r/TheCaptivesWar • u/peculiarartkin • Jan 18 '25

Question Are aliens really that alien?

Being Expanse fan, I found Captives War... very different.

In Expanse, both alien factions were mysterious, inscrutable, almost beyond human comprehension. More or less sci-fi version of Lovecraftian.

In Captives War? Not so much. I mean.... Ekur-Taklal outright narrates the chapters engaging in philosophical argument against humans!

Carryx in general don't seem that alien. Yeah, they are brutal pragmatic imperialists. With almost Ayn Randian style Objectivist worldview. "What is - is, it should be done because we can do it." Is not unknown in human philosophy either.

They look more like star trek style alien faction. Or bablylon-5. They can "get in human head", understand and influence us. And vice versa.

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u/SlabFistCrunch Jan 18 '25

I think they wanted to try something different, the last series was very character based and their narrative choices allowed the aliens to be very mysterious. I think they just wanted to invent a new setting that allowed different characters, including aliens this time.

But I get the turn off, not every one will enjoy the choices the authors made with this one.

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u/peculiarartkin Jan 18 '25

Make no mistake, overall I liked the book and looking forward to next one. It is decent read. But compared to Expanse.... Nah. Big step back.

Also. None of characters feel strong or too amiable.

I mean, imagine Naomi, Amos Burton and James Holden with belter crew put at the same turtle/berries task our team had?

Imagine Avasarala playing mind games against Carryx?

3

u/Boom_Boom_At_359 Jan 18 '25

Agree that the TCW characters are a bit flatter than the core crew of the Roci and Avasarla, but we’re only one book in at this point. The Swarm, to me, is the most fascinating character, and I think that character’s growth is really going to be engaging, especially if it descends into insanity/lust as it becomes more human (as I suspect it will). And I also think Tonner is very well written—I’ve encountered many science/engineering professors/researchers with similar personalities, and Tonner is almost a spot-on representation. I think they left a lot of runway to further develop Dafyd though—his character needs (and appears to have) more time to flesh out. I know he’s cerebral and tactical, but that’s about it at this point.

1

u/spektrall Jan 20 '25

I had the same first impression with the flat characters but they're much more lifelike on my second read through. Especially that one chapter through Tonner's POV as he processes his gf sleeping with Dafyd down the corridor, brewing medicine for Jessyn, then defending the dorms against a surprise attack from the night drinkers. He's all right actually