Saevus Corax Captures the Castle by K. J. Parker

On February 1, 2024 By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Fantasy, Five-Star Books7 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 21 November 2023)

Series: Corax – Book Two

Length: 321 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of the funniest fantasy authors in the game presents a fantastic second entry in his closely released Corax trilogy with the hilarious and brutally brilliant Saevus Corax Captures the Castle.

In 2023, fantasy author K. J. Parker (a pseudonym of author Tom Holt), had an incredible blast of creativity as he managed to release an entire trilogy within the space of a month with the outstanding Corax series. Set to follow an infamous battlefield salvager, the titular Saevus Corax, as he finds himself getting dragged into all manner of unusual scenarios, this series sounded so damn fun. I was particularly intrigued, especially as these books were set in the same universe as his epic The Siege series, which featured Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (one of my favourite books of 2019), How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It (one of my favourite books of 2020) and A Practical Guide to Conquering the World (one of my favourite books of 2022).

While I managed to get all three of Parker’s Corax books last year, I only had the chance to read the first novel, Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead before 2023 ended. This first entry in the trilogy was pretty damn incredible, and I loved the wonderful and highly entertaining story it contained, especially as it was masterfully layered with Parker’s trademark humour. Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead got an easy five-star rating from me, and it ended up being one of my favourite books of 2023. As such, I really want to get through the other two Corax books as soon as possible so I quickly powered through the second one, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, last weekend. Saeuvs Corax Captures the Castle was another outstanding read that I had such I wonderful time with.

Several years after his last outrageous adventure when he was crowned a king against his will, Saevus Corax is back to what he knows best, battlefield salvage. While it is not the most glamorous work, it provides a living for his large crew of outcasts and rogues, as they tour their world’s many scattered battlefields, rescuing and repurposing everything they can recover from the dead. However, a nemesis with a personal grudge will send Corax on a dangerous path he might have no escape from.

When several of his men are kidnapped, Corax’s only apparent chance to save them is to capture a delipidated castle in the middle of nowhere. Utilising his unconventional tactics and knowledge of warfare, Corax begins his impromptu siege, only to discover that his old flame, the beautiful con artist Stauracia, is in charge of the castle’s defence, and she has no intention of losing to Corax again.

But why is Corax’s new unwelcomed employer so determined to capture the castle, and what are they hoping to achieve by using Corax’s motley crew? The truth has the potential to plunge the whole world into war if Corax can’t keep it under wraps. However, Corax soon finds himself distracted by revelations from his past, as he finds hope being dangled before his eyes. Can Corax survive this latest misadventure and the dastardly rivals it brings, or has he finally met his match?

The second Corax book proved to be just as funny, addictive, and inventive as the first awesome entry, and I had such an outstanding time with Saevus Corax Captures the Castle. Placing his wonderfully witty and world-weary protagonist on the course for more unusual conflict, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle had me fully hooked from the very first word and I just had to give it another full five-star rating.

Parker came up with a pretty clever and memorable narrative for Saevus Corax Capture the Castle, which proved to be a lot of fun to read. Starting with another entertaining look at one of the group’s salvage jobs, the book soon places Corax’s entire group in a bad situation when members of the salvage band are kidnapped, and the only way to get them back is by capturing a castle. So begins a battle of wits as Corax pits his innate knowledge of war and human nature against the manipulation of his old foe Stauracia, as they both try and work out why they have been charged with looking after an isolated castle. This impromptu siege between two groups of people who do not actually want to be there proves to be quite entertaining, and it serves as a fun focus for the first half of the book. This first half also features several flashbacks into Corax’s past, especially the events that have occurred since Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, which provides some interesting motivations and looks at the connections between Corax and the book’s main antagonist.

Thanks to some deeply personal manipulations, there is an interesting and dramatic plot change in the second half of Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, as Corax finds himself motivated to journey alone to a forbidden nation. This change from a siege to an independent journey actually works really well in the context of the story, and it builds on a lot of cleverly hidden elements and clues from the earlier plot. You are really on the edge of your seat during this second part of the book, especially as Corax is in the direst of scenarios, and I loved seeing him use his understanding of people to get out of trouble. The ending of this misguided quest proves to be very clever and a little heartbreaking, as Corax finds what he is looking for, but it’s not what he wants. It does allow him a few bits of knowledge that let him destroy his opponents back home and get the payday, although nothing is every that simple for Corax. I liked the intriguing tone that Parker left this second book on, especially as like the first book, the protagonist soon realises that he’s happiest when back doing what he does best.

Saevus Corax Captures the Castle features the exact same writing style as the first book in the series, which you tend to notice when you read these books in quick succession. I personally liked this continuation of style, especially as it is what made me a fan of Parker in the first place, and it results in quite an entertaining story. Told in a chronicle format from the perspective of main character Saevus Corax, the book is his account of events, filled with his commentary, observations and memories, to tell an intriguing tale. Corax proves to be a very fun narrator, and his ultra-cynical take on the world has an entertaining influence on the story which is hard not to enjoy. The resulting mixture of betrayals, manipulations and unconventional warfare really comes together into quite a comprehensive and fun story thanks to this great narration, and I was chuckling the entire way through.

The series continues to utilise the unique world that Parker came up with for both the Corax books and The Siege novels, and the fun references to some of the prior events are quite amusing. As I mentioned in my review for Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, this series is in some ways more of an alternate history novel rather than a fantasy book, as it does not feature any magic or unnatural elements. Instead, we get a world of war, politics, and domineering nations, which acts as a satirical mirror of our own history. I would still prefer some form of map up front to keep track of where the characters are going and where some of the nations being discussed are in relation to each other, but you can get by without one. While there are a few mentions of the previous novel in the series, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle is for the most part a standalone novel, and anyone interested in a particularly fun tale can dive in here no problem. However, I would personally suggest going from the start of the trilogy, if for no other reason than some of the jokes in this sequel are a little funnier after Saevus Corax Deals with the Dead, and you get the full understanding of the unique relationship between Corax and Stauracia. It also solves one of the main mysteries from the first book, and it would not surprise me if a couple of story elements from this novel are featured in the third and final novel in the series.

As you would expect from a first-person perspective novel like this, most of the focus is on the titular Saevus Corax, whose unique adventures we are following. Corax is a very typical Parker protagonist, in that he is an intelligent and cynical being who would rather live a simple life doing what he does best, but instead finds himself thrust into complex and dangerous events. This proves to be a fun character dynamic, and I loved seeing the often-exasperated Corax forced to deal with people trying to outsmart and manipulate him while he is just trying to do the right thing. Luckily his strong ability to understand how people think and then use that to outplay them often keeps him out of trouble, and it is quite entertaining to see him casually stop a clever enemy plan, just because they are doing exactly what he would. His distrustful, intense, and often very honest outlook on life really impacts how the reader sees the world he lives in, and you really grow to appreciate his take on events, especially as he knows everyone is out to get him. However, readers do get to see another side of Corax in this second book, especially as you get to see how his one previous attempt at romance worked out, and the impacts its tragic ending has on him cause him to act out in some big ways. As such, this is a very intriguing book for this great character, and I had a wonderful time seeing him develop even further.

Aside from Corax, the cast of Saevus Corax Captures the Castle is pretty fun, as Parker comes up with an interesting group of self-centred, occasionally loyal, but mostly treacherous figures to partner up with our favourite rogue. The most prominent of these is Stauracia, who was both a secondary antagonist of the first novel and the protagonist’s love interest. Stauracia is a con-artist who has run afoul of Corax and his group before, and who finds herself forced to work both with and against them in this novel. Smart, manipulative, and utterly lovely, Stauracia is the perfect foil for the more subdued Corax, and they have some amazing chemistry in this book. I loved the unique relationship that bloomed between them that is often driven more by dislike or mistrust than anything else, but both of them come away a bit better from knowing the other. Other major characters include the group of unlikely companions that make up Corax’s battlefield scavengers. Their constant bickering makes for a fun background to many scenes, and I like how they are usually annoyed with Corax’s antics, although they keep following because no-one else could do the job better. Throw in a great villain, whose prior connections to Corax result in some brutal plots against him, and the cast of Saevus Corax Capture the Castle are extremely entertaining, and I loved seeing the unique narrative that formed around them.

Overall, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle was a highly fun and utterly amazing novel from K. J. Parker that I cannot recommend enough. Featuring all the humour, entertaining cynicism and clever characters that made the first Corax book so incredible, Saevus Corax Captures the Castle serves as an outstanding sequel that continues the series in an awesome way. An outstanding and epic read, this was such a great book and I cannot wait to read the final Corax novel as soon as I can.

Amazon

The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

On November 24, 2020August 22, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Science Fiction6 Comments

The Salvage Crew Cover

Publisher: Podium Audio (Audiobook – 27 October 2020)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 8 hours and 21 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Come for the Fillion, stay for the story! In this review, I check out the wildly entertaining audiobook version of The Salvage Crew, written by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and narrated by actor and science fiction icon Nathan Fillion.

In the far future, a small salvage crew is about to embark on the mission of a lifetime. It was supposed to be a simple job: travel to an alien planet and salvage an ancient UN starship. However, from the very start everything goes wrong. The three-man team, led by a young and still relatively human computer intelligence, is far from the most effect group, made up of outcasts with some serious personality issues. However, their incompatibility is the least of their problems, especially once they make planetfall.

The crew quickly discover that their job is going to be far harder than expected. The planet they have arrived on, Urmahon Beta, is full of all number of problems, such as harsh conditions, a lack of useful resources and unregistered megafauna that could crush them all with ease. Forced to forge through this unexplored and hostile world to their goal, it soon becomes clear that they are not alone. A rival crew of dangerous and heavily armed mercenaries made planetfall before them and has the potential to wipe out the crew with little effort. However, something is very wrong with them, and not everything is what it seems. The salvage team is about to discover that Urmahon Beta contains a massive secret that has the potential to change all of humanity, if it does not kill them all first.

The Salvage Crew is an interesting and captivating new science fiction novel from author Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, who debuted back in 2017 with the intriguing-sounding science fiction novel, Numbercaste. I have to admit that I was not familiar with Wijeratne’s writing before The Salvage Crew, and the main reason that I decided to check out this book was because the audiobook was narrated by Nathan Fillion, who I am a major fan of. However, I am extremely happy that I decided to check this novel out as it turned out to be an excellent read that featured a clever and compelling science story, with some fantastic characters and unique science fiction elements. This, combined with Fillion’s exceptional narration, produced an impressive novel which I really enjoyed listening to.

Wijeratne has come up with an outstanding story that follows a small team as they try and overcome a series of unexpected dangers and challenges upon an isolated planet. The author presents a cool and enjoyable narrative for The Salvage Crew, and I liked how it started out with the crew attempting to pull together a base on the planet and gather the resources needed to survive and then complete their task. Naturally, things quickly go downhill for the characters, as they encounter all manner of challenges and surprises that hit hard and fast throughout the book. There are a lot of cool and exciting moments throughout the plot, including a fun new version of the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the protagonists experience a lot of heavy and traumatising experiences throughout the book, some of which are quite horrific in nature. Wijeratne lays all these events out in a compelling and logical manner and the story flows along at a great pace. Some of this was apparently assisted with a random generator that helped Wijeratne to work out when certain events occurred in the book, which apparently worked out quite well, as I personally wouldn’t have changed the order of anything. The end of the novel somewhat veers away from the science fiction exploration/adventure elements that defined the start of the book, and it gets quite a bit metaphysical, which could potentially lose some readers. I myself had a good time following these intriguing plot changes, though, and I liked where the story ended up in the end. Overall, I really enjoyed the compelling story that Wijeratne featured in this book, especially as at times it could either be wildly funny, extremely exciting or somewhat disturbing. This blend of cool story elements resulted in an impressive read which is definitely worth checking out.

On top of this impressive science fiction narrative, I also have to point of the great characters that the story is set around, primarily the character of the Overseer. The Overseer, also known as Amber Rose or OC by his crew, is a former human whose brain was uploaded into a computer and who now exists as an artificial intelligence. Most of the story is told from OC’s perspective, and he is the primary first-person narrator of the book. Despite now being a machine, OC is a very human character, with a fun and extremely likeable personality that ensures that The Salvage Crew is a very entertaining read. Much of The Salvage Crew’s humour and comedy comes from OC’s narration, as he provides the reader will all manner of fun observations and witty jokes, including one particularly charming Jeeves and Wooster impersonation. OC is also an amateur poet, regaling the reader and the other characters with a series of short poems that help to capture the events or the feelings that flow through OC. These poems, which are ironically AI-generated (Wijeratne used a computer program to come up with them), add a quirky and artistic side to this character, and they end up having a surprising impact on the overall story. As well as being a humorous narrator, OC serves as the emotional heart of the book. Despite the fact that his transformation to an AI was supposed to make him more efficient and less concerned with the fates of his assets, OC is a very caring being, who is extremely protective of his human crew and is determined to bring them all back safe. Watching him attempt to stay in control and save everyone is very heart-warming and it is extremely hard not to deeply appreciate him as a character as a result. The events of The Salvage Crew also ensure that OC faces some deep and searching questions about whether he is a machine or a man, and these intriguing self-examinations ended up becoming a major part of the books plot. I really enjoyed this complex and impressive character, and I had an amazing time seeing how his story arc unfolded.

The Salvage Crew also focuses on three other substantial characters, namely the human crew that OC drops down onto Urmahon Beta with. These characters, Simon Joosten, Anna Agarwal and Milo Kalik are interesting people in their own right, each with their own unique and damaged personalities that makes them outsiders. These characters are primarily shown through the eyes of OC, which adds a bit of a slant to their characterisations, although Wijeratne does also include a couple of interludes told from these characters perspectives which expands on their personalities. These characters add a lot to the story, helping OC to achieve his goal, while also providing some compelling drama to the narrative as their issues and different personalities come to a head. All three of these characters go through a substantial amount of trauma throughout the book, and they do not deal with it well, breaking down mentally and physically, while also clashing with OC and each other. Watching these characters struggle to remain alive and sane becomes quite intense at times, and you really cannot help but feel sorry for each of them and hope that they survive the events of this book. I felt that these side characters provided an interesting counterpoint to the AI character OC, especially as they helped to highlight how much humanity OC has actually lost, despite outward appearances. The inclusion of these three compelling characters was a great touch by Wijeratne, and it helped to produce an emotionally rich overall narrative.

I also quite enjoyed the excellent science fiction elements that Wijeratne came up with for this cool book. There are a lot of amazing science fiction inclusions throughout The Salvage Crew, and Wijeratne makes sure to utilise a lot of realistic and practical technologies. You really get a sense of what a futuristic team of salvagers would experience and what tools they would bring to the table, and I had an amazing time seeing this depiction. The alien world that Wijeratne utilises as the main setting for this book is also rather cool, and it serves as an excellent challenging location for the characters. Apparently, Wijeratne used computer models/generators to come up with this planet and some elements of the book, such as what weather the characters experienced, was randomly chosen. The author also comes up with a much wider universe in which the book is set, presenting the reader with a somewhat grim future, riven with war, over-expansion and planets negatively impacted by greedy, profit-orientated corporations. This proves to be a bit of a grim view of the future, although it fit the overall tone of the novel extremely well. Wijeratne shares these additional universe elements slowly throughout the course of the book and it proves to be an interesting counterpoint to the events occurring on Urmahon Beta. The Salvage Crew also features some deep and fascinating examinations of Artificial Intelligence, as well as some other scientific elements/theories, which, without going into too many details, are quite essential for the plot of the book. I really enjoyed these cool science fiction elements, and it is clear that Wijeratne put a lot of thought into creating his universe.

As I mentioned above several times, I ended up listening to the audiobook version of The Salvage Crew, which was narrated by the amazing and incredible Nathan Fillion. Now, I never had any doubt that I was going to enjoy Fillion’s narration of this book and I was not disappointed in any way, shape or form. Fillion drags listeners in from the very beginning with a very amusing introduction about how he has sanitised his voice for the listener’s protection, and the audience is pretty much in the palm of his hands from there on out. Thanks to his excellent and compelling narration, the novel moves along on at a quick and exciting pace, allowing the listener to get through the entire story in quick succession and ensuring that there is not a significant lull in the production. Fillion’s voice is perfect for this great story, and I really liked how he dived into the main character, the former human and current AI, Amber Rose/OC. Thanks to his quirky personality and fun sense of humour, OC honestly felt like he was specifically written to be played by Fillion, who does an amazing job bringing him to life throughout the audiobook. I really loved how Fillion portrayed this great central character, and the reader becomes a lot more attached to OC because of this excellent narration. Fillion also does a good job portraying the other major characters in the novel, although he mostly uses the same voice for everyone, which occasionally made it hard to work out who was speaking. Despite that, listeners can follow the story perfectly, and it proves to be extremely hard to get lost listening to the story. The Salvage Crew has a run time of nearly eight and a half hours, and thanks to how awesome this format is, listeners can generally breeze through it in relatively short order. This is an audiobook you could easily get through in one extended session, and it would be a perfect book to listen to on a long car ride. I really loved this audiobook, and I would highly recommend this format to anyone interested in checking out The Salvage Crew. I cannot talk up Nathan Fillion’s narration enough, and to be frankly honest, it ultimately knocked my overall rating of The Salvage Crew up a few points.

The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne is an impressive and captivating science fiction novel that takes the reader on a wild ride to the darkest frontier of human exploration. Featuring an intense adventure on an alien planet that goes horribly wrong, The Salvage Crew makes excellent use of amazing characters, clever science fiction inclusions and a compelling plot to produce an awesome novel that is hard to put down, especially when narrated by the incredible Nathan Fillion. As a result, The Salvage Crew comes highly recommended, especially in its audiobook format, and I am extremely keen to see what Wijeratne writes next.

Amazon