eBook, 560 pages
English language
Published Dec. 5, 2017 by Orbit Books.
"The seventh novel in James S. A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now a major television series. AN OLD ENEMY RETURNS In the thousand-sun network of humanity's expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way. Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace. In the vast space between Earth and Jupiter, the inner planets and belt have formed a tentative and uncertain alliance still haunted by a history of wars and prejudices. On the lost colony world of Laconia, a hidden enemy has a new vision for all of humanity and the power to enforce it. New technologies clash with old as the history of human conflict returns to its ancient patterns of war and subjugation. But human nature is not the only enemy, and …
"The seventh novel in James S. A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now a major television series. AN OLD ENEMY RETURNS In the thousand-sun network of humanity's expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way. Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace. In the vast space between Earth and Jupiter, the inner planets and belt have formed a tentative and uncertain alliance still haunted by a history of wars and prejudices. On the lost colony world of Laconia, a hidden enemy has a new vision for all of humanity and the power to enforce it. New technologies clash with old as the history of human conflict returns to its ancient patterns of war and subjugation. But human nature is not the only enemy, and the forces being unleashed have their own price. A price that will change the shape of humanity -- and of the Rocinante -- unexpectedly and forever... Persepolis Rising is the seventh novel in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series"--
Excellent. I've been wanting to read this book since the expanse tv show was over. Finally I know what happens after, and I was not disappointed.
Great bounce back after the last back was lacking.
Great development of the story. I felt a urge to just keep reading non-stop to learn what would happen next.
This book isn’t bad, I just don’t care for the type of story being told. If my wife wasn’t also reading the series, then I might not have finished it. Still planning to try to finish the series.
I dislike stories about living under tyranny. I generally find them too depressing. I appreciated that this book more or less ended on a high note, but that didn't make slogging through the rest of the book less of a chore.
I also have to say that thanks to the TV show, I'm just a little surprised whenever Alex makes an appearance now.
This was a great book in the series. the start was a bit discombobulating for me, but once I got that I was on the right book, it was exactly what I wanted. And somehow, the characters came even more alive than they normally do in these books. Bobbie really shines in this one.
2021 Re-read
That seemed to be the human pattern - reach out to the unknown and then make it into the sort of thing you left in the first place.
It's been eighteen months but going back to the universe of The Expanse feels like a comfortable pair of slippers. I have zero regrets doing a mini re-read in advance of Book #9 and found myself fully engaged and interested in the story.
That astonishing moment in human history, passing through a stable wormhole into an alien-created network of interstellar gates, had just led to a whole bunch of people deciding to shoot each other.
My review last year wasn't sure Laconia were the bad guys and I am still in that camp. They attack when provoked, stick to incredible standards and no one gets a pass (see Singh at the end). If there is a subreddit for r/thanosdidnothingwrong/ there …
2021 Re-read
That seemed to be the human pattern - reach out to the unknown and then make it into the sort of thing you left in the first place.
It's been eighteen months but going back to the universe of The Expanse feels like a comfortable pair of slippers. I have zero regrets doing a mini re-read in advance of Book #9 and found myself fully engaged and interested in the story.
That astonishing moment in human history, passing through a stable wormhole into an alien-created network of interstellar gates, had just led to a whole bunch of people deciding to shoot each other.
My review last year wasn't sure Laconia were the bad guys and I am still in that camp. They attack when provoked, stick to incredible standards and no one gets a pass (see Singh at the end). If there is a subreddit for r/thanosdidnothingwrong/ there should be one for Laconia too.
Happy to be back with my family on the Rocinante and carry on to the next one.
That seemed right too. Being at home, but also in a space her body didn't understand. Being in control of her day, but not of her life.
Across nine books I imagine The Expanse is split up in to a sub-series that spans multiple arcs, or perhaps it covers a specific amount of time. The idea of three trilogies within the series isn't unique and I imagine others will have outlined and described it better than I can, but Persepolis Rising feels like a natural break for the previous story and sets the stage on what's to come.
While trying to capture my thoughts on Persepolis Rising I was going to use that notion of trilogies to explain how I felt about the book. I picture each trilogy focusing on the following:
Books 1-3: The Protomolecule and what it can do
Books 4-6: The Gates and civil war among humanity
Books 7-9: Humanities evolution with the gates
I looked for patterns in how I rated the books and if they were impacted by where they were in those "sub-series". I made a pretty good case for why the "starting books" in the "sub-series" wasn't the strongest of the bunch, but it wore on and ratings are arbitrary so I abandoned the idea.
Why am I having a hard time unpacking this story? Is this natural when characters are scattered and new ones are introduced? Perhaps...
"We were just starting to figure this shit out. Earth and Mars working together, the colonies talking out their problems. Even the Transport Union turned out to be a pretty good idea. Why come kick the table over? Couldn't he have just pulled up a chair with the rest of us?"
"Because some men need to own everything."
I enjoyed Persepolis Rising, it deserved more than three stars but it didn't quite reach five star quality. Four stars is that happy spot but I may find the book leaned closer to three stars than five. The last few instalments have shown some nice change ups in how the story is told but in the end it's just humans fighting humans. This time Laconia has advanced alien tech and came to mess things up...right when colonies were figuring it out.
"It's the reward of old age," Avasarala said. "You live long enough, and you can watch everything you worked for become irrelevant."
Persepolis Rising felt like a reset on all the progression, as the Avasalara quote above indicated. This is simply how it is and humanity is destined to rewrite their own history because they feel they can do it better. And yet I found myself thinking that Laconia isn't all that bad and were the best parts of Martian and Earth rule so I'm curious to see how the rest of the series plays out and if the evils of Laconia (breaking a few eggs to make an omelette) will outweigh what humanity has done for centuries before.
It was an odd group of people to fall in love with, to adopt as your own kin and tribe, but there it was, and she wasn't ever going back.
With the time jump between books there is a heavy focus on age, family and the realization that none of it is permanent. The reader experiences the same grief as the crew of the Rocinante as we realize that we see less of our favorite characters, understand the "good old days" are behind us and need to embrace the changing tides as we see our heroes drift apart.
For me the most notable character in Persepolis Rising was Amos. He had a single POV chapter and very few lines in between but when he did speak it carried hurt, weight and emotion.
"I'm sad, Babs. I'm angry. But I'm okay. Going down fighting was a good way for her to go too. I can live with it."
Wow. Only a few sentences but it offered significant insight in to Amos' mental health and allowed himself to be vulnerable. This conversation followed the "talk" Amos and Bobbie had in the food storage room, which was another look in to what makes Amos tick.
The Amos and Clarissa story has been my favorite of the series and that carried through here. They are such an unlikely but totally plutonic pairing that is completely endearing. I may fault the series for defaulting to "humanity fighting with itself" but the character developments have been incredible, and that is no more evident than with Amos.
It was a deep irony that being a prisoner and being in power could be so mismatched.
I would have liked a bit more reference to stories or events that happened outside of the main stories (perhaps refer to some that are in the novellas), but it felt like the crew would reminisce about events from previous books and not much from the time the time jump covered. Or maybe that is the result of peace times and the only crazy stories were from Ganymede, Io or Ilus.
I am a big fan of unlikely sides working together in the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation and the insurgencies on Medina had that in spades. And how do you compete against an enemy with a superior advantage? You fight dirty, take advantage of any footholds you have and get creative. Naomi and Bobbie referred to this and they keep trying crazy plans hoping to get lucky and eventually that will run out. For now this plot device hasn't worn itself out but it was a nice acknowledgement that the team isn't invincible and they are sometimes just getting by.
It seemed to her that the real sign you were getting old was when you stopped needing to prove you weren't getting old.
Will the failures of humanity repeat throughout this next trilogy? Or will the protomolecule disrupt harmonious times? I'm strapped in to the crash couch and ready to dive in to the penultimate story.
I loved the Rocinante crew bits of this book, and some of the new tech wonder/mystery/danger too. As far as antagonists go, I found the Laconians only slightly more engaging than the Free Navy of Nemesis Games. There was a "God Emperor of Dune" feel to the Laconian shenanigans that didn't land well for me.
I'm still excited to see where things go next. The main joy for me is seeing the Rocinante crew age and evolve, and coming to know them more deeply every book.
Another solid adventure in the Expanse series. The old heroes and heroines do not disappoint. Some old heroes go away and new heroes arrive. This volume concludes with a rush to what is the current series finale.
In deference to the authors, I'll jump right in to the fray.
Well, this book changes things up. I won't give away too much, except for something that's mentioned within the first couple of pages: This book takes place 30 years after the previous one. A lot has changed during that time, but the main characters still feel like the same people. I'm not sure that's a good thing - I think the authors might have been able to do more to show us how these people have changed during those three decades.
Babylon's Ashes was one of my favorite books in the series. I didn't like this one as much. The story just wasn't as compelling for me. I did like the way the main antagonist was portrayed as a guy who was trying to do the right thing (in his view) and just kept making the wrong decision. I also thought the descriptions of the Belter culture of insurgency were …
Well, this book changes things up. I won't give away too much, except for something that's mentioned within the first couple of pages: This book takes place 30 years after the previous one. A lot has changed during that time, but the main characters still feel like the same people. I'm not sure that's a good thing - I think the authors might have been able to do more to show us how these people have changed during those three decades.
Babylon's Ashes was one of my favorite books in the series. I didn't like this one as much. The story just wasn't as compelling for me. I did like the way the main antagonist was portrayed as a guy who was trying to do the right thing (in his view) and just kept making the wrong decision. I also thought the descriptions of the Belter culture of insurgency were done well.
Seventh book, still great, and kind of really want to dive in #8 right now. That's fucking rare, people.
This one while good seems more like an in-between installment connecting pieces of plot. While I did enjoy the story a lot there was too little focus on my favorites from the Rocinante and too many other characters even if Singh and Drummer are good. Singh's especially is fascinating and I should of foreseen his ending as a sacrifice, that was why they did choose a young believer as governor, either he does well, then it's a win, or they sacrifice him to show the people they will do that and it is a win. The only one who can lose is Singh and he does drive this one spectacularly against the wall.. Also Avasarala gets way too little screentime even though she's old now, she barely gets two sentences to say...
I did like the epilogue though with Duarte and Holden and I predict Holden will join Duarte in …
This one while good seems more like an in-between installment connecting pieces of plot. While I did enjoy the story a lot there was too little focus on my favorites from the Rocinante and too many other characters even if Singh and Drummer are good. Singh's especially is fascinating and I should of foreseen his ending as a sacrifice, that was why they did choose a young believer as governor, either he does well, then it's a win, or they sacrifice him to show the people they will do that and it is a win. The only one who can lose is Singh and he does drive this one spectacularly against the wall.. Also Avasarala gets way too little screentime even though she's old now, she barely gets two sentences to say...
I did like the epilogue though with Duarte and Holden and I predict Holden will join Duarte in the next book to help fight off the big bad void whatevers and Naomi will hate him for the whole book until they get to meet ...
Also I think this is the first book that has a chapter from Amos - fascinating - perspective.
So I am absolutely ready for the next one. Give me more!
оце так cliff hanger...
More enjoyable than the last few.
Slow start, good middle, and anticlimactic end.
Well, this was a game changer for the series. I'm glad that some long forgotten plot points seem to finally be coming back, albeit slowly. Can't wait for the conclusion to the series in book 8 and 9.
