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A review by frasersimons
The Churn by James S.A. Corey
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Listen, nobody puts Timmy in a corner, okay? Yep, I do still love this little novella. Years ago I was surprised to find something cyberpunk in the expanse series. The previous short stories and novellas are fine, but nothing to write home about, for me. This is head and shoulders above those though.
The world building for the characters and what has become of Earth is not only good, but evocative and atmospheric. We were already introduced to the idea of everyone mostly living off of basic, if I recall. But now we see that it’s not as utopian as you’d expect. In cyberpunk fashion, the only means of truly getting agency is through technology, and that tech has been coopted from the more powerful and adapted. Despite everyone ostensibly having a home and an income, in the seedy underbelly, ownership of human beings is still around, along with crime and various illegal substances.
The Churn is a great bit of phrasing for the re ordering of power structures and people when shit hits the fan. On brand with something like cyberpunk 2020 the roleplaying game, the creator Pondsmith has said something like, cyberpunk isn’t about saving the world, it’s about trying to save yourself. Seeing as The Expanse is based on a tabletop roleplaying game experience too, I imagine there’s some intersections there. Either way, this doesn’t have cyberspace and hacking, rather a very human experience of the future where stark scarcity in a modern technologically advanced era means evading real power and trying to live off of the dregs.
The only real way to not play the game is to leave, and the only way to leave is to have means or power, unless you manage to take it for yourself, and accept the cost that comes with that decision—if you survive the choice.
The world building for the characters and what has become of Earth is not only good, but evocative and atmospheric. We were already introduced to the idea of everyone mostly living off of basic, if I recall. But now we see that it’s not as utopian as you’d expect. In cyberpunk fashion, the only means of truly getting agency is through technology, and that tech has been coopted from the more powerful and adapted. Despite everyone ostensibly having a home and an income, in the seedy underbelly, ownership of human beings is still around, along with crime and various illegal substances.
The Churn is a great bit of phrasing for the re ordering of power structures and people when shit hits the fan. On brand with something like cyberpunk 2020 the roleplaying game, the creator Pondsmith has said something like, cyberpunk isn’t about saving the world, it’s about trying to save yourself. Seeing as The Expanse is based on a tabletop roleplaying game experience too, I imagine there’s some intersections there. Either way, this doesn’t have cyberspace and hacking, rather a very human experience of the future where stark scarcity in a modern technologically advanced era means evading real power and trying to live off of the dregs.
The only real way to not play the game is to leave, and the only way to leave is to have means or power, unless you manage to take it for yourself, and accept the cost that comes with that decision—if you survive the choice.