The Faith of Beasts

The Captive's War #2

by James S.A. Corey

James S. A. Corey's Expanse series has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 23 languages, establishing itself as a modern masterwork of science fiction. Now, the Hugo-award winning author returns with the second volume in their New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed space opera trilogy, The Captive’s War. 

★ “Masterful . . . . This is space opera at its best.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Mercy of Gods
 
The monstrous Carryx empire was built by subjugation and war. Thousands of species are bound to their Sovran’s command in an endless, blood-soaked be useful in the eternal conflict or be slaughtered.

Dafyd Alkhor, highest among their human captives, is feared and despised by the very people he champions. Ruthless in carving out his niche in the eternal war machine of the empire, he will reshape human nature itself as a tool for their alien masters’ use.  But Dafyd’s loyalty is not what it seems.

The Swarm, an agent of the Carryx’s deathless enemy, has been smuggled into the Carryx world-palace along with the human slaves. It’s discover a way to bring down the empire’s eternal reign. But the longer it lives among and within humanity, the more it forgets that it is a weapon.

As the human captives spread through the battlefronts of empire, the awesome power of the Carryx becomes clear. And with it, a desperate plan for their destruction.

But empires hide secrets, and even the deathless enemy may not be what it appears… 

"The start of something truly epic."  ― Fonda Lee on The Mercy of Gods

"Corey is always one of the most engaging voices in the genre."  ― Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of  Children of Time

For More from James S. A. Corey, check

The Captive's War
The Mercy of Gods
The Faith of Beasts

The Expanse
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 Fiction
Drive
The Butcher of Anderson Station
Gods of Risk
The Churn
The Vital Abyss
Strange Dogs
Auberon
The Sins of Our Fathers
 

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Fantasy, Aliens, Space, Science Fiction Fantasy

512 pages, Paperback

Expected publication April 14, 2026

Reviews

[MagretFume · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just as strong as the first one. 

The story picks up right after the events of the first book, following the main characters in their separate journeys. 

The plot is just as captivating, the stakes are getting higher, and the writing is absolutely excellent. I especially loved the evolution and development of the characters as they face new challenges and form new relationships. 

I can't wait for the next one! 

Thank you so much Orbit Books for this ARC.

[Wes O · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read in advance for an honest review.

I’ll preface with this: I was not the biggest fan of the first book in this series, Mercy of the Gods. It’s not a bad book by any means, it just wasn’t completely for me and I ventured into The Faith of the Beasts to see if things would work better for me, personally.

They did not. Again, not a bad read here; it’s just not for me.

The worldbuilding is still excellent. There’s a lot to keep track of as the story progresses. I started to get invested overall late in the read, but not enough in the characters. It just took too long for me to really care to continue with the series beyond this book.

There’s an audience out there that will eat this up. Fans of the authors and the expansive sci-fi genre should give it a try.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pacing worked really well. It kept things moving without feeling rushed, and every section felt purposeful. There was always enough momentum to pull me forward, but also enough space to sit with what was happening and let the character choices land.

The plot itself was genuinely interesting and layered. It wasn’t just about what was happening, but why it was happening, and how each decision created ripple effects. The morally grey actions and characters added a lot of depth, and I appreciated that the story didn’t shy away from difficult or uncomfortable choices.

The only downside of reading this as an ARC is that it makes the wait for the next book feel even longer.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this. All thoughts are my own.

[ShamNoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC.

This book is much more of a character-building and setup episode compared to the first one, and much more of a slow burn, so it’s a good thing the characters and worldbuilding are as brilliant as they are. The plot developments are sparse but heavy and exciting, and the way the themes are developed through the character arcs is really well done. Very excited for the next book (which I think might be the last but I’m not sure).

[Emma Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An alien invasion is one thing. An invasion of highly advanced, sentient, and hierarchical alien arthropods called Carryx conquering and subjugating multiple worlds and species is super freaky. What am I doing to myself. This is the stuff of nightmares. I have been tandem reading books one and two of The Captive's War trilogy by James S.A. Corey (authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck)—Mercy of Gods and The Faith of Beasts—and Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Both have insects as sentient alien life forms and I am fairly bug phobic.

The Carryx of The Captive's War series are so fascinating as xenophobic space imperialist overlords of humans and other groups within the entire scope of the entirety of the Carryx space dominion (referred to as ‘moieties’) that I am compelled to read it anyway. The Faith of Beasts, book two of the series, begins with cleverly written mythos that and some fantastic insights into the human moiety before being absorbed into the Carryx empire. As the book progresses and you read more of the snippets of mythos, you will start to get more of the picture.

Readers and watchers of The Expanse Series will find similarities between the protomolecule and the Swarm, which are networked nanomachines that serve the purpose of espionage against the Carryx. Both assimilate the minds of other human life forms into their own network. Therefore, this part of the world building in the second book will feel familiar.

If you’ve been wondering what the heck is this Swarm network thing doing?? What’s the plan?? You will get some answers. Also, there is a crazy part of The Faith of Beasts where you get a little bit of insight into how this weird Swarm nanomachine network starts questioning the nature of its own consciousness.

And what the heck are the humans up to? Yes, they’ve got a sort of group Stockholm syndrome going on, trying not to be rendered extinct by pissed off space bugs but at the same time trying to figure out how the hell to escape captivity and restore autonomy. Well, you’re going to get some answers and new developments. Then, of course you’re going to be left wondering what happens next.

That’s for book three.

Thank you very much, Orbit Books, Hachette Book Group, James S.A. Corey, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. You spin me right round, baby, right round like a record, baby, right round, round, round.

[Aaron McKinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

*ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for feedback. Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and Orbit Books.

8/10

This series is definitely slow burn Sci-Fi, if you are looking for fast paced action look elsewhere (I would suggest Red Rising). However, if you are looking for a detailed, methodical, well thought out story that is, as far as anything I have read, utterly unique look no further. James S.A. Corey is truly a master of Sci-Fi world building, from the planets and systems, to the way they interact, and to the plethora different species described here, the way the interact, the unique traits of each, etc. Nothing about the setting of this book is familiar to the reader, and yet it is easy to imagine you are amongst the Carryx, to feel the sorrow, desperation, resignation, and even faint flickers of hope, that the human moiety feels throughout this novel.

As I said this is not fast paced action, despite this every chapter left me saying "just one more" in the same way a high action scene would. This is done here through the careful doling out of information, information that is both new to the reader and the characters in the story, that makes you crave the next piece of the puzzle the way you do in the best of thriller novels.

I highly look forward to book 3 in this series, and hey Orbit if you wanna send me early when the time comes I wont argue...

[Frederick H Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put this one down. Finding new ways to expand on the problems faced by the characters did increase the complexity, but never in a way that was difficult to follow. Seeing the applications that a conquerer species would test on humanity to prove their utility really got my mind going on how any interaction can spiral. Thanks to Orbit for providing an advance copy through NetGalley.

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Everything. You do whatever you can, even though it doesn’t seem to be working. You keep shoveling the shit against the tide and you hope the tide goes out before your strength fails. It feels meaningless. It feels overwhelming. It feels like you’re a tiny, insignificant thing in a universe that barely notices you exist, because that’s just accurate.”

This series is gonna cook.

*Received early as an e-ARC from Goodreads.

[Cosmic · Rating 5 out of 5]

James S.A. Corey has done it again. The universe building is as rich and immersive as ever, with the Carryx empire feeling even more vast, terrifying, and complex. The character dynamics (human and alien alike) deepen in ways that hit hard emotionally, and the tension builds relentlessly toward a finale that left me desperate for the next book.
As a huge fan of everything Corey has written (The Expanse is still my all-time favorite series), this one feels like a natural evolution, same sharp prose, moral weight, and cosmic scale, but with fresh stakes and truly alien perspectives that make it stand out. The Swarm, the inter-species politics, and the quiet moments of humanity in the face of overwhelming power… it’s all masterfully done.
I can’t wait for the final chapter! Highly recommend to anyone who loves smart, character driven space opera with big ideas.
Huge thanks to Orbits Books and NetGalley for the early ARC.

[Essy Knopf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caveat: I’m a James S. A. Corey superfan, so I’m naturally biased. I’ve read The Expanse series multiple times, as well as The Mercy of Gods and the Livesuit novella twice. I find the world of the Captive War trilogy deeply compelling. With that said, I’ll start with what I enjoyed most about this book.

If The Mercy of Gods was about setting the stage—introducing the Carryx’s galaxy-spanning empire, its tyranny, and humanity’s shock at being subsumed into that empire as a “moiety”—then The Faith of Beasts is about escalation. This second installment focuses on humanity’s rise in status as a species of interest to the Carryx, while also widening the lens on the empire itself—its internal logic, its reach, and, crucially, its enemies.

The novel gradually reveals that the Carryx’s “deathless” enemy—the one force preventing their total dominance—may be human, or at least not only human. Instead, it appears to be a coalition of species capable of wielding the machine-based technology first introduced in Livesuit: a system that can seamlessly assume control of a being it has integrated into upon death, hence the Carryx’s label “deathless.” Through our human protagonists, we get thrilling encounters with these opposing forces and tantalizing hints at their capabilities, including the possibility that they could help Jaffyd and his crew challenge the Carryx. Along the way, we also learn more about how the Carryx govern, how their hierarchy functions, and how they conceptualize other species as “animals.” Every new scrap of information feels earned and fascinating.

The book moves at a breakneck pace and is an absolute page-turner. Revelations arrive quickly, and I felt a genuine shock and thrill when one of the main characters unexpectedly encounters another human—apparently from a civilization either ancestral to the Anjin or a parallel branch of the same lineage. This development seems to confirm long-running fan speculation that the Anjin are a lost human colony. While earlier theories proposed a connection to The Expanse universe (which the authors have explicitly denied), the “lost colonists” idea still holds weight, and the groundwork for it was clearly laid. I’m excited to see where this thread goes in book three.

That said, I was less convinced by the recurring creation myth that opens some chapters. While I understand its intent—to show how the Anjin explain their origins through mythology—I found it difficult to extract concrete meaning from these passages, and I’m not entirely sure how much they advanced the story or deepened our understanding. It’s possible I missed something, but their narrative utility felt limited.

Early in the book, we’re told that due to Jaffyd’s leadership, humanity’s standing with the Carryx has improved, resulting in a three-thousand-strong human moiety housed on the world palace planet. I would have liked more showing here: scenes of arrival, settlement, internal organization, or political tension. Instead, we’re largely told this has happened, and the story moves on. While this choice supports the novel’s excellent pacing, it slightly undercuts the sense of scale and makes it harder to fully grasp the weight of responsibility on Jaffyd’s shoulders, or why he’s so thoroughly worn down. The momentum is exhilarating, but it comes at the cost of some world-building texture.

A related (and admittedly minor) complaint is that many characters remain thinly sketched. I even resorted to a Reddit character summary—where one character, Jessyn, was memorably described as “the depressed girl."” And, honestly, that shorthand often feels accurate. Jaffyd himself remains something of a cipher: brilliant, strategic, and relentlessly tactical, but emotionally opaque. We get little insight into who he was before, what shaped him, or what ultimately drives him beyond survival and calculation. There are occasional flashbacks and reflective moments scattered throughout the book, but I found myself wanting more.

Part of the challenge is structural. These characters have been stripped of society, context, and stability, and are locked in perpetual survival mode. Deep character arcs are difficult under those conditions. Still, I wish we’d seen more interiority. There’s an argument that this simply isn’t that kind of story: it’s far more plot-driven than character-driven, and that was also true of book one, where a large cast with minimal development often felt like fodder for inevitable deaths. The emotional impact of those losses was limited because we never had the necessary depth of characterization and therefore connection as readers. That said, the overarching stakes—the constant threat of annihilation and the shared oppression of humanity—do a lot of the emotional heavy lifting.

All told, I adored this book and tore through it in about two days. The thought of waiting another year (or more) for book three hurts, though I take some comfort in knowing there’s likely another novella on the way. I wasn’t initially sure whether there was a direct character connection between Livesuit and book two, but after revisiting the text, it appears that Corvall—the man in the black livesuit—may indeed be Estebán Corval from Livesuit, a member of Kirin’s unit who was separated after reassignment. I’m not sure whether the slight discrepancy in spelling is intentional or an editorial oversight, but the possibility of a direct link between the stories is exciting enough that it’s already tempting me to reread Livesuit yet again.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I absolutely loved the first book of this series, so I ran to read this one as soon as I got it, and I was not disappointed. As always, the setting of Captive's War is detailed and alien and wondrous even in its horror. There are so many different types of aliens, every single one that communicates differently, and we even got a more prominent alien character this time in the form of Vaudai, a slug alien who curses in his own language, is cheerfully sure that the Carryx will be conquering the world, but in the meantime, he can be helpful and do science! (I loved Vaudai, please let him be in the next book as well). And we do get to learn a lot more about the Carryx, through both the POV chapters of the Carryx serving the Sovran and through the Soft Lothark, who it turns out have been hiding their own secrets and brewing their own rebellion this entire time as well.

The Carryx are still as terrifying as before, as described by the Deep Lothark themselves:

We have waited for millenia to see the empire fall, but it rises from every stumble. It wars down every enemy. Other beings feel loss or sorrow, other civilizations grow sick from war, but war is what the Carryx are. They will enver mourn their dead, they rejoice that the weak give way to the strong. They will never grow tired of violence. They will never be other than what they are.

For them, conflict ends when the last stars burn out and all life dies.

Not before.

And yet despite that, as most of the team from the last book is scattered across the stars, everyone is fighting back in their own way. Jessyn finds secrets and other humans on another conquered planet, Campar cares for others on the warzone, Rickar proves essential, Dafyd wrestles with power and leadership and trying to ensure the human moiety's survival while also searching for a way to destroy the Carryx, and the swarm learns more about itself and what it means to be human.

Speaking of, one of my favorite things from the last book was the swarm's feelings for Dafyd, and so I was so excited to see how it would develop here. The swam is full of conflicting emotions and yearning, seeming so human at times when it desperately wants "Another hour. Another minute. Another chance to make clear to Dafyd that it is the same person he took comfort in," and "a chance to make things right again. A chance to return to who they were. A chance--however slim, however fragile--to be loved." Of course, it's not that simple, what with the swarm technically having killed Dafyd's girlfriend (long before she was his girlfriend, but still), and his friend. It is a delicious conundrum, and I loved all of the swarm's chapters with Dafyd since no matter what, they have to work together to bring the Carryx down.

I am still really hopeful for how this relationship will further develop with the swarm becoming Clae though, especially with Dafyd's feelings toward Clae being described as "He would have called it fear, except there was something more with it. Something wide and wild and as awe-inducing as the stars. "

And Dafyd--the one we know who will ultimately bring about the end of the Carryx while being hated by all of humanity. We see the burdens of leadership over him as he conspires, and also the ruthlessness he is forced to enact to ensure everyone's survival. You may not like him, but you always understand what he's trying to do, and he is super effective at it.

Ultimately though, this is a book about working together towards an almost impossible goal.

Everything. You do whatever you can, even though it doesn't seem to be working. You keep shoveling the shit against the tide and you hope the tide goes out beofre your strength fails. It feels meaningless. It feels overwhelming. It feels like you're a tiny insignifacnt thing in a universe that barely notices you exist, because that's just accurate...there's a beauty in truth...there's also a beauty in work.

Maybe you won't see the fruits of your labor, but you still have to keep trying anyway.

If you read the Livesuit novella, then a lot of revelations in this book make more sense, but in either case, we learn a lot more about the Carryx's deathless enemy here, and I am very excited to learn more in the next book as well. In general, this was a great second book in the series, and I can't wait to read the next one!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Faith of Beasts expands the scope of Captive’s War, gives new insight into “the enemy”, and moves the story’s needle a fraction, but ultimately felt like a step down from The Mercy of Gods. I’m still excited to see how the story ends but hoping book 3 returns to being as compelling as book 1.

What I liked:

- I’ve been desperate to see what happens next after The Mercy of Gods, and while the needle isn’t moved much in this book, it was satisfying to see the story progress.

- Several characters become less one-dimensional. The swarm struggles with existential feelings about what it’s done, identity, and how it feels about Dafyd; Rickar has more screen time and a satisfying arc; and thankfully, Jessyn’s story wasn’t solely fixated on her mental illness and medication needs this time around.

- The story makes direct connections to Livesuit, as well as callouts to the novella itself. Easily my favorite part of the story.

- We learn more about the Soft Lothark; this part was fascinating and my second favorite part.

- Amusing new alien species and interactions (“sticks-with-meat-on-them”...)


What I didn’t like:

What I loved about The Mercy of Gods was its focus on a single group of characters in a claustrophobic, traumatic, and intimate experience. It was stressful yet hopeful to watch their journey, and I felt connected to their experience. The Faith of Beasts, instead, has multiple POVs with much less “screen time” per person.

- On the Carryx homeworld, Dafyd struggles with being a leader that everyone despises. He does some interesting stuff with getting infrastructure set up for the human population, but what made his character so great in book 1 was how cunning, clever, and adaptable he was with figuring out the aliens, communication, and more. That’s for the most part gone in this book; instead, he has to figure out what kind of a hardline stance he needs to take with the rest of the humans so that they all can survive. It’s fine, but not as interesting.

- A painstaking percentage is from the perspective of Surur, a Carryx, and I found these chapters grueling and repetitive to get through. I just don’t care about the biological imperatives of the Carryx, and far too much screen time spent on this. Captive’s War is meant to be a trilogy, each book is fairly short, and The Faith of Beasts is a full third of the story, yet very little happens, so It was frustrating that Surur’s perspective took up so much time that could have been spent on the core cast. It would be like if 25% of Star Trek was Klingon episodes.

- The rest of Dafyd’s original gang is spread out across the galaxy, and because of the limited time each gets, almost nothing happens to move the needle.

In addition, the interlude chapters felt superfluous. I understand what they were, but still, I would have rather had more story content.

Overall, I’m conflicted on how to score this. The Mercy of Gods was nearly flawless, so I felt more harshly disappointed than I would have been if this was my first entry into the series. The writing style is still engaging, the story does crawl forward a bit, and we learn new insights. But the split POVs, Surur’s perspective, and how little actually happens given this is the middle book of a trilogy, dropped my enjoyment a lot.

I’d say my personal score would be a 2.5/5 for this reason, rounding up to 3. I’m still looking forward to seeing how the series ends, but it feels like it’ll be hard to wrap everything up in a satisfying way at this pace.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Dustin George-Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a pre-release copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In a lot of ways you know what you're getting when you read a James SA Corey novel -- well crafted tight prose, a solid sci-fi story that's easy to digest while still giving plenty to sink your teeth into, and wonderful focus on compelling characters. That's exactly what you get with The Faith of Beasts, the second book in The Captive's War. This series comes on the heels of the wildly (and justifiably popular) The Expanase series, and while this series is thematically quite different from The Expanse and is in an entirely different universe, it still reads like a Corey novel in all the best ways.

The Faith of Beasts follows up on last year's The Mercy of Gods in which humanity has been conquered by the Carryx, a apex level predatory species that resemble nothing less than giant mantis shrimp, and who have spent millennia acquiring other species as beasts of burden to bolster their eternal war against an unknown "deathless enemy." This book carries on the themes from Mercy of Gods -- how the remnants of humanity, relocated to a Carryx home world and forced to both serve the whims of the Carryx while also justifying their "moitey's" existence, can both survive while also sowing the seeds of what has been hinted as a future rebellion. The character of Dafyd serves as the moitey's self-appointed leader and also link to the Carryx, which makes him humanity's savior, but also makes him hated by his own people as they serve under a brutal yoke.

In this novel we learn more information about both humanity's place in the overall cosmos and also within the Carryx's hegemony, while deepening our understanding of the other sentient "animal" species within the Carryx's control. We learn more about the Carryx themselves -- their motivations, their leadership structure -- and about the "deathless enemy" against whom the Carryx continue to fight. Anyone who has read last year's tie-in novella "Livesuit" will have probably guessed a few of the revelations within this book already.

Dafyd, as humanity's appointed leader and unwilling quisling, is a complicated figure and we really get to sink our teeth into his motivations, along with the unfathomable stresses that come along with the job. He is required to walk a tightrope of unimaginable thinness -- forcing his fellow humans to do enough to justify their existence to the Carryx and prevent them from extinction, while surreptitiously working behind the scenes to undermine the Carryx from within. There are revelations about other species that heretofore have been considered adversaries, but who may have a more complicated relationship than previously indicated. There is also a wild-card -- a "spy" that has infiltrated humanity's moiety and who professes to be on humanity's side, but who can be viewed as untrustworthy due to some pretty obvious reasons.

We also branch out a bit from the Carryx homeworld with focus on side characters who are taken by the Carryx and reassigned either to the front lines or to other planets for research purposes. We gain a better understanding of their perspectives and the mystery of the Carryx and the great war deepens through their stories and interactions.

This is very much a middle novel in a series -- there aren't any particularly groundbreaking revelations, but there's a lot of setting the table for future books. The misery of humanity is apparent, but there are seeds of hope sowed in the process that will most certainly play out in future novels.

A quite enjoyable read.

[Cathy Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOTE: I strongly recommend reading Livesuits before this book.

What a fantastic sequel. While this is not an action-packed book, a lot happens here that moves the story forward, revealing quite a bit of new, crucial information about the Carryx, the Soft Lothark, the history of human space colonization, the ongoing war, the "deathless enemy," and (to a lesser extent) the swarm.

Some of my favorite scenes featured a new alien character we didn't see in book 1: Vaudai, and his interactions with other characters we know. This added some much-needed humor. For example: "Digits! I need differentiated fingers! Quickly!"

Wikipedia describes The Captive's War as a series focusing on xenobiology and sociology, and the description is especially appropriate for this book. On the biology side alone (as an evolutionary biologist), here we cover themes of (mild world-building spoilers in hidden quotes):

➤ Universal rules of evolution -- "Evolution only had a few hard rules -- heritability, mutation, and the reward of greater fitness. All the different ways the universe could find to solve those puzzles were where the interesting work waited."

➤ Convergent evolution -- "Plants that look like plants, and bugs that look like bugs... It says more about what kinds of pressures they're under than anything about the organism. An environment tells you how to live in it."

➤ Adaptations of extreme reproductive changes in inhospitable environments... and the implication that this applies not only to non-human animals, but also to the society of captive humans.

➤ Lichens as a symbiosis between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, (BIG SPOILER) as an analogy for the Livesuits.

➤ Domestication as a strategy for survival of a species -- "What bird had the highest population on Anjiin? Evolution's darling. The one avian with the best strategy? Chickens. Because we raised and fed and protected them. The most common grasses were farmed grains. The most successful mammals besides ourselves were food animals. ... So give up. Decide that dying as heroes is less appealing than living as corn and chickens. Maybe stop pouring your heart into the thing that can't happen and start building the best version of what can."

➤ Eusocial societies -- The Carryx evolving "a different solution to the same problem"... Eusociality as we know it on earth, but with a twist.

On the sociology side, we see the human society struggle through agonizing decisions about reproduction, leadership, security and punishment, and what the goals should even be for a captive society in this unprecedented situation.

Questions remain, though, and I'm really looking forward to the next installment!

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

[Allen Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEASTS is the 2nd entry in The Captive's War series by James S.A. Corey, AKA Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Thanks to Orbit, NetGalley, and the authors for this advanced copy. Again, all my thoughts are independent of Corey's other series The Expanse, as I have neither read nor watched it.

So, my first question is: did you enjoy THE MERCY OF GODS? If you didn't, and you're waiting to see if book 2 is going to be what sells you on this series, I am here to tell you that this will not be the case. BEASTS is not the book that is going to convince you that you like this series. It is more of what we got in MERCY, but doubled down.

If it seems like I'm dogging on this, I'm not. It's excellent. But it's excellent in what it's setting out to do, which is continue the story begun in book 1. Here again, we are with the human moeity, with Dafyd at the top as the liaison between them and the Carryx. Where this book excels is not the gripping character work that a die-hard Abraham fan might come to expect or the action of a sci-fi space opera, but in the continued exploration of survival. How do survivors adapt to their new--and deadly--environment? Who are those who willingly collaborate with their overlords? Unwillingly? How does the human mind make sense of its surroundings by categorizing everything in human terms and sociology because that's what's understandable?

What the authors continue to excel at here is just how alien the Carryx and their society feel. When the humans make the mistake of acting like their alien overlords are human, we understand because they're just so incomprehensible as a species--desires, purpose, raison d'etre--that even when we're flat out told, we don't believe it because it's just so inhuman. The entire endeavor looks so bleak, even as we learn more about the Carryx's enemies. Allies come from unexpected areas, but the unfeeling violence of the Carryx comes out of nowhere and it is brutal and chilling and completely in line with the survival horror game that this series is.

This series continues to be a fascinating exploration of ideas into the human psyche and there were some moments I had to set it down and process some of the decisions made thereby. Some (read: all) of the romance stuff could have just been cast to the side and I'd been perfectly fine. Worldbuilding here is top-notch. I hope this is longer than a trilogy because I'd stay in this world forever.

[Grigory Lukin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Faith of Beasts" is the sequel to "The Mercy of Gods" - and I highly advise you to read the tie-in novella "Livesuit" before you start the new novel. (It's not mandatory, but it'll clear up a few things for you.)

The first book had a pretty slow build-up before we saw our first alien. This sequel, on the other hand, jumps right in. The human moiety is semi-autonomous and dealing with a new set of problems. There are several alternating protagonists, which gives the book a real Expanse feel. :) The narrative follows every surviving member of Tonner's research group, as well as thr swarm and one Corryx. We're also introduced to new alien races. One particular ongoing human-alien interaction was really well written :) - I won't spoil it for you.

There's a lot of worldbuilding, new lore, wacky developments, and more brainstorming by Dafyd, still hellbent on taking down the empire.

The entertainment aspect was great, but... I had to do a lot of work to suspend my disbelief. In the first book, the swarm specifically said that the Corryx are always listening, and even it couldn't provide perfect privacy for long. In this new book, Dafyd discusses his conspiracy out loud, at length, on his totally-not-bugged terrace. At one point, he discusses pretty seditious topics in writing, using big glowing letters, for very long periods of time... That would work only if the Corryx had the trust levels of a newborn kitten, and we know that's not the case... In other words, the authors hand-wave away the fact that the mightiest species in the universe should probably own at least one nanny-cam.

Almost every alien who interacts with humans makes the dumbest possible decisions. Many humans who feature in one character's narrative never even get a name, and they bumble in the background like mindless NPCs, never making the same discovery the character made. Another example: the investigation into a serious security incident begins and then just... gets forgotten. For no reason. And at one point (though that was rather minor), Synnia's death from book 1 gets a minor retcon. :-/

I think a lot of that could've been fixed with a few very minor tweaks - i.e., "the Carryx think surveillance is dishonourable" etc. Even with those flaws, this sequels stands above and beyond most new releases, but... it's not perfect. That's why I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

(Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a free ARC in exchange for this review.)

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment into the Captive's War trilogy. This book continues the same fantastic world-building that we are used to from James S. A. Corey, and gives us insight into so much more of the nature of the ongoing conflict that we only got a glimpse of from the previous book (and novella). While many questions are answered, others are raised, and the reader is left with an impression that there is a vast history and background to the *other* side of the conflict waiting to be learned. It's truly unbelievable that there's only one more installment that is supposedly going to wrap this story up, as the scale of what the characters are confronting seems like it would require enough material for several more books.

I will say that I'm not quite left with the same breathless anticipation of the story to be continued as I have at the end of a typical James S. A. Corey book. I think it's because we're not really left with much of a hint of how our character's can possibly improve their situation, and although a sliver of hope is there, it isn't fleshed out - certainly not enough to imagine how that might be advanced. And although we see much more of this universe, the overall standing of our characters and the conflict itself seems mostly unchanged. The story spends a lot of time on introspective analysis, particularly from the character of The Swarm, which I personally did not find to be very interesting. Similarly, Dafyd's storyline has morphed into mostly one of palace intrigue with a smattering of philosophy. The most interesting storylines are from the characters who get sent into the field since that's where we see the most world-building, my personal favorite aspect of these author's works.

Overall, this book felt more like it's meant to be a bridge between book 1 and 3, but by itself, it doesn't add too much. I honestly have no idea how all the loose ends are going to be wrapped up with just one more book, and I'm wondering if another trilogy is meant to follow this one. Whatever is in store for us, I know I'll be there reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

When faced with submission or annihilation, which do you choose?

Such is the question posed by James S.A. Corey's "The Faith of Beasts," the sequel to "The Mercy of Gods." And although this novel is an improvement over the previous one, many of the same frustrating flaws remain.

The first, and by far biggest issue, are the characters. Unlike their "The Expanse" series, which was absolutely chock-full of entertaining, diverse characters so well-written, a reader could pick them out with a single line of dialogue, no one stands out in these new books. They're all given subtle character traits, but none of them pop or become someone I have any emotional attachment to, which makes it difficult for me to get invested.

My other main issue is the way the authors portray the multitude of alien races that are part of this vast hegemony that is conquering the galaxy - in short, they're absolutely underdeveloped and, quite honestly, boring. I found it distracting how every species is described simply as being either a cross between two Earth species, or as appearing similar to one. It strikes me as being lazy and unimaginative, and I can point out dozens of sci-fi novels that have handled their development of alien cultures so much better.

Where this novel does improve is in splitting the characters and putting them in different situations. It helps with the pacing, even if the novel's central mystery was already revealed in a previous novella, "Livesuit," which puts readers in the position of waiting for the characters to catch up to what we already know. And by the end, we're not much farther along than we were at the end of the first book - and with only one book left, I can't imagine how these authors will pull off a satisfying ending. It feels like the story has barely gotten started, even though it's 2/3 of the way through.

Special thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not that I expected otherwise, but this book was SO good. Ten stars!

It was a great follow-up to The Mercy of Gods, taking us through the natural evolution of the human moiety's experiences after the events of book one. I loved seeing humanity acclimate to their new lives in the world palace (and to both the new freedoms and the stronger chains they're bound by) while still holding on to things like community and companionship, sanity, and hope. There are several characters we follow more closely here, and their individuals were a real highlight of the book for me.
I also loved learning more about the Carryx and their vast empire. The enormity of it and the helplessness of the moieties were mind-boggling. The stakes are always sky high, and I often found myself on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, desperate to see what would happen next. I felt like we got a satisfying amount of answers and clues while having enough left in the shadows to keep us going into the next book.
And, of course, I have to mention how much I always enjoy Corey's character work. They do such a fantastic job of helping us really get to know them as complex individuals, following both their triumphs and defeats. Something we see a lot is humanity's underlying drive to cling to each other, to make sense of this senseless situation, and still LIVE despite their circumstances, and I thought that was really beautiful.
I can't wait for book three!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Bo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is captivating from start to finish- it had me in a hold so tight, I finished it within 24 hours!

This is the second book in The Captive's War series, following the people taken from Anjiin who have managed to survive thus far.

Dafyd is still attempting to lead a secret coup against the Carryx overlords, which is like dancing on a knife. No one is safe, as they are all expendable animals to those who took them captive. He continues to portray a man firmly in the enemy's grasp, though those in his close circle understand his true mission.

The Swarm, a hidden, unknown weapon against the Carryx continues to grow in its understanding of the world around it.

Jessyn is sent on a mission to do field work for the Carryx on a different, broken world. While there, she discovers more than she could have expected, and what might be the answer to helping them out from under the Sovran's thumb.

Rickar is also on a mission away from their new world, along with Campar, far, far away, in the heat of battle.

Unlikely allies will form, new life will enter the scene, and those who are deathless may not be so far away after all...

This book is told from several POVs, which helps carry the story and help the reader know what is going on around the universe as the Anjiin people work to reclaim their freedom.

I absolutely recommend reading the novella, Livesuit, before reading this one to help with some context in places. And of course, this shouldn't be read without reading The Mercy of the Gods first!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[sarai · Rating 5 out of 5]

another banger from my favourite sf duo. the faith of beasts takes on a very different tack from its predecessor in the series, diving deeper into worldbuilding, interpersonal relationships, and more of an ensemble cast. i have to admit i had a tiny bit of trouble at the beginning since i didn't quite remember all the plot points from the first book, but they came back to me quickly enough that it didn't matter too much.

i really like how the development of the human moiety, a population under severe stress and with extensive trauma, plays into motifs of human resilience that appeared so often in the expanse. as the characters settle into their new way of life under their alien oppressors, they manage to create a village with purpose and pleasure. similarly, the reveal of the deathless enemy managed to make the meme phrase "the design is very human"seem impactful and meaningful.

it did come as a bit of a surprise that action sequences were few and far between in this book, compared not only to the expanse but also to the mercy of gods. what there was felt imaginative and otherworldly, however, especially with the descriptions of space battles between armies with entirely different understandings of weaponry and physics. and despite the slower pace this still enthralled me.

all in all this book read like what it was, the middle of a trilogy designed specifically to expand the world once the reader was already hooked, and it did the job admirably.

thanks to netgalley and orbit for the e-arc!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

James S. A. Corey continues to deliver exceptional world-building. Fans of The Expanse will enjoy this installment of The Captive’s War, which firmly establishes itself as a distinct work while still offering moments of nostalgia—especially in battle scenes that echo the intensity and scale of the original series.

Dafyd and his group remain the heart of the story. The narrative moves with the momentum of a strong season of Survivor or Game of Thrones, as alliances shift and characters ebb and flow in and out of the saga. Despite the rotating cast, Corey maintains excellent continuity, keeping the story grounded and engaging.

The swarm / spy is a standout presence throughout Faith of Beasts. It functions as a fascinating exploration of what it means to be human, evolving as both protagonist and antagonist. I often found myself unsure whether to root for it or fear it, which made its arc one of the most compelling elements of the book.

The title Faith of Beasts ultimately proves to be spot on. While longtime readers may recall Corey’s mixed feelings about certain titles in the Expanse universe, that is not the case here. I didn’t fully appreciate the title until the very end, when it resonated across multiple layers of the story—from the Carryx and their system of governance, to individual characters navigating survival, and finally to the swarm’s evolving sense of humanity.

By the end, Faith of Beasts doesn’t just explore survival - it asks who we become when survival is no longer enough.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there's a handful of things I can always count on James S.A. Corey for, they are creative science, compelling worldbuilding, and complex characters, even with side characters. And The Faith of Beasts delivers on all three counts.

The Faith of Beasts expands the world of The Mercy of Gods, with the POV characters quite literally across the universe from one another. You get to see more of the Carryx empire through the lens of the human characters we know (and love??? tbd). Some of this only raises more questions about the Carryx and their ultimate goals, but we also get some answers in this book too!

While I did think it was very cool to expand beyond having all the characters together in one setting, this did come at the expense of the character relationships with one another. For so much of the book, the characters were working independently and very physically separate from one another; you add in the fact that we lost so many of the people we knew in book one, and well, you do lose a bit of the relationships and human aspect, which is something I personally love as a reader and think the authors are fantastic at showing. I'd be lying if I said I didn't mourn this a bit in this book. But, that said, we get introduced to new secondary characters, including some interesting characters and promising arcs, and it's a bit impressive how complex these characters are written even for briefly appearing. There is no black or white here, only shades of morally grey.

Which is a big theme with Dafyd in this book. But I won't get too much into that because his development and his arc are definite highlights. (Another highlight is the focus on Jessyn and her chapters; I adore her.)

I truly have no idea where the final book is going to take us, but it looks to be set up for an absolutely wild ride and I can't wait to get on it.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Reading Xennial · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit Books for allowing me to read the book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

I loved the first book in this series and this was a great sequel. I did have to look back and refresh my memory because so much happened in the first book that I forgot much of what went on. This one picks up soon after the first so you jump right into the meat of the story. There isn’t much for world-building because that’s been established so we’re following the remaining humans from the original group and going along with them as they’re strewn across the Carryx’s galaxy.

I’m very glad that James S.A. Corey is starting a new series because I’ve wanted to read their books, but The Expanse series is a big commitment. This current series is a great entry point to read Corey’s books as they’re released. The scifi is digestible, but still thorough and the characters are well developed. The characters are flawed and feel like real people. I did take off a star because I didn’t get the 5 star vibes, but mostly because some of the story goes over my head and the pacing slows down a bit too much at times. I highly recommend this book and this series if you’re interested in scifi and especially if you want to read Corey’s works in an accessible way.

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning to the story of Dafyd, the Carryx and a space opera that hooked me from the start of The Mercy of Gods, I can clearly state that The Faith of Beasts does not suffer from the plague of so many second books of a series. First books have the novelty of introducing a new world and characters, new dilemmas, new villains; last books wrap up the story and hold the key to answers that keep readers turning pages through all the prior books; but the middle children of a series are where an author must work to keep us as interested as we were in the hook, add new problems or complexities, lead us toward the ending without giving it all away. This book actually gave us more world building than we saw in the first, delved deeper into conflict, and succeeded in making me want even more. Readers that enjoyed the start of The Captive's War should enjoy this continuation.
I received access to this ARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Orbit Books) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

[Scott Rhine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book in the Captive’s War series, Mercy of Gods, as well as Livesuit, set in the same epic alien-conquest universe. The alien hierarchy reminds me of Walter Jom Williams’ Praxis series but more brutal.
Everyone is bitter about Dafyd Alkhor’s betrayal, even as survivors struggle to make humans useful to the overlords. He plans for future generations. From those scattered, we encounter a lot of introspection on the way to the front lines. Their only hope is the spy known as the swarm, who is by far the most interesting sci-fi character in years. It evolves this book into more than a weapon. My favorite quote about the humans it observes: so many levels of misunderstanding.
In part two, things ignite when human servants on an unburned conflict world discover other humans…fighting against the aliens. If this got back to their overlords, all humans in captivity might be wiped out. Later, human science experiments on the Carryx homeworld lead to both deaths and possibilities. According to Dafyd, “All the pieces are there to make a plan,” which will be the next book.

[Sam Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahhh I really enjoyed this. I ended up reading it shortly after discussing the first book in this series, The Mercy of Gods, with a friend at book club. She didn't like the first one as much as I did--she wasn't into the premise of a terrifyingly powerful and autocratic alien species. Fair enough. I might tell her to pick up this sequel though, because it goes a great deal farther in explaining how the Carryx work in this world, and how the human population--both our friends from Anjiin, and a new, highly mysterious group of sister humans--might be able to fight their series titular Captive's War.

I don't find James S.A. Corey's prose to be the greatest in the world or anything, but I'm always impressed at how well they get information to the reader. The Mercy of Gods worked for me because some of the character elements that are introduced early, especially for Tonner and Dafyd, get big payoff by the end of the book. There are choices that characters make along the way that result in a finale that feels inevitable. There's a little less of that in The Faith of Beasts. We get a deeper understanding of some of our characters, and we see others falter and struggle under the weight of their own decisions. But in many ways, this has a big Second Book in the Trilogy vibe. We learn more, we establish new things about the enemy, we see our protagonists make new allies. But there's a lot of moving the plot forward, and less exploration of character and of how the events in the novel are affecting them.

Overall, I liked it! Having read most but not all of the Expanse books, I'm definitely eager to see what happens next. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous follow-up to The Mercy of Gods. The three-book structure of The Captive's War is really on full display here, with a generous dive into the innerworkings of the Carryx culture, societal structure, history and their drive to fight their endless war. The book dances back and forth between the human moiety, now spread across the empire in whatever role the Carryx task them with, with the story keeping a steady pace the entire time. The Livesuit novella really felt critical to a full understanding of some of the plot, yet not entirely necessary at the same time. I am equally excited for the conclusion to this series, and also profoundly upset it will be ending at only three books. Like the Carryx war against the deathless enemy, I could read this series forever.

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for this advance copy. Thanks to James S.A. Corey for this amazing series!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

This is a continuation of the story from the first book, but more like a different period/episode than a direct continuation, at least at first. It was a slow burn and took a while to establish the (many) viewpoints that jumped around.

The universe was established in the first book, and this builds heavily on top of that. There are more aliens, more protagonists and just generally more to keep track of. Once the threads are spun, things kind of start to come together into a larger tapestry, but it took quite a while to get there.

Was the end worth the journey? Overall, i think it was. I enjoyed the book more towards the end than the beginning, and I'll certainly be looking to find out where it goes next.

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It was much easier getting into this book than the first one. I understood all the elements that worked to bring the story together. Though I found Campar’s pov hard to follow at times, I got the gist but I think it wasn’t the clearest to understand. I really liked Jessyn’s pov that felt like a real important discovery. Dafyd’s pov was interesting to follow as well, and seeing how he’s changing giving the context he’s living in. I felt there was just so much going on in their new world and so much to explore. They do not shy away death in this series!!!

I’m really interested in where the series will go, there’s so much to explore, I’m not sure which direction it’s going to take.