The Faith of Beasts

In this stellar second entry in the Captive’s War series, bestselling author duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, writing as Corey, ingeniously expand on the worldbuilding of The Mercy of Gods. The arthropodlike Carryx aliens are bent on subjugating all other intelligent life forms, including the humans of the planet Anjiin. From Anjiin, the Carryx abducted those it believed could help them in their eternal war, including genius scientist Tonner Freis and his subordinate, Dafyd Alkhor. After the humans were transported to a Carryx vessel, they were pitted against other species to prove their worth and justify their continued existence, leading to difficult moral choices, including Dafyd’s decision to betray other humans planning a revolt he knew would only accelerate all their deaths. The repercussions of that choice play out here, with the protagonists of the first book mostly working and living apart. Meanwhile, one human is revealed to be the host for a parasitic swarm bent on gathering intelligence about the Carryx to enable its kind to defeat these merciless foes. The authors continue to expertly balance character and plot development, setting the stage effectively for the series’ denouement. This wows. (Apr.)