The Captive's War

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Expanse comes a spectacular space opera that sees humanity fighting for its survival in a war as old as the universe itself.

★ “Masterful ... This is space opera at its best.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end.

The Carryx—part empire, part hive—have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin.

Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them.

They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure.

Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand—and manipulate—the Carryx themselves.

With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers.

Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people.

This is where his story begins.

"The start of something truly epic."  ―Fonda Lee, author of Jade City

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

"A bang up read. I want more."  ―Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Water Knife

"A powerful, provocative masterpiece that I will be thinking about for a very long time."  ―Ryka Aoki, author of Light from Uncommon Stars

For More from James S. A. Corey, check out:

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​

Humanity's war is eternal, spread across the galaxy and the ages. Humanity's best hope to end the endless slaughter is the Livesuit forces. Soldiers meld their bodies to the bleeding edge technology, becoming something more than human for the duration of a war that might never end.

For more from James S. A. Corey, check out: The Captive’s War:

The Mercy of Gods

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

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.

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

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 test: 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. Its mission: 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 …

★ "Stellar . . . The authors continue to expertly balance character and plot development, setting the stage effectively for the series’ denouement. This wows." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ "Grand-scale SF storytelling at its very best. In a word: mind-blowing." — Kirkus (starred review)

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

For More from James S. A. Corey, check out:

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