Review of The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey

2024's The Mercy of Gods introduced readers to a new space opera series from James S.A. Corey, the pen name of writer duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Where their prior series The Expanse focused on a human war in the solar system, the new series, The Captives War, looked to the universe beyond and the myriad of alien life possible there. Humans just one of hundreds of sentient species, in The Mercy of Gods they were taken as slaves by an alpha lobster race called the Carryx. The second book in the series, The Faith of Beasts (2026), looks to tell the next chapter in humanity's attempt to escape captivity.

The Faith of Beasts picks up where The Mercy of Gods leaves off. It follows the surviving members of the team who have been tasked with scientific research in support of the Carryx's galactic war. At the start of the novel, the team are split into groups, sent to separate locations or planets, and given new research goals. They are also tasked with growing the human population, a task the group sets about doing, not through regular Friday-night orgies, rather embryos developed in artificial womb sacs. Power dynamics within the human moiety, let alone the universe at large, are put to strong test by the new research tasks, complicating the scientists' secret plans to overthrow the Carryx.

Abraham and Franck were consistent writing The Expanse, and with this, The Captives War series, they remain so. The Faith of Beasts maintains the tone, style, voice, presentation, etc. of The Mercy of Gods. At a minimum, technique is sustained, which for series is a quiet but important part of potential success.

Beyond the basics, we see the series start to struggle. Pace is slowed—a challenge when Humans Escape Aliens!!! is the premise. If you were to plot the waypoints of story, they do not exist in a quantity one might expect. Moreover, the spaces between waypoints you would expect to be largely filled with setting or character. But that is not the case. “Corey” struggles to distinguish these important elements. The “alien-ness” one may want does not exist and the characters blend together. This becomes particularly visible switching between the three main povs, i.e. the switch is not clear.

Which leads to the question: what does fill the gaps? Flat exposition and dialogue that narrows the niche of interested readers, that is the answer.

An additional challenge is the manner in which the underlying purpose of scenes is presented. Readers are aware that humans need to fight/escape. That thought is at the back of their mind. But each chapter and scene need their own sub-goals, the breakdown of how they fight/escape, and these are not often presented well. The raison de etre of scenes feel open and floating, not as tight and directed as one might want.

Theme in The Faith of Beasts, interestingly, is there if you want it to be. Slowly and quietly the story teases out societal power dynamics—humans vs Carryx and other species, humans vs humans, and Carryx vs Carryx. So much so, I wouldn't be surprised if the Carryx were inspired by Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life, particularly the first chapter and its discussion of lobster power dynamics. Not sure how strong theme actually is in the novel, but it's fair to say some substance is offered in place of slow pace and mid characterization.

To rein in this review, The Faith of Beasts, like The Mercy of Gods, is retro science fiction in a modern, contemporary voice. It's nothing more, nothing outstanding, nothing truly unique on the market. Abraham and Corey poke and prod the story along, meandering with open, semi-disclosed purpose. For readers who want, they can try to flesh out a thesis how the Carryx reflect humanity's own dominant animal nature; there are superficial details in support. Despite this, there isn't enough plot or characterization to drive this novel in steadily enjoyable fashion.