Entertaining, but not as strong as the previous two books
3 stars
Same formula as Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War. The story revolves around and is told from the perspective of a number of main characters, whose storylines come together eventually. However, in this case, the main characters were a lot less relatable than in the previous two books.
It took some buildup for the story to gain some traction, but once that happened, ithe book became hard to put down.
I would have given it 3.5 out of 5. It was not as good as the first two books (which were both solid 4/5s), but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read.
I finished reading this a few weeks ago, and I'm already struggling to remember much about it. It didn't annoy me, but nothing really stood out about it. It's the third in a series and I guess by this stage, you know whether it's the sort of thing you'll enjoy or not.
I've had a complex relationship with The Expanse series, disliking its TV series and yet giving it a second chance via the novels. Abaddon's Gate has a lot of what I like about the series: the action is excellent, and it has a decent mystery (though not a police procedural) that adds a thrill to the times when the guns aren't firing. Holden is the glue that keeps the series anchored, and while he's an enjoyable presence, I'm also happy that his flaws are called out in-universe.
And yet... none of these books have been stand-out hits for me.
Abaddon's Gate is just serious enough to give the universe a sense of gravitas. But it never fully commits to either being serious business or a fun, easy read for the evening. The series is filled with high stakes (the fate of human civilization) and plenty of treacherous moments. I get …
I've had a complex relationship with The Expanse series, disliking its TV series and yet giving it a second chance via the novels. Abaddon's Gate has a lot of what I like about the series: the action is excellent, and it has a decent mystery (though not a police procedural) that adds a thrill to the times when the guns aren't firing. Holden is the glue that keeps the series anchored, and while he's an enjoyable presence, I'm also happy that his flaws are called out in-universe.
And yet... none of these books have been stand-out hits for me.
Abaddon's Gate is just serious enough to give the universe a sense of gravitas. But it never fully commits to either being serious business or a fun, easy read for the evening. The series is filled with high stakes (the fate of human civilization) and plenty of treacherous moments. I get a sense of loss, and the scope of what's going on doesn't allow me to turn off my brain, but the moment the going gets tough, we hit a patch of comic relief. Nowhere is this more obvious than the recurring joke about how Amos is a cold-blooded murderer but at least he's on our side.
Humor is fine, but the series is already short of dramatic tension. It's been a long time since Shed's demise, and nothing since then has made me worry for our heroes in the slightest. The antagonists in this series rarely appear on-screen, and if they do appear, are impotent. A constant stream of new POV characters allows us to stay emotionally uninvolved. When all these elements come together, I'm left with a novel that was entertaining, but forgettable.
The Expanse continues to be engaging and high quality SF. As a viewer of the show, it felt like this volume was the first to significantly diverge from the TV series. Not only does it elaborate on events that were only depicted in fairly abbreviated form on-screen, the characterization also differed. The Captain Ashford depicted in this book was vastly different than the one we got on the show, for example.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly and look forward to continuing the book series.
This is more like a 3.5? Definitely closer to a 4 than a 3 though.
Last book's strength was characters, but unfortunately it wasn't the same here. I wasn't particularly thrilled by any of the POVs. But the adventure inside the ring? Hell yes!
Now to my usual comparison to the TV series: I found Clarissa a bit more convincing as a character here. Ashford isn't as much of an asshole in the TV series. Also, so far this one had the most differences between the mediums!
This is more like a 3.5? Definitely closer to a 4 than a 3 though.
Last book's strength was characters, but unfortunately it wasn't the same here. I wasn't particularly thrilled by any of the POVs. But the adventure inside the ring? Hell yes!
Now to my usual comparison to the TV series: I found Clarissa a bit more convincing as a character here. Ashford isn't as much of an asshole in the TV series. Also, so far this one had the most differences between the mediums!
Show a human a closed door, and no matter how many open doors she finds, she'll be haunted by what might be behind it.
The branch between the Syfy/Amazon show and the books had to happen but I didn't expect it to happen in Abaddon's Gate. The first half of the book I was cruising along, following with my memories of the TV show and the thought "this doesn't seem familiar" occurred more and more and then I realized I was in new-to-me territory.
Looking back on the book it didn't feel like much happened: Ring is established, people go through the Ring, Holden learns things, everyone leaves the Ring. Of course so much more happened between those peaks and they made the story fly by.
Heroism is a label most people get for doing shit they'd never do if they were really thinking about it.
The destruction of …
Show a human a closed door, and no matter how many open doors she finds, she'll be haunted by what might be behind it.
The branch between the Syfy/Amazon show and the books had to happen but I didn't expect it to happen in Abaddon's Gate. The first half of the book I was cruising along, following with my memories of the TV show and the thought "this doesn't seem familiar" occurred more and more and then I realized I was in new-to-me territory.
Looking back on the book it didn't feel like much happened: Ring is established, people go through the Ring, Holden learns things, everyone leaves the Ring. Of course so much more happened between those peaks and they made the story fly by.
Heroism is a label most people get for doing shit they'd never do if they were really thinking about it.
The destruction of the Ring fleet when the Slow Zone changed the rules was brilliant. The physics of gravity have been central to the plot of the series and it was an excellent tool here again. Maneuvering, fighting, medial care all change when there is no gravity and the chapters on the Behemoth have been the highlight of the series.
"Well," Miller Said. "Now you're asking me to explain microwaves to a monkey."
The book was a great read but it didn't fit the really liked it classification but I can't justify my rating one way or another. Even though the story is rooted in sci-fi the coup and counter-coup may have worn on me. What I enjoyed from Expanse #2 may have been the different locations and having the story merge together, or perhaps I missed Bobbie and Chrisjen.
Like Bobbie and Chrisjen the opportunity to dive in to the character of Melba/Clarrisa was a huge win for the book. Her character felt a bit one dimensional in the TV series but through the book we learn her motives, understand her grief and the monsters she carries with her when she survives. Unfortunately the Anna chapters didn't impress as much but Amos likes her so she can't be that bad, right?
His words were full of hope and threat.
Like the stars.
I don't expect anything to happen to the cast of the Rocinante so when they are involved in the coup or counter-coup activities there doesn't seem to be high stakes. I'm sure there was a time when readers thought all Starks were safe in Song of Ice and Fire so I may be surprised with unexpected fatalities but that was missing here.
Yes, there were thousands of casualties and some primary characters that perished in this book but for some their fate was decided before the halfway point of the book and they were finishing out their improbable missions.
There's a difference between tragedy and evil, and I am that difference.
I'm holding off on watching the fourth season of The Expanse until I read all the books and I crossed the line where I have no preconceptions of characters or plot, so going forward the books will have to survive on their own merit and I think they're up for the task.
That humans only have so much emotional energy. No matter how intense the situation, or how powerful the feelings, it was impossible to maintain a heightened emotional state forever. Eventually you'd just get tired and want it to end.
Yet another entertaining book in the Expanse series. It was a bit rocky at the beginning but things smoothed out and the tale proceeded rapidly, ending with an expected & typical high-end crescendo (that means, it ended with a bang). ;)
A little bit slower than the last ones. Also some of the fight scenes are a bit confusingly written. Hard to follow. But other than that still a great sci fi book. Will read the next one asap.
As a big fan of the TV show, I was a bit underwhelmed by the first book, Leviathan Wakes, but they certainly have picked up speed since. Caliban's War was really good, and Abaddon's Gate is better. I like how the authors can keep widening the scope of the grand narrative so that every time you think you've gotten the plot pinned down, they "zoom out" and reveal that it was just a part of the greater picture.
If the writers keep up this stride, it'll be very interesting to read a few books from now.
The plot is definitely one we've seen before, mankind finds unexplained thing left behind by a long-gone civilization. But the duo behind the Expanse books manage to do something much bigger and show the humans on the ground struggling to understand their place in the universe in connection with the things bigger than themselves that they find out there.
{mild spoilers ahead} After the great first two novels, this was a pretty big disappointment to me. While the overall story arch (Holden) is interesting, the other three narratives ranged from boring to aggravating, at least in my opinion. The whole revenge plot seemed at times really ridiculous, like a desperately bad plot device turned deus ex machina. The whole priest plot aggravated me because it is so utterly Christian, which I am just not a fan of - at least not in my sci-fi novels. Even the Bull plot was full of mentions of God, giving me the feeling that this whole series might turn into a ridiculous search for God or something. It's the future and we've colonized space, do we really need religion?! And WHY does it have to be Christianity, when it's foreseeably not even the biggest religion on the planet in 200 year's time? Why …
{mild spoilers ahead} After the great first two novels, this was a pretty big disappointment to me. While the overall story arch (Holden) is interesting, the other three narratives ranged from boring to aggravating, at least in my opinion. The whole revenge plot seemed at times really ridiculous, like a desperately bad plot device turned deus ex machina. The whole priest plot aggravated me because it is so utterly Christian, which I am just not a fan of - at least not in my sci-fi novels. Even the Bull plot was full of mentions of God, giving me the feeling that this whole series might turn into a ridiculous search for God or something. It's the future and we've colonized space, do we really need religion?! And WHY does it have to be Christianity, when it's foreseeably not even the biggest religion on the planet in 200 year's time? Why not Hinduism or Buddhism, if the authors so desperately want religion? Well, they're American, of course, what else do they know. That's pretty apparent in Anna's plot as well. First of all why is she a Methodist from Russia, when the largest religious group in Russia is orthodox and protestants make up 1% in Russia? Second of all, why does she have a "college fund" for her daughter, which is like the most American thing ever? Feels a bit poorly researched this book, on top of all the annoying "God" content.
Other than that, I think the whole plot was dragged out way too much. I think it could have been told much better in just half the time. Anyway, I'll start book 4 soon, but if it's full of God again, I might just throw these out the window.
The bodycount of named characters in this book ... is just ... a lot to process. And the escalation ... it all starts with a „I hope it won‘t happen the way Clarissa planned.“ and from there it gets steadily worse. Whenever I thought „oh now it can‘t get worse, that‘s it“ somehow it can be.
But at the end, there are fart jokes.
We‘ve watched Season 1+2 of the show, so I can‘t talk spoilers at home. Waaaaah. But this book neeDs talking about. So longer review will follow.
