some of which we have already met in the 1st novel. Human soldiers are melded to powered armour that protects them, deals with injuries, makes them stronger and self sufficient. Perfect soldiers. On the downside the soldiers are locked inside those suits—no physical human contact, no drinking or eating—and feeling no pain means missing awareness of their own bodies.
Some food for thought in only 90 pages. Very reflective and with an ending that I eventually suspected and that was a bit horrific. Well done.
I could see Kirin‘s story continuing. I hope we will meet him again.
Comfortable audiobook narration by Jefferson Mays, the same narrator as for the Expanse novels.
November 25, 2025
Short novella about human janissaries, recruited by the Carryx to fight other non-human enemies, and to try to rescue human captives. The tale moves right along and has some great moments. But it never quite clicked for me. I'm not much of one for existential horror. Fans of that will like this one more, I think.
It's as well I read a library copy. Not more than a couple of hours of actual reading (and partial rereading). I will certainly be reading on in the new series.
My review of The Mercy of Gods is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
One of my rare full 5-star ratings. I plan to reread that novel before reading the new one. Absolutely not to be missed!
It's as well I read a library copy. Not more than a couple of hours of actual reading (and partial rereading). I will certainly be reading on in the new series.
My review of The Mercy of Gods is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
One of my rare full 5-star ratings. I plan to reread that novel before reading the new one. Absolutely not to be missed!
December 11, 2024
This military novella didn’t hold my interest. I think it was the jumping around in time. One minute it was intense and the next introspective. The authors were building character but I found the character’s motivation a bit off. He had a hero complex more than anything. I didn’t get it, I guess.
January 11, 2025
Now this was a great read, and I think features something I was missing from The Mercy of Gods, but didn't know I was missing when I was reading that first book.
Livesuit follows a completely different faction of humans fighting the alien war, and they've developed a suit of technology that molds to the wearer semi-permanently. This novella follows one such livesuit soldier, detailing his life before and during his military service, and as he realizes the true cost of the war.
It seems like a very typical, tropey premise, but I really enjoyed it. Corey have a way with words and storytelling that I appreciate, and they drew out a LOT of surprising emotion in the last quarter of this novella.
I wonder if writing this novella that is much more action and military forward compared to The Mercy of Gods was a way to whet the appetites of those looking for more of it in that book. This does make me look back at The Mercy of Gods and wonder at what the greater plan is, considering we follow very research heavy characters in that one. I'm so CURIOUS now and appreciating The Mercy of Gods a bit more.
Jefferson Mays continues to be one of my absolute favorite audiobook narrators.
Livesuit follows a completely different faction of humans fighting the alien war, and they've developed a suit of technology that molds to the wearer semi-permanently. This novella follows one such livesuit soldier, detailing his life before and during his military service, and as he realizes the true cost of the war.
It seems like a very typical, tropey premise, but I really enjoyed it. Corey have a way with words and storytelling that I appreciate, and they drew out a LOT of surprising emotion in the last quarter of this novella.
I wonder if writing this novella that is much more action and military forward compared to The Mercy of Gods was a way to whet the appetites of those looking for more of it in that book. This does make me look back at The Mercy of Gods and wonder at what the greater plan is, considering we follow very research heavy characters in that one. I'm so CURIOUS now and appreciating The Mercy of Gods a bit more.
Jefferson Mays continues to be one of my absolute favorite audiobook narrators.
December 22, 2024
Solid read. Very excited for more in this series!
November 19, 2025
The absolute despair of having to wait until April for book 2 was momentarily quelled by having this novella to read.
July 15, 2025
3.5 Stars. I'm never a big fan of short stories, just when things start going they end. So I tend to like/rate them less than full novels.
I thought this one did a good job of feeling like a complete story and not just the start of something though.
I thought this one did a good job of feeling like a complete story and not just the start of something though.
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