I really enjoy the way the authors write - and I think that they must read widely and possess some tremendous empathy/EQ. They are able to put the reader inside the minds of a wide variety of characters, some better developed than others, and really develop a lot of personality and information around these character based stories.
That said - I worry about supporting such brutal, dystopian fantasies. It seems like so much of what is available is 100% dystopian. Essentially, this is a story of one race/species with superior technology invading and conquering a planet of humans who are far away from their original planet. The story details the transport (death ships?) of prisoners to the capitol planet, imprisonment with other species, cooptation of their talents, subjugation and indoctrination into support of the conquering culture. It's tale of colonization writ across a galaxy - and we all know how this goes when humans are involved. It could be humans vs turtles vs bugs. One person steps up and tries to "understand" the captors, colludes with the captors and punishes his own kind -- and is rewarded with post of chief whipcracker so that the conquerors don't have to "soil" their hands (as it were) by interacting with filthy "animals."There's a bright spot - a swarm of nanobots that invade and control individual human hosts (serially, it seems) that are spying and collecting information on the conquerors.
I'm not sure if I'll be ready for the next book in this series but I'll think about it. Keep me posted with all the "spoilers."
REVIEW: The Mercy of Gods (The Captive's War, #1) by James S.A. Corey
RATING: 4-stars
