The Faith of Beasts
Notes
A pretty satisfying expansion of the weird panoply-of-alien space opera thing. I liked learning more about all of the alien species, and I like how they are maintained as extremely foreign; just totally weird and inaccessible. A few become actual characters, with names and personalities, but that's still the exception - the rest are just more like very smart animals, to our humans. And that's what they are to their captors, which is great. I hope the authors can carry this.
Noted on April 22, 2026
Captives war nanoswarm is a direct analogue to Moonbound's Chronicler, except in the James SA Corey ruthless way. It's futuristic nanotech, indistinguishable from magic, with a mission and personality, inhabiting human bodies. Except in this case, it overrides and controls the bodies, but absorbs their personalities too. So by book 2 we are on body #3? 4? And this nanobot swarm has a conversation between the past hosts and 'itself', just like the chronicler and the residents of the Eigengrau.
Noted on April 22, 2026