The Captive’s War so far: what you need to know
James S. A. Corey’s The Captive’s War is brilliant. There’s my in-depth review. But is is worth starting now, or should you wait till it is all out? And when will the final book likely be released? Good questions – read on. (There are no spoilers.)
At the moment, there are two novels and one novella available: The Mercy of Gods, Livesuit (the novella), and The Faith of Beasts. That is plenty to be getting on with and we are already over half way through the full story.
What is The Captive’s War and is it good so far?
The Captive’s War is the new science fiction series from James S. A. Corey, the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, best known for The Expanse.
Comparing the two series is unavoidable, but not massively helpful. The Captive’s War is not just The Expanse with different aliens. It is colder, stranger, and far more alien from the beginning. Where The Expanse often worked through ship crews, solar-system politics, corporate greed, and military escalation, this new series is more interested in occupation, adaptation, biological horror, and survival inside an alien empire that does not think like us.
There was alien stuff in The Expense, but it was set in our solar system and it was all pretty relateable. This new series is all alien stuff.
The Mercy of Gods introduces the central situation and then starts some epic world-building. It is more about people finding themselves in a dangerous and bizarre situation and just trying to survive. The Faith of Beasts sees them doing better, learning more about thier environment and starting to make plans. Livesuit is different – but more on that later.
The series is big, unsettling science fiction that feels like it was plotted out a lot more than the The Expanse. I get the feeling that the story will be a lot tighter than the more sprawling previous Expanse.
It is probably not the book to recommend to someone who only wants another version of The Expanse, but I think most fans of that series will enjoy this. I love both.
Should you read Livesuit?
The novellas for The Expanse series just added and fleshed out a few side stories. They were often very good, but many of them still felt supplementary. You could totally skip them, and there isn’t much you’d miss. But I think Livesuit is different.
It opens up a major part of The Captive’s War universe and gives the wider conflict a scale that the novels alone do not fully provide. Without spoiling anything, it changes the feel of the series. It makes the war bigger, stranger, and more frightening. It also gives the reader a better sense of what humanity is facing beyond the immediate story of captivity and survival.
For that reason, I would not call Livesuit a side story. It is short, direct, and much more important than its length suggests. Start with The Mercy of Gods and see how you feel. Livesuit is designed to be read after that and before The Captive’s War.
(You can read my review here.)
Should you start now or wait?
If you hate unfinished series, there is nothing wrong with waiting. But if your reluctant because you’ve been stung by certain fantasy authors who take decades to finish a series – I wouldn’t worry. The writers finished the nine-book Expanse series and seem to know where they are going with The Captive’s War. I utterly trust them.
So if mistrust was holding you back, you needn’t worry.
The next books, and the TV show
The series is planned as a trilogy of novels with two novellas. The next listed entry is a second novella, due in December 2026. Given how much I enjoyed Livesuit, I can’t wait. Given their previous release schedules, I would guess the final book will come out in early 2028. Maybe late 2027.
There is also a TV adaptation in development with Amazon MGM Studios and Expanding Universe, the company involving several key people from The Expanse, including Naren Shankar, Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Breck Eisner. That does not mean cameras are rolling yet, but it does suggest The Captive’s War is being positioned as a major science fiction property.
I remember being excited to see the Rocinante, but I’m even more eager to see the aliens in this series.
Final verdict
The Captive’s War is already worth reading, and there is enough out to sink you teeth into. It is harsher, stranger, and more alien than The Expanse, and that is exactly what makes it interesting and different. Give it a go.
Further reading – my reviews of the first two books in the series:
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