CALIBAN’S WAR by James S.A. Corey

Narrated by Jefferson Mays

     Playgrounds of the Mind

James S.A. Corey is a writing team to watch. Listening to this gives me the same feeling I got in the 1970s reading the early works of Larry Niven. This is now my second Corey Expanse novel and I am liking what I hear. Corey, like the early Niven, keeps getting better. The characters are great and plausible and interesting. His character building is top flight and, importantly, he competently imparts a sense of wonder all the while.

Jefferson Mays continues his journeyman effort. He also continues to improve as this series goes on. I still root for him to inject a bit more emotion into his rendering. The characters provide plenty of material to launch a bit of melodrama, which would really elevate these books into the stratosphere.