Today’s Reading: Livesuit

Livesuit by James S.A. Corey

As I noted in my last “Today’s Reading” post, as I was reading The Mercy of Gods I immediately reserved the ebook for this novella set in the same series of The Captive’s War, making …Mercy… the first book and this the second.

That said, Livesuit (Libby | Kindle¹) is definitely not a sequel to the former. As I am sure will become clear in time, this seems to take place chronologically sometime well after the first book in the series. None of the character we met previously appear in this book, but we also haven’t encountered these other human worlds as of yet, where we were only introduced initially to the one world before.

Where The Mercy of Gods focused on setting up this universe, establishing who/what the Carryx are, this book is much more focused on the soldiers who volunteer to give their bodies over to “Livesuits,” which appear to be a semi-sentient, symbiotic nanite armor of some sort. Helmets cannot be removed, the suits themselves infuse with the soldier, apparently for life (though there is some bit about if you survive your tour you get to have it removed, but it’s heavily suggested that no one actually survives that long).

As such, this book has elements indicative of not only Old Man’s War, but of course, The Forever War as well, especially when it comes to the passage of time between battles. The human soldiers we meet seem to be limited to relativistic speeds, so the results of battles may not be known for years after they are concluded. Like the aforementioned Forever War, how does one know when a war is truly over when skirmishes can exist for years/decades?

I’m making assumptions here, as it seems that these human soldiers are fighting against the Carryx, but it’s never overtly stated (I don’t believe; please correct me if I am wrong).

Again, this book is not about the expansive universe-building the way that The Mercy of Gods is; rather, its focus is on the soldiers and this particular technology/weaponry.

It was a short, light read that added to the Captive’s War universe, but this early on does not feel essential. That could very well change.

While not immersive or expansive, I enjoyed this insight into the world of this series and plan to read the next full novel when it debuts this Autumn.

Similar books:

• Armor by John Steakley - Free: Libby | Commission: Book | Kindle²
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi - Free: Libby | Commission: Book | Kindle³
• The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - Free: Libby | Commission: Book | Kindle⁴

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