On April 10, 2026, Scientific American published an in-depth interview with Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the writing duo behind the pen name James S. A. Corey, best known for their Hugo Award-winning space opera series The Expanse. Their latest work, The Faith of Beasts, is the second installment in The Captive's War series. Unlike The Expanse, which focused on humanity's expansion into space and human society's complexities, this new series explores a very different scenario: humanity subjugated by a powerful alien empire and struggling to survive, resist, and possibly reclaim agency under overwhelming extraterrestrial dominance.
The interview, conducted by Scientific American senior editor Sarah Lewin Frasier, delves into the themes, alien biology, and philosophical questions raised by the new series. Abraham and Franck share insights about their creative process, the challenges of inventing alien societies, and the nuanced portrayal of resistance that goes beyond traditional sci-fi tropes of violent rebellion.
**From The Expanse to The Captive's War: A Shift in Focus**
After the conclusion of The Expanse, Abraham and Franck were eager to continue collaborating but wanted to explore new territory. Franck revealed that during the final stages of The Expanse, he pitched the idea that eventually became The Captive's War. The series is inspired by the biblical Book of Daniel, focusing on characters navigating and resisting an immense and oppressive empire. Abraham explains that the concept of following someone embedded within a vast empire, whose actions contribute indirectly to its downfall, was a compelling narrative direction.
Where The Expanse was very human-centered and set in a near-future solar system, The Captive's War takes a far-future outlook with humans as a relatively powerless species among alien civilizations. Franck emphasized their desire not to replicate their previous success with a similar story but to push into new creative spaces, including far-future settings and non-human perspectives.
**Alien Biology and Societal Structures**
A significant appeal of The Captive's War for Abraham was the opportunity to incorporate his background in biology, which he had never professionally applied before. The series features multiple alien species with unique physiologies and social systems. One of the standout creations is the Carryx, an alien superorganism with a hive mind structure, where individuals experience shifts in body and status depending on their role within the collective. Abraham noted that exploring what it means to be an individual within a hive was both challenging and rewarding, as it diverges from typical portrayals of insect-like societies in science fiction.
Franck elaborated on the concept of the Carryx as sentient ants with individual thoughts and feelings but still bound by the social imperatives of the hive. This idea of a superorganism composed of sentient units grappling with autonomy and collective identity is relatively rare in sci-fi, making it a fresh angle to explore questions of cognition and community.
Another intriguing alien character is "the swarm," a creature initially a blank slate that gradually defines its own personhood and identity. This character's physical form is mutable, changing as it learns and grows, which allows the authors to probe deep philosophical questions about the nature of selfhood, consciousness, and agency. Abraham connected this to neuropsychology and Buddhist concepts, highlighting the fragmented and constructed nature of the self.
**Resistance Beyond Violence**
A key theme of The Faith of Beasts and the series as a whole is the nature of resistance under overwhelming power. Franck explained that unlike many alien invasion stories where humans fight back with advanced weaponry or lucky breaks, their story acknowledges the futility of violent rebellion against a vastly superior force. The series' opening book even features a character who believes in fighting back militarily, but that character is swiftly and unceremoniously killed, underscoring the aliens' dominance.
Instead, Abraham and Franck wanted to portray resistance as a more subtle, existential struggle-the act of surviving, maintaining identity, and finding small ways to assert agency in an oppressive environment. Franck used the metaphor of grass growing through cracks in asphalt to describe how humans might carve out niches in an alien-controlled world where outright victory is impossible.
This approach is influenced by stories like the biblical Book of Daniel, where resistance often takes the form of quiet endurance, faith, and small acts of defiance rather than grand battles. Abraham emphasized that this focus on "softer kinds of power" makes for a richer and more nuanced narrative.
**Academic Life Under Alien Rule**
An unexpected but recurring motif in the series is the depiction of academic researchers trying to do science under alien domination. Abraham and Franck infused their characters' struggles with a dose of realism by paralleling the pressures of tenure-track academic jobs. Franck joked about the high stakes in their story-if researchers fail, it's not just their careers on the line but the survival of their species.
This metaphor highlights the absurdity and terror of trying to conduct meaningful research under constant surveillance and oppression. Abraham pointed out how the aliens abducted human elites assuming they were the most capable, but they overlooked other vital skills, illustrating the limits of hierarchical thinking and the complexity of social value.
**Creative Process and Inspirations**
The authors discussed their collaborative dynamic, noting how for this series, Abraham took the lead on generating imaginative alien concepts, while Franck often played the role of grounding those ideas to avoid overly fantastical elements. For example, when Abraham proposed a sentient color blue as an alien entity, Franck steered the idea toward a more tangible swarm of bioluminescent creatures.
Their process also involves blending scientific principles like convergent evolution-the idea that disparate species evolve similar traits in response to comparable environmental pressures-with imaginative extrapolation to build believable alien ecologies and societies.
**Realism About First Contact**
When asked about the likelihood of humanity's first encounter with aliens resembling the hostile, all-powerful invaders depicted in their series, Abraham expressed skepticism. He suggested that our first real contact might be with microbial life in the oceans of icy moons like Europa, rather than intelligent, technological civilizations. Large-scale hostile alien invasions, while a staple of science fiction, are less probable based on current scientific understanding.
**Conclusion**
James S. A. Corey's new series The Captive's War, with The Faith of Beasts as its latest release, offers a fresh and thought-provoking take on alien invasion and human resilience. By shifting focus from humanity's expansion to its subjugation, and by exploring alien minds and societies in depth, Abraham and Franck challenge readers to rethink what it means to be a person, to resist oppression, and to survive in a universe where humans may not be the dominant force.
Their work blends science, philosophy, and storytelling to illuminate the fragile but persistent spark of agency that can exist even under the most daunting circumstances. The series promises to engage readers with its complex characters, richly imagined aliens, and profound questions about identity and power. As the authors continue to expand this far-future saga, they invite us to consider not only how we might confront alien others but also how we might find strength in endurance and adaptation.
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Sarah Lewin Frasier is a senior editor at Scientific American, where she oversees the Advances section and online news, and launched the magazine's Games section in 2024. With a background in mathematics and journalism, she has covered humanity's journey to the stars extensively. This interview with James S. A. Corey was edited for clarity and conciseness.