"It was like his parents had suddenly realized he wouldn't be there forever, and now their love was like a police state; he couldn't escape it."
David "It was like his parents had suddenly realized he wouldn't be there forever, and now their love was like a police state; he couldn't escape it."
David Draper, the sixteen year old nephew of Bobbie Draper, is a self-entitled little piece of shit.
I have very little patience for intelligent children with loving families who live in stable economic situations, and yet they still insist on being angry little assholes. This is David, a gifted chemist who lives on Mars, and who is headed for great things. Meanwhile, he's decided to rebel out of a combination of stupid anger and laziness, and he somehow ends up cooking drugs for a local drug kingpin. He's also got his head entirely up his own ass. He sees girls as things, and only does nice things in the hopes that he will be rewarded with sex. He is extremely immature yet book smart. It's a bad combination.
This novella is set after book two in The Expanse series, Caliban's War. After the events of that book, Bobbie is home on Mars living with her brother and his family while she's on "psychological leave." David resents her and her presence because it gets in the way of what he wants to do. He also ignores almost entirely the monumental things happening around him, including domestic terrorism, and the fact that his very own aunt is heavily involved in the politics of the solar system.
Thankfully by the end of the book he's learned some hard lessons and grown up, but man he's insufferable for most of it. I just wanted to punch him.
[3.5 stars]
Merged review:
"It was like his parents had suddenly realized he wouldn't be there forever, and now their love was like a police state; he couldn't escape it."
David Draper, the sixteen year old nephew of Bobbie Draper, is a self-entitled little piece of shit.
I have very little patience for intelligent children with loving families who live in stable economic situations, and yet they still insist on being angry little assholes. This is David, a gifted chemist who lives on Mars, and who is headed for great things. Meanwhile, he's decided to rebel out of a combination of stupid anger and laziness, and he somehow ends up cooking drugs for a local drug kingpin. He's also got his head entirely up his own ass. He sees girls as things, and only does nice things in the hopes that he will be rewarded with sex. He is extremely immature yet book smart. It's a bad combination.
This novella is set after book two in The Expanse series, Caliban's War. After the events of that book, Bobbie is home on Mars living with her brother and his family while she's on "psychological leave." David resents her and her presence because it gets in the way of what he wants to do. He also ignores almost entirely the monumental things happening around him, including domestic terrorism, and the fact that his very own aunt is heavily involved in the politics of the solar system.
Thankfully by the end of the book he's learned some hard lessons and grown up, but man he's insufferable for most of it. I just wanted to punch him.
The first third of this is the weakest part of the series, and Brown gives in to some of his worst urges at times in this book (purple prose, mostly),The first third of this is the weakest part of the series, and Brown gives in to some of his worst urges at times in this book (purple prose, mostly), but overall this remains a compelling read. So, I'm giving this 3.5 stars, but rounding up to four. The audiobook was a really good listen, aside from the bits where they let Tim Gerard Reynolds sing and I wanted to flip my own skin inside out and crawl inside from secondhand embarrassment.
I said in a status update while reading Singer Distance that it was giving me Contact vibes, and that's true. The homespun science and grungy academicI said in a status update while reading Singer Distance that it was giving me Contact vibes, and that's true. The homespun science and grungy academic feel of the book, along with a group of characters working towards contacting aliens does give me the same feelings I get watching that movie (I have the book and I really need to finally read it!), but Singer Distance also has its own unique feel.
This is an alternate history where back in the late 1800s, scientists spotted a message in Mars and began communicating back, with Mars setting mathematical problems for humans to solve, presumably as tests of intelligence, and the scientific community makes it all the way to the 1930s until they are completely stumped.
Set in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, our main character is Rick, one of the group of graduate students who reached out to the Martians and solved their latest challenge, one that had been puzzling the top mathematical minds for over three decades. His girlfriend, Crystal Singer (a mathematics prodigy and genius) is the one that did the actual solving, and their success catapults all of them to instant global fame, something Crystal doesn't handle well. Since this is literary science fiction, it's harder to put into words the tone of the book and the themes its tackling, but the emphasis here isn't one your usual science fiction book would take. Though the aliens are a motivating presence in the book, most of the science and math that's present feels very grounded and real, even when it starts taking a turn to the speculative.
This was a short read in terms of page length, and in reading time. I found it really compelling and hard to put down. I would absolutely love to see it as a movie, and I hope more people read it, as right now the number of ratings on Goodreads is pretty low....more
This is one of the best anthologies I've ever read. If you like Arthuriana, this is a must read. If you like anthologies just for the variety, this coThis is one of the best anthologies I've ever read. If you like Arthuriana, this is a must read. If you like anthologies just for the variety, this collection is a winner. I don't think I will ever give an anthology five stars, because I've yet to find one where I like every story, but this one comes pretty close. There were only two stories in here I didn't like.
What makes Sword Stone Table so great is that the authors chosen really had their creativity flowing. Maybe it was the challenge they were set. This is a collection that features retellings, reimaginings, and stories inspired by the King Arthur mythos, with emphasis on queer, multiracial, gender-focused voices. You know, all the people left out or done dirty by the original stories. Not a single story, even the ones I didn't like, felt predictable or rote. They really felt reimagined. I five starred a bunch of them, which is super rare for me with anthologies.
My review of each individual story is in my Status Updates/activity for the book.
Read Harder Challenge 2022: Read an anthology featuring diverse voices....more
This is my favorite of these books so far, but I will admit that there is just something about Kowal's writing that doesn't perfectly gel with my tastThis is my favorite of these books so far, but I will admit that there is just something about Kowal's writing that doesn't perfectly gel with my tastes. I'm curious enough to keep going to see how this series turns out, but I may need to rethink reading any more of her books (I also was pretty unenthused about the first book in her fantasy-Austen-pastiche series).
We switch narrators from Elma York (who is on her way to Mars during the course of this book) to fellow original astronette (ugh) Nicole Wargin. I liked this change. Nicole was a much more active and interesting narrator to me than Elma was, who I always thought was too passive. This book also has a different feel to it as the main plot is a mystery, and involves ferreting out a saboteur on the moon. I love mysteries. I love that this is a mystery set on the moon. And even if I thought it was a little too long, I did like this book. Again, didn't love because the style didn't let me sink into it the way I wanted to, but I don't really have an complaints with the book itself.
One thing that isn't really a complaint but more of a wish: Even though this book features the terrorist organization Earth First as a main plot point, I wasn't satisfied by the resolution here, and hope we can find some in future books. This is probably the most (sadly) realistic aspects of these books, how people are resisting doing the right and smart thing because of their own concerns, but as the book itself points out, they do have valid concerns. I want those concerns to be addressed. Not sure how, but that is what I want. ...more
So I never actually wrote a review of the first book in this series. I review-amnestied it late last year, in the 40+ reviews I just gave up on becausSo I never actually wrote a review of the first book in this series. I review-amnestied it late last year, in the 40+ reviews I just gave up on because I let my review backlog get Out Of Control. We read it for my IRL book club, and we were all excited to read about lady astronauts doing science and winning against misogyny, but all of us had very mixed feelings about it. I flew through the book, but also had problems with it at the same time. I thought, with the exception of the first 100 pages, which were tense and exciting, that our main character, Elma York, was too passive. Things just happened to her, rather than her happening to them. It was also tough to have a main character whose main source of inner conflict is anxiety, because that character then ends up being just constantly overwhelmed.
But overall, I did like it, and I liked this one much better than that one, largely because things actually happen this entire book.
If you're unfamiliar with the series, it follows a group of astronauts trying to colonize the moon and Mars after an asteroid hits Earth and scientists realize that within decades, the Earth will become uninhabitable. But this all happens in the 1950s and 1960s, so it's also an alternate history piece of historical fiction, as well as science fiction.
It's been ten years since the incident now, and the astronaut program is well under way. The moon has its first successful colony, and the first mission to Mars is about to launch. Things on Earth are starting to deteriorate. Elma is assigned to the mission, amidst some controversy, because she is the Lady Astronaut, and the space program needs good publicity, among arguments that resources should be going to support those on Earth, not being wasted on space. As with the first book, Kowal tackles issues of race, gender, and class, while a bunch of people with all different backgrounds all work towards the same goal. The prose and style she uses aren't my favorite, but it's workable, and the pull of reading a story about the first mission to Mars is strong enough that it overcomes a lot of things that weren't necessarily my favorite. (I personally can't stand the constant rocket metaphors Kowal uses for sex, though it is very nice to see such a healthy marriage portrayed in fiction.) I also still think that Elma seems like a passive narrator. I find many of the other characters more interesting than I find her.
The next book comes out this summer, and I will definitely be reading it, because apparently it switches narrators! I'll be interested to see what Kowal can do with this concept and another main character....more
As with all of these Expanse novellas, I had a bit of a hard time getting into it (new characters, new setting, very discombobulating), but it had me As with all of these Expanse novellas, I had a bit of a hard time getting into it (new characters, new setting, very discombobulating), but it had me by the end.
Auberon was published after the eighth book, but it takes place right after book seven, when Duarte's empire is just getting started. The Laconians have installed a brand new Governor on Auberon, one of the many colonized worlds of the gate system that will be instrumental in feeding the empire, and he's our main POV here. But Auberon won't just lie down and accept Laconian rule. They may not have fought any battles, but the criminal underbelly that's been running things until now is not giving up their power.
What results is the two sides, Governor and criminal, attempting to work at each other through non-violent means. Governor Rittenaur thinks he can get the lay of the land, and then start taking control gradually. Erich (who I think was from The Churn?) declines to assassinate Rittenaur, knowing that Laconia will just send a replacement. Instead, he decides to find a different way to get what he wants.
It was interesting to see such polar opposites clash like this. Laconia is all about rigid control and discipline, taken to an unhelpful totalitarian end, whereas Auberon is a planet full of graft and chaos. What will come out the other side when they're done?
I cried, because I am nothing if not predictable. This was a good ending, but I'm not sure five stars worth? Also, I'm not sure what exactly happened I cried, because I am nothing if not predictable. This was a good ending, but I'm not sure five stars worth? Also, I'm not sure what exactly happened there at the end. Mostly, I'm even more excited to do my full-series re-read in 2022. I did all of these except #4 on audio the first time through (because Jefferson Mays didn't originally record that one) so I spent 2021 slowly collecting the paperbacks in preparation for my re-read (I also will be purchasing the 10th anniversary special edition of Leviathan Wakes very soon because it is *gorgeous*). I fully anticipate having a different reaction, or maybe a more nuanced understanding of, these last three books when I revisit them.
For now, I am pleased.
It's not just the title of this book that's circular. Events are mirrored and reflected from Leviathan Wakes throughout the book, and the Corey duo seem like they had something definite to say about humanity, and I think they said it well. I thought all of these characters got good resolutions, and as mentioned previously, I did cry, and I cried because I hate endings, but also because it was a good ending. They were bittersweet tears, because bittersweet endings always get me like that.
I'm wondering now if my approach to reading this one was wrong. I savored the audio, and listened to it over more than a week. I think this might actually be the kind of book you need to read as fast as possible, to get its full affect. That's harder to do by audio, but also harder to do when you don't want to let go.
If you somehow still haven't read this series, I highly recommend that you do. It's finished now, so you won't even have any waiting at all.
3.5 stars rounding up for now. This wasn't a perfect read for me, but it was pretty enjoyable. I wanted more science, though. And the pacing was a lit3.5 stars rounding up for now. This wasn't a perfect read for me, but it was pretty enjoyable. I wanted more science, though. And the pacing was a little off. Full review later.
One of these days I’m going to have to do a full-series Expanse re-read. Probably not until after next year, when the last book is published. But whenOne of these days I’m going to have to do a full-series Expanse re-read. Probably not until after next year, when the last book is published. But whenever that happens, I feel like this book might be worth five stars. Maybe the last one, too. I actually finished it when it was first published over two months ago, but I’m so far behind in my reviews, this one isn’t going to super informative. I remember it traumatizing me, but in a good way.
All that to say, this was a really solid penultimate novel, and I think it could be more than solid in retrospect, once the whole story has been told.
Tiamat’s Wrath picks up a couple of years after Persepolis Rising. Holden has been a prisoner on Laconia (he describes himself as Duarte’s “dancing bear”), and the rest of the Roci‘s crew has been working for the resistance. Bobbie and Alex are working together on a new ship, while Naomi and Amos are off on their own (the Roci itself is docked somewhere, hidden). All of them are feeling the effects of being separated and under stress for so long.
Added to the mix are two more POV characters. Back from book four is Elvi Okoye, who is now working for Laconia on a scientific mission, trying to ostensibly figure out what killed the Protomolecule builders millions of years before. And then there is Teresa Duarte, the fifteen year old daughter of the megalomaniac Laconian Emperor, Winston Duarte. Even though he fancies himself well on the way to immortality, thanks to the Protomolecule manipulations of our dear old friend Paolo Cortázar, she is being groomed as his replacement; the heir to the Empire, so to speak quite literally.
As always in these books, you are in for a wild, emotional ride. Something big and terrifying always happens. Our beloved crew has to cope. And this time the threats they face just seem to keep getting bigger.
One of the things this series does that I think is very smart is that, with the time jump of thirty or so years last book, we’ve got built in emotional conflict. There is so much meditation on death and endings, and the bittersweet nature of even their most successful victories, because a lot of their people just aren’t there to share it with them anymore, and more could go at any time. The authors just understand how to bring an essential humanity to their story that I appreciate more and more as the story goes on.
I can’t wait to see how they are going to end this thing. I’ve been surprised and scared and pleased the whole way through. I have a really hard time believing they’re not going to stick the landing.
[4.5 stars]
- - -
Pre-review:
I had to Google Tiamat. Babylonian goddess of creation, but also represents "primordial chaos".
[image]
These last two books are going to be so fun! I wonder how many people will die....more
I actually pre-ordered this and had it downloaded on release day, but never got around to reading it. Turns out there was no rush, it wasn't the best I actually pre-ordered this and had it downloaded on release day, but never got around to reading it. Turns out there was no rush, it wasn't the best work I've read by these authors, but I did end up seeing the point of it by the end. I finally got around to it because I'm about to start book seven in this series (!) when I finish my current audiobook, and I wanted to have this read by then.
For almost all of this novella (it's around 80 pages, I think, but not sure because I read it on my phone), I was only low-level engaged. The protagonist is a little girl named Cara (had a hard time pinning her age down; she read younger than I think she was supposed to, but then she mentioned her period, and then also mentioned some dates that meant she couldn't be older than ten, so I was confused) who lives with her family on the planet Laconia. Laconia is one of the worlds settled by humans going through the ring gate, and it seems that some time has passed between the events of the last book and this one, since she mentions having been there for eight years (the last time we checked in with The Expanse, humans had only been colonizing these worlds for a couple of years, I think).
The main thrust of the plot is that Cara has spent her whole life on Laconia and knows it as home, while all the adults around her are still dealing with the trauma of losing the Earth and realizing they will never go home again. For most of the novella, we see Cara connecting with Laconia in ways the adults have not, exploring its beauty, getting to know its creatures, so that by the time you get to the end (after some horrific events) you realize that Cara is just one among a new brand of human, humans that no longer call Earth their home, and who will evolve in ways no one will be able to predict, especially when alien biology and technology starts getting involved, and humanity spreads out (expands, cough) farther and farther away from a centralized location.
Still, even though I can appreciate this novella now as a whole, I didn't until I got to the end, so definite points off for that....more
September 2022: Contemplating changing my rating on this re-read . . . need thinky time brb.
January 2018: A fun thing to do with this series is to preSeptember 2022: Contemplating changing my rating on this re-read . . . need thinky time brb.
January 2018: A fun thing to do with this series is to predict the way the story will go based on the piece of mythology, history or religion featured in each title. Another fun thing to do is realize how wrong you were in your predictions, after the book has had its way with you.
It’s still fun afterwards, though. I bet the authors have a grand ole time coming up with these titles.
Some spoilies below, so if you want to go in blind, maybe don’t finish this review.
Persepolis was the capital city of the first Persian empire, which was eventually conquered by Alexander the Great. Going in to Persepolis Rising, I don’t know, I guess I assumed the title was referring to some theoretical rise of a new human empire, but like, a more symbolical kind. I didn’t think there would ACTUALLY be a new human empire, and that empire would be hostile. I guess I should have also seen it coming that the seeds for this empire were laid in the last book (and the last novella), with Duarte stealing a large part of the Martian fleet.
I also didn’t think there would be such a large time jump! Holy shit!
I feel like this book is going to be one of those where you look back after the series finishes and you appreciate it more, but I was just so thrown by it, I had a hard time getting my bearings. It sort of reminds me of the way I felt reading books one and two for the first time. Not sure where it’s going, and kind of just this baseline of distress. (And this book added into the mix a heavy dose of the bittersweet that comes with knowing things end.) One of the reasons I loved books three through six so much is that I felt they had a start to finish clear trajectory. The storytelling felt almost inevitable to me. But there’s also a place for creatively controlled chaos in a narrative, chaos that feels discombobulating at the time, but after the fact, makes sense. I just don’t think I’ve reached that point yet, though the end of the book made long strides to getting me there.
I mean, I feel like it is impossible for me to talk about this book the way I want to without spoiling the hell out of it. Ultimately, I guess I can say that while it was not as immediately as enjoyable (and the middle bits felt kind of wallowy and depressing), it was a very important piece of the larger story Corey is telling. And likely I will be just as surprised by what’s coming next as I was during every book in this series at some point.
One thing I will say, though, as this is more Bobbie’s book than anything, NOT ENOUGH HOLDEN.
The first of anything in The Expanse universe to be in first person POV, this novella opens with a man and his felThis one was just straight up neat.
The first of anything in The Expanse universe to be in first person POV, this novella opens with a man and his fellow prisoners, who are being kept in a locked room somewhere in the solar system, and they are kept there for years. It slowly trickles out as to why they're there, who they are, and who our main character is in particular. It's a dark character study, and it gives us insight into a pivotal moment in the history of the Expanse universe.
(view spoiler)[I speak specifically of the infamous sociopathic scientists working for Protogen who shepherded the protomolecule onto its destructive, horrific path. Our narrator, Dr. Paolo Cortázar, grew up in a low economic neighborhood, and after watching his mother die slowly of Huntington's Disease, clawed his way out and into a degree in biochemistry and nanoinformatics, at which point he was eventually recruited to work on a top secret project. We follow him throughout his life, before he was a experimentally induced sociopath, and after, and during his time in the prison, and what happens after that as well. (hide spoiler)]
It's really very well done. I listened on audio, and it made a particularly good audiobook, especially since this is the only novella my preferred narrator Jefferson Mays was involved with. The others are narrated by Erik Davies and best experienced on an e-reader, or in the eventual novella bind-up that is due out sometime in the next couple of years, after the remaining two Expanse novellas are published....more
August 2022: I still think this is one of the best books in the series but in a more stealthy way than book five, which is a WHOPPER. The rest of the August 2022: I still think this is one of the best books in the series but in a more stealthy way than book five, which is a WHOPPER. The rest of the series is also more actiony and intense, but this one is more about showing the consequences of what's already happened, and laying hints for what's to come than it is about BIG moments. I really appreciate that the Corey duo can do both, and I think the series is better for it.
One of the things that has to be resolved before we can move on to the conflict in the final three books is the problem of Marco Inaros and the Free Navy, and the larger problem of the Belt and its inhabitants in this post-Earth world. I think all of that is handled very well, and I think the fact that the authors have SO many POV characters this time is to absolutely give us a widespread view of the expanse (heh) of the story and what's going on. This is the only book in the series with more than a handful of POV characters, and it's more than twenty.
I still have yet to watch the final season of The Expanse TV show, which adapts this book (and parts of the others?? I don't know) because I'm worried it won't be a satisfying ending to the series. This is an irrational fear, I think, because the book series could have stopped here with this one if the authors wanted and it would have been a satisfying ending, so why can't that work for the show, too?
On to Persepolis Rising. I am extremely interested to see how I feel about these last four books, because while I was reading them I was constantly getting the feeling that on re-read I would like them better.
January 2017:
“That’s the problem with things you can’t do twice,” Naomi said. “You can’t ever know how it would have gone if it had been the other way.”
“No. But you can say that if you don’t do something different it’ll happen again, and again, and again, over and over until something changes the game.”
“Like the protomolecule?”
“It didn’t change anything,” Holden said. “Here we are, still doing all the same things we did before. We’ve got a bigger battleground. Some of the sides have shifted around. But it’s all the same crap we’ve been doing since that first guy sharpened a rock.”
First, a warning. If you are looking for an objective review of this book, you can just go ahead and look elsewhere. My ability to be objective flew out the airlock last book and is now floating around out there cold and dead in space. Mayhaps eventually it shall encounter a black hole and spend the rest of eternity being crushed into nothingness. I am complete trash for this series.
Okay, but with that said, I also happen to think I’m right about it, and what I’m right about is that this series is awesome, and it just keeps getting better, and why aren’t you effing reading it. This is top-notch sci-fi, space opera. It has a believable hard science background, and yet the characters are the focus. So many delicious character arcs. So, so many.
It also manages to pull off being simultaneously epic and intimate. Solar-system and species-altering events occur, but they are always grounded in the characters, which of course makes them even more devastating.
“Politics is the art of the possible, Captain Pa. When you play at our level, grudges cost lives.”
This is also a series that, despite being on occasion terrifying and horrific, remains hopeful in tone. Just a bunch of flawed humans running around space, making a hash of things, and underneath that, a basic human decency, and a yearning to be better.
This book has the most POV characters of all the books so far, which was a smart choice. The scope of this story is much larger now, and we really need to be seeing the events from a lot of different perspectives. Holden is there, of course, and Corey manages to give him an arc, even this far into book six. And then we’ve also got POVs from Naomi, Amos, Alex, Bobbie (now a full member of the crew, yay!), Clarissa Mao (also now a crewmember), Avasarala (who breaks my heart), Michio Pa (the captain who can’t make up her mind which side she wants to work for), Fred Johnson, Anderson Dawes, Prax (haven’t seen him in a while), Naomi’s son (the little shit) Philip, Marko (the terrorist leader of the Free Navy), some random one-off chapters of people working on Medina Station, and the whole thing is bookended with a prologue and epilogue from our old friend Anna (the preacher from Abaddon’s Gate).
Listing them out like that, I’m realizing there are actually even more than I’d thought. I’m even more impressed now that the book juggled that many POVs, and did it well.
“Because Inaros and all the Free Navy people, they weren’t fighting for Belter rights or political recognition. They were fighting to have the past back, to have things be what they’ve always been.”
This book is great, hence my five star rating, but it is a bit slower (relatively speaking) than Nemesis Games. Really, though, I appreciate what Corey has done here. This is essentially a book about consequences and clean-up. You can’t just do what they did in book five and expect things to carry on as they were. In fact, I liked that things were slower. I liked seeing how each character (and group of people) reacted to the tragedy. I liked seeing how those reactions spiraled into action. I liked seeing our heroes fighting against the current.
I also found this book to be the most poignant and relevant to things I’ve been feeling in my own life lately. So many moments and quotes in here that hit like a gut punch, or where I found myself stopping the audiobook (and bookmarking) so I could just think to myself, yes yes yes yes yes somebody gets it.
“But she didn’t want the moment to end, either. Any of the moments with these people in this place. Even though eventually they had to. No, not even though. Because. Because eventually they had to. Nothing lasted forever. Not peace. Not war. Nothing.”
I can’t wait for Persepolis Rising. At least we’ve got season two of the show coming up on February 1st....more
"To go from an unregistered birth such as his to having any power and status at all was an achievement as profound as it was invisible."
Before he was "To go from an unregistered birth such as his to having any power and status at all was an achievement as profound as it was invisible."
Before he was the engineer on the Rocinante, Amos Burton lived in Baltimore. A product of prostitution himself, he spent his childhood in sexual slavery, before being rescued by the woman who would essentially become his step-mother. This novella takes place about twenty years before the main events of the series, during a time when the organized crime in Baltimore is once again being ravaged by law enforcement in one of their periodic crack-downs, known by those affected by them as The Churn.
I was a bit conflicted about this as an individual piece. The writing is gorgeous in places, and I love Amos. He's such a fascinating character, a seemingly conflicting mix of brutish, unthinking violence and fierce loyalty. It was interesting seeing where he came from, and the roots of the relationships we see further fleshed out in Nemesis Games. I believe this is meant to be read before that book, however, as a "twist" in this novella is ruined if you've read that book first like I did.
It doesn't matter much, though. The novella is really only interesting if you're already invested in the series, and mostly only as a character piece for Amos, a little slice of his history for context. Especially if you normally dislike stories involving organized crime, which I also very much do....more
I've been meaning to read this ever since I read the first book several years ago. That's where we're first introduced to Fred Johnson, leader of the I've been meaning to read this ever since I read the first book several years ago. That's where we're first introduced to Fred Johnson, leader of the OPA, who was once (and still is) known through the solar system as the Butcher of Anderson Station. This short story elaborates on the brief hints of how he got that name that we got in Leviathan Wakes, and also shows how Fred got involved with the OPA to boot. More importantly, it doesn't just show us how he got that name, but what he did with it, and why it's important. Very good addition to the world. Does just what extra content should do, elaborating on the world, but nothing you wouldn't miss if you didn't read it....more
July 2022: Once again, I find myself rushing to complete this review before I can allow myself to start my re-read of book six. This book was just as July 2022: Once again, I find myself rushing to complete this review before I can allow myself to start my re-read of book six. This book was just as good as I remembered, and in fact, I actually think it was better. I noticed so many things this time around that I didn't before, when I was just focused on, basically, OMG WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
(Something you can only notice on a series re-read: (view spoiler)[They really hit it hard that Amos would be the "Last Man Standing," didn't they? I wonder how many people noticed that before Leviathan Falls. The Corey duo has been dropping clues for that since book two. Also, I picked up at least three offhand comments by several characters about "dropping rocks" on Earth in previous books . . . . (hide spoiler)]
Nemesis Games is the one with THE VERY BIG ENORMOUS THING that happens, which acts as a pivot point for the series, and for humanity as a whole. I just picture the authors sort of laughing evilly with each other while writing this book, like, you think we fucked shit up the last four books? Well, here you go. (It's a dark, gallows humor, of course, because this book is chock full of humanitarian compassion, and THE VERY BIG ENORMOUS THING is treated with the appropriate gravitas by the narrative and by all the characters.)
Everything I said in my first review still stands, but this is a full five stars now.
"There aren’t any new starts,” Bobbie said. “All the new ones pack the old ones along with them. If we ever really started fresh, it’d mean not having a history anymore. I don’t know how to do that."
- - -
"There’s a thing that happens,” Avasarala said, “when unthinkable things become thinkable. We’re in a moment of chaos. Everything’s up for grabs. Legitimacy itself is up for grabs. That’s where we are now."
- - -
"There are two sides in this, but they aren’t inner planets and outer ones. Belters and everyone else. It’s not like that. It’s the people who want more violence and the ones who want less. And no matter what other variable you sample out of, you’ll find some of both."
August 2015: First, a warning: I have officially passed the point of objectivity for this series. You know you’ve passed that point when you no longer care what happens in a book series as long as you get to spend more time in its world hanging out with its characters. This isn’t a place I get to easily, but once I’m there, I never ever leave. Love, it is irrational.
With that said, oh boy, this book was awesome.
In retrospect, one of my favorite things about each book in the series is how different each one of them are to each other. They’re all essentially told with the same style and tone, but Corey* wastes no time languishing in story plots. His characters evolve. Things in his world change, most often in ways that are terrifying and wonderful, in the most basic sense of the word: full-of-wonder. There’s always a moment in each book that Things Change Forever. And in this one, that thing is probably the biggest thing of them all, and it’s even more exhilarating because if you’ve read the four books prior to this one, you are likely very attached emotionally to the characters experiencing these world-changing events.
*A penname for writing duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.
This book also brings us POVs from all the four main crew members of the Rocinante for the very first time. We’ve always had Holden in there, but now we get Naomi, Alex, and Amos up in there, too. And with their POVs comes much needed backstory on all of them, especially Naomi. Hoooooo, Naomi. By the end of the first chapter, you know what’s coming in terms of what I’m about to spoil, so I’m not really counting it as spoilers. The Roci is so beat up from her years of space travel, and particularly her last voyage through the proto-molecule gate, she’s going to need serious revamping and repairs. It’s going to take weeks, months. So the crew split up for some “shore leave.” Amos receives news that his foster mother has died on Earth, so he takes off to take care of things. Alex follows his lead and heads home to Mars, and Naomi heads back to Ceres station after a mysterious message from a man from her past. So, when the trademark Horrific Thing happens, we are in a unique position to get lots of different viewpoints on it, and of course, Holden and Co. are right smack dab in the middle of everything.
I loved this book. I love this crew. It was so satisfying. It was terrifying and horrible and I never wanted to stop listening to it. It makes me want to re-read the first two books to see if I will love them more now. It makes me want book six* PRONTO.
*If you decide to start reading this series, know you are in safe hands. They release a new book every year like clockwork.
So, bottom line, this book was awesome, but you maybe can’t trust my opinion because love is irrational. But you probably should anyway because I have excellent taste.
If I was just rating the story of this book (and this series), I would probably give it all five stars. But holy crap, Pierce Brown’s writing style isIf I was just rating the story of this book (and this series), I would probably give it all five stars. But holy crap, Pierce Brown’s writing style is so melodramatic and self-serious sometimes, his prose so purple, I think it must be suffocating from a lack of oxygen. When he forgets to try to be Important and A Good Writer and just writes, his story shines.
Oh, and Sevro is amazing.
So this is the last book in the Red Rising trilogy (but not the last book set in this universe with these characters), and I think honestly it was a great ending. I was worried because I saw so many mixed reviews, but it did everything I didn’t even know I wanted from it. (I tried not to go in with any expectations, so maybe that has something to do with it.)
There wasn’t a single character whose ending I was unhappy with. The battles were exciting and very, very cool. Plot twists were well executed. It didn’t try to pull off too much like some trilogy enders do. He’s also really good at dialogue. I also thought he finally pulled off something the other books didn’t, mostly because they weren’t interested in doing it–I really finally felt the scope of this world. We got to see the world of Ragnar’s people. We get to travel to a moon that is a huge city. We go out and see the territory of the moon lords. We go to the moon (Luna)! He also did a great job balancing individual character arcs with the scope of the fighting.
It’s just, sometimes I'd be reading and find myself unable to stop rolling my eyes at some of the ways Brown phrases his writing. He also gets really repetitive about things he thinks are “important” and “meaningful,” which in my opinion actually has the opposite effect of what’s he intending. If I had to hear him repeat “break the chains” one more time . . . Darrow is also really obsessed with his and other peoples’ souls being “knit back together” or “pulled back together”. Some variation of that phrase or idea occurred at least five times throughout the course of the book, if not more. It was clunky. Like I said above, I wish he wouldn’t try so hard. I’d give you examples, but I’ve already long returned it to the library, and paid $1.50 in late fees as it is.
Despite our opinions on writing styles not matching, Pierce Brown delivers everything else that I look for in a story (especially space opera/sci-fi), so I’m definitely in for anything else he’s going to write. I will just continue to hope that his writing style calms the hell down as he matures as a writer and person....more
Initial reaction from 1/26/15: Nope. Nooooooooooope. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE. I reject that ending. I reject it wholesale. I hate everything. I want to sInitial reaction from 1/26/15: Nope. Nooooooooooope. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE. I reject that ending. I reject it wholesale. I hate everything. I want to smash furniture and lawn ornaments. Evil, tricksy author. EEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVIIIIIIIIILLLLL.TRRRRRIIICCCKKKKSSSSYYYY AUUUUTHOOOOORRRRR.
. . . full review later. Probably.
[4.5 stars . . . so tempted to give it 5 but holding off for now]
Full review once I calmed the hell down: Not since I first read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix back in 2003 have I encountered a book to so effectively emulate the experience of riding a rollercoaster. Except, instead of sharp drops in gravity and terrifying falls while barely secured to open seats of plastic and metal messing with your innate human fear of heights and your body’s sense of the space-time continuum, it’s just the words and your imagination making your emotions go all whoopity fuck over the place. Golden Son takes the foundation laid in Red Rising and escalates.
Just, escalation everywhere. The whole book is escalators.
It’s too hard for me to talk about what happens in this book in detail. There’s too much to talk about. Instead I’m going to say some vague things that you may apply how you wish.
This book has people shooting out of spaceships as an invasion tactic.
Darrow is being crushed by the weight of his secret life, and the thin line he is forced to walk on a daily basis as he balances his revolutionary tactics with his life as a Gold and his personal relationships.
There is an OH SHIT moment practically every ten pages.
There are almost as many betrayals in this book as there are escalators.
Just when you think the book can’t surprise you anymore, it surprises you seven more times.
There is love and friendship and hatred and vengeance and complicated loyalties.
It explores the way people’s upbringing shapes their opinions about life, and the ways people interact with each other.
Everything is gray, there are no black and whites.
Sevro is amazing.
Everything, all the madness, is held together by a central concern once you step back and take a look at the book as a whole.
The ending pissed me off, almost to the point of hating the book, but not quite.
The book is so good I didn’t even care it was written (sometimes over-written) in first person present tense, which is a POV that can go fuck itself.
This is not YA. It’s adult. Very very adult, and impossible to classify in one genre.
It will make an excellent series of movies, if done right.
I have no idea what’s going to happen next but I’m totally all in.