This week, I bring you three free books and my last review of Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey, book two of The Expanse.
Who will uncover the dark secrets of Britain's interplanetary colonisation programme first?
When Harper and her fellow colonists crash on a forbidden world, their fight for survival starts with a terrifying message in the sand. Can they decipher it in time to illegally establish Britain's presence in the Proxima system? Atlas Nations military veteran Donald Stafford intends to protect his planet from a British incursion but first, he must face up to the sins of his past and broker an uneasy alliance with old foes. And, as a serial killer stalks the streets of London, rookie journalist Washington Parker puts his life on the line to expose the unthinkable truths of the corrupt British government and their secretive colonisation programme.
Find the sample copy of Writing in The Sand here.
Wars make unlikely allies.
A tale of serendipity and empowerment set in the thrilling universe of the Expansion series
When his ship is damaged, retired assassin Gau Shesharrim finds himself stranded on a hostile world. To repair his ship, he will have to sneak into a jungle spaceport crawling with Terrans and their scaly Urd allies. An impossible task. Until help comes from an unexpected source. Arkk just wants to evade the Urd hunting him. A chance encounter with Gau offers him temporary refuge, and something more: a way to get justice for his slaughtered paddock. But first they have to get off-planet. Can Gau and Arkk work together to escape before their enemies catch up to them?
Download this free book here.
Chasing an Elusive Dream, Three People are Thrust Into an Impossible Far-Reaching Adventure.
Blaine - A CEO searching for an elusive dream, bringing in a talented team, sets the wheels in motion for an impossible, far-reaching adventure. Amy - An MI6 agent assigned to a mission wrapped in so much secrecy she doesn't even know what or who the target is, but is confronted with a life-changing decision. Elliot - A brainiac researcher, who once believed that his PhD would lay the world at his feet, is learning about the reality of the frustratingly slow-moving wheels of university grant approvals and funding. Hungry to prove his controversial theories, he stumbles into an incredibly unreal opportunity that might give him exactly what he needs. * * * Find out how their fates become intertwined in this prequel to ‘The Paradox Journals,’ A Best Selling Time Travel Series.
You can download this prequel here.
And to conclude this newsletter, here's my last review.
Caliban’s War should have the subtitle Avasarala Forever. That alone should tell you how I feel about this book.
So, we left the Rocinante’s crew after Miller died on Venus. As a spectator of the TV series, nothing new to me here. Even though, I'm rewatching the series again (this time with my other half) and after episode one I already spotted a number of differences I didn't recall.
But let's get back to the story. I feared I would miss Miller, but no, I didn’t. Avasarala chanced that for me. This is a terrific character, I’m telling you. A woman with extreme power, full of herself—just because full of shit would be vulgar—brave, and I’m at a loss of adjectives to describe her. And it’s a woman.
I don't know which of the two authors write about her or if they do it in tandem, but they really do it well. In case you’re wondering, I’m not insane. James S. A. Corey is the pen name of two authors.
For once, we have a kickass woman who doesn't need a gun and military training to be cool. Just a clever human being who accidentally is a woman.
I’ve read so many books where women are not only underrepresented, but also underestimated, and badly described by authors. But I digress again.
What happens in book 2 is that we discover there’s more protomolecule out there than everyone thought. And bad things happen when humans try to use the protomolecule— as I see it, mostly because homo sapiens is sapiens only in theory.
Holden an Naomi get together, but then she dumps him because he’s an asshole. Nothing new under the sun there. I still can’t stand Holden, but it's probably how the authors want me, the reader, to feel about him. They’re good like that.
Ruckus happens on Ganymede where part of the story takes place. Another part takes place on Earth where we meet the great Avasarala and get acquainted with Bobbie, the Martian Marine.
From the first watch, I remember some differences with the series. When Bobbie and Avasarala are travelling to Ganymede on Mao’s yacht there's a battle scene in the series. That never happens in the books, but the scene is filled with tension nonetheless.
If I could give more than five stars to this book, I would because it was even better than book 1.
Let’s move on to book 3.