Caliban’s War continues the drama from Leviathan Wakes, adds to the series, but doesn’t leave much of an impression. The crew of the Rocinante are back and Holden channels his inner Miller. Interesting new characters are Chrisjen Avasarala, a powerful, behind-the-scenes, Earth politician and Bobbie, a young, Martian marine. There’s another character, but he is so forgettable, I can’t remember his name, even though the novel hinges on him getting his daughter back. It’s like Taken, but this guy has no skills except for growing plants in space and luckily stumbling into Holden on Ganymede. Protogen 2.0 is messing with the protomolecule and experimenting on kids. And, again, there are sociopathic scientists. As I write these sentences, I realize how dumb it all sounds.

And, it is a little dumb, but it’s also an enjoyable-enough dumb that stops one from thinking about our politics, income inequality, the healthcare mess and any other real-life problem that presses in.