| |
| Author | James S. A. Corey |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction, space opera |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Published | 2024–present |
| Media type | Hardcover, audiobook, e-book |
The Captive's War is a science fiction media franchise created by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Spanning a trilogy of novels and a television series in development at Amazon MGM Studios, the franchise follows the conclusion of the authors' Hugo Award-winning series The Expanse . This project moves away from the previous series' focus on orbital mechanics and near-future realities to explore xenobiology and sociology, centering on humanity's subjugation by the Carryx, a massive interstellar empire with a rigid biological caste system.
The literary series debuted in 2024 with the novel The Mercy of Gods , which became a New York Times Best Seller. [1] In November 2024, Abraham and Franck announced they were adapting the trilogy for television through their production company, Expanding Universe, to ensure creative consistency across the realms of the novels and the screen. [2]
The project was first announced in May 2018 as a new space opera trilogy, following the conclusion of The Expanse. [3] After finishing The Expanse in 2021, Abraham and Franck wanted to explore "the prisoner's dilemma applied to an entire species." This shifted the focus from physics-based realism toward evolutionary biology and alien psychology. [4]
In 2024, the authors launched Expanding Universe alongside The Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar and director Breck Eisner. The company's first project is the television adaptation of The Captive's War for Amazon MGM Studios. [2]
The franchise is built around a central trilogy of novels. As in The Expanse series, these core books are supported by standalone novellas that expand on the history and technology of the Carryx empire and broader interstellar conflict.
The opening novel depicts a swift invasion of the human colony Anjiin by the Carryx. The story centers on Dafyd Alkhor and a team of researchers who are kidnapped and transported to the Carryx throne world to serve as biological experimentalists. Moving away from the factional politics of The Expanse, this book explores the psychological survival of a captive population under a baffling alien autocracy. Critics compared the tone to the sociological science fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin.
The Wall Street Journal described it as an "interplanetary epic." [5] The Ringer noted that while the perspective is more intimate than the authors' previous work, the world-building makes the universe feel "unknowably gigantic." [6] An excerpt of the first chapter was released by Polygon ahead of the book's debut. [7]
Published in October 2024, this novella offers deeper context for the series' technology and history. It follows a soldier equipped with a "livesuit" that serves as a sort of biotechnological armor, which maintains combat readiness by slowly consuming the pilot's own biological matter. Reviewers noted the story's shift into gritty military science fiction, drawing comparisons to classics like The Forever War and Starship Troopers . [8] While no express connection is made in the text, critical analysis suggests the novella acts as a prequel, exploring the origins of the "Great Enemy" mentioned in the main trilogy. [8]
The second novel in the trilogy, The Faith of Beasts, is slated for release in 2026. [9] It was named by Parade as one of the year's most anticipated books. [10] The development of this volume is intended to coordinate with the narrative structure of the upcoming television adaptation at Amazon MGM Studios. [2]
The television series is currently in development at Amazon MGM Studios with Naren Shankar serving as showrunner. [2] [11] The project is produced by Alcon Entertainment, with authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (writing as James S.A. Corey) serving as executive producers as part of Expanding Universe alongside Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Media outlets have described the series as a spiritual successor to The Expanse, reuniting much of the creative team from the previous television series. [12]
The series is centered on the Carryx, a hive-minded civilization that sustains its empire by conquering other species and integrating them into a rigid social hierarchy based on their biological "utility." This ideology is rooted in a belief system known as the "Great Lesson," which functions similarly to the theoretical Great Filter. The Carryx believe that all civilizations eventually face a point of total collapse or extinction, and they maintain that they are the only species to have survived this threshold. Consequently, they justify their aggressive assimilation of other life forms as a method of preventing the rise of potential rivals that could threaten their hegemony. [13]
This biological focus defines Carryx technology, which is engineered through genetic manipulation rather than traditional manufacturing, as well as their modified biology. Their starships, infrastructure, and tools are living organisms that often require parasitic or predatory relationships with their users. In the novella Livesuit, this is depicted through biotechnology that requires a biological host, ultimately at the cost of the host's autonomy. [14] This organic architecture blends biological elements of the Carryx empire with the physics-based technology utilized by the human colony on Anjiin, and presumably elsewhere in the galaxy.
The Carryx believed the universe was a scavenger's field where only the most useful survived.