Read-Along: Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey, Part 2

Welcome to week 2 of the read-along of James S.A. Corey’s Babylon’s Ashes, book 6 of The Expanse!  This week’s questions cover chapters 14-27, and are provided by The Illustrated Page. If you’re interested in joining in, check out our Goodreads page.  Beware of spoilers from here on out!

 

1. So far we've gotten POVs from Namono, Pa, Filip, Holden, Salis, Clarissa, Dawes, Avasarala, Prax, Alex, Naomi, Jakulski, Fred, and Bobbie. Do you have any favorites? Least favorites? Of the characters who's POVs we haven't gotten yet in Babylon's Ashes, who do you most want to see?

It’s kind of dizzying, seeing the story from so many different angles.  I guess my favorite so far would be Holden, mostly because he has multiple chapters that appear to be building to something.  I am enjoying his “People of the Belt” series, and it was great to see that others are starting to pick it up as well.  Pa and Filip also have recurring chapters, but I don’t really like them very much.  Their chapters sort of feel like they’re trying to make me have sympathy for people who are pro-genocide, and I just don’t.

Out of the one-off chapters, I really enjoyed seeing the world from Fred’s eyes.  He’s a character that I’ve really come to appreciate over the series, so it was neat to have a little insight into how he sees the universe.  My least favorite one-off chapters would be the people I don’t really know--Salis, Jakulski, Dawes.  I don’t have any emotional connection with the characters, positive or negative, and there isn’t really enough time in their chapters for me to try to build it.

As for who else I want to see, I would like to see Pastor Anna (or Namono again).  She was hurt very badly, and I’m worried their family is not going to make it.  It’s also a little odd we’ve had no Amos chapter yet, so I’d like to see what’s going on in his mind.  Finally, it would be neat to get some Earther refugee chapters, maybe Erich or one of Holden’s parents.  I’m trying to resist looking up who’s coming in the second half of the book, in order to preserve the surprise!    

2. Marco's left Ceres. Is this a smart move? Is he abandoning the people of the Belt? And what do you think has happened to Dawes?

I think this is a case of “whatever happens, I win”.  I think he realized he couldn’t hold the station, so he needed to come up with a way to retreat and still claim a victory.  He’s absolutely abandoning the people of the Belt, but I think any Belter who’s been paying attention must know that he doesn’t actually care about them by now. I have no idea what happened to Dawes.  Was he not with the Free Navy after Ceres?  Maybe I missed something while Pa was breaking off.  I wouldn’t put it past Marco to kill him, but that’s mostly because I wouldn’t put much of anything past Marco.   

3. Pa's got a temporary truce of sorts with the OPA. Do you think accepting her supplies is the moral thing to do, or is it condoning piracy? And who do you think fired on Pa when she was with the Rocinante?

I think they had to accept her supplies.  They’ve already been stolen, and there are people who need them.  I can’t think of any other solution that would have been more moral.  When this is all over, I expect Pa and her ships will have to answer for their piracy, but using the spoils to help people will count in their favor.  As for who fired, I expect Marco left some loyalists behind on Ceres as spies.  I would guess it was one of them, trying to prevent Pa from making a deal with Fred Johnson’s OPA.

4. Filip appears to be having some unusual feelings. Do you think he's any closer this week to edging towards redemption?

I guess?  He couldn’t have been much farther than he was before.  I’m going to be seriously upset with his character arc, though, if he turns on Marco for not being as competent as he believed.  Given everything he’s done, he needs to have a moral turning point if he’s going to have any chance of forgiveness from anyone.

5. Prax's home is unofficially being occupied by the Free Navy, and he went and sent potentially lifesaving information to Earth. Do you think this is going to come back to hurt him?

Oh, probably.  Things seem to be a fair bit tenser on Ganymede than he’s noticing.  I especially enjoyed his clueless conversation about “resistance” with his kid. His answer was a nice explanation, but I can see why she was confused!  I get the feeling he’s going to be forced to be more involved than he has been so far.  I just hope his family doesn’t get hurt.

Read-Along: Babylon's Ashes, Part 1

Welcome to the read-along of the sixth book of James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse, Babylon’s Ashes! We’re doing this read-along as a part of Sci-Fi Month, and you can see all the info at our Goodreads group.  This week’s questions cover the prologue to chapter 13, and I’m our host this week.  Beware of spoilers from here on out!

1. We have a very different approach for viewpoint characters in this book! Do you like the change to having many different perspectives? Is there any one that stood out to you in particular?

I think it’s an interesting choice, but I’m not sure how much I like it so far.  The benefit is that you can see the events from many different perspectives, but the drawback is that it can kind of make you feel like the story is grinding to a halt. I’ll wait and see how this works out as things progress.

So far, Holden’s chapters are the most memorable to me.  Naomi’s meeting his parents resolves a small subplot that’s been going on for I think a few books now.  I feel like we haven’t really seen much personal racism in these stories, so it was a bit of a shock.

2. We’re also beginning to see a bit more into the “Free Navy” ranks. What do you think of the people who have thrown their loyalty to Marco, and is his charisma is enough to keep the group from collapsing?

I really have very little sympathy for the people who’ve joined up with Marco.  They’re not helping the Belters, and they seem mostly engaged in piracy, extortion, and mass murder.  The moderate Belters must be starting to realize now that this new “navy” doesn’t have their best interests at heart.  Between that and the disillusionment of Marco’s subordinates, I think we’re seeing the beginning of the end of the “Free Navy” as a coherent group.  Marco’s charisma and grandiosity is effective for big gestures, but he doesn’t seem to be capable of governing something as complicated as he’s trying to build.

3. There’s still some discussion of the Rocinante crew. Do you agree with Holden’s perspective on Clarissa and Bobbie?

I’m pretty happy to see that the two of them are going to be on board the Rocinante! I see where Holden’s coming from, and I think it would have been a problem that came up even if the person in question were not Clarissa. I think they really need to figure out how they’re planning to treat any new crew members.  Michio Pa’s sections show an interesting example of how one could run a ship that has a core family and then also non-family employees.  I am curious if they’re going to try something like that approach in the end, and whether Holden will consider Clarissa family by then.

4. Two sections have featured the inner thoughts of two people responsible for many deaths—Filip and Clarissa. What do you think of them now, and do you believe they are redeemable?

At this point, I think Clarissa is a lot closer to it, because she wants to be redeemed.  It was not a good idea to put her in combat, both because of her inexperience and because she currently has some mental issues with violence.  I don’t think Amos is really capable of seeing what she’s going through, so I hope she finds someone else on the crew to confide in (maybe Naomi?).  I think she’s headed in the right direction, at least.

Filip, on the other hand, is so thoroughly indoctrinated by his father that even his fellow terrorists think he’s creepy and violent.  I don’t see any hope for him right now, because he doesn’t even seem aware that he has any kind of problem.  For Naomi’s sake, I hope that he eventually breaks free of Marco’s view of the world.  Still, after being proud of helping cause the deaths of over 15 billion people, I don’t know whether there will be much redemption on offer for him.

Short Fiction: July 2017

Today I want to point out a few of my favorite works of short fiction that were published in July 2017! As it happens, the stories in this round are themed for Halloween week, since each of them is pretty disturbing in its own way. I decided to put a content warning this time, since I think they’re a lot darker than the stories I usually recommend. Rich Larson and Mary Robinette Kowal I have featured in this series for more cheerful stories before(here and here), and G.V. Anderson is new to me. As usual, I have provided links for the works that are available online.

The Worshipful Society of Glovers by Mary Robinette Kowal (Novelette, Uncanny): This takes place in an interesting fantasy world, where brownies and human artisans work together to stitch magic into gloves for the well-to-do.  The hero and his sister are desperately poor, and his apprenticeship as a glove maker gives hope for their future.  His sister is severely epileptic, though, and he fears each day that she will be injured or die in an episode while he is away at work.  He is determined to acquire gloves to stop her seizures, no matter what the cost.  The writing in this one was evocative and the characters emotionally compelling, but I feel like have to give a warning about the sheer sadness of the story.

Content warning: violence, sadness

I Am Not I by G.V. Anderson (Novelette, Fantasy & Science Fiction, information): In a unusual and creative world, bug-like humans prey on ordinary humans, who they derogatively call “saps”.  The narrator, who was born a “sap”, has gone into the industry of buying and selling human parts as curiosities, in order to finance the operations that allow her to pass in society.  Her secret is only tenuously kept, and she has no illusions as to what will happen if her employer discovers it. This is a dark and disturbing story, and the narrator is certainly no hero.  It was really engrossing, and it would be neat to see what might happen next in this world.

Content warning: disturbing imagery, dehumanization

Travelers by Rich Larson (Short Story, Clarkesworld):  Were you disappointed by the romantic comedy slant of the movie Passengers, when the premise seemed a bit more like horror? “Travelers” approaches the same kind of situation from a very different angle.  Beware, there is not going to be a romantic ending to this tale of colony ship terror!

Content warning: violence, implied sexual violence