Finally reaching a point in this series where I am reading books I hadn't read yet. Impressed with how each one I like a little more than the one before it, with maybe the exception of book 2, mostly because there are some bangers of lines from Avasarala in that one...but this one probably has my favorite line from her.

This one is basically a frontier space western. A new Sheriff comes to town to go toe-to-toe with the mining company that is trying to stake a claim on a lawless world. I think the book sums itself up well with the line "The frontier doesn't have laws, it has cops."

As a result, the political intrigue that backbones the series becomes a lot more close-up and intense. There's a theme of how thin the line between enemy and ally really is, especially when survival is on the line.

On top of that, the scientists and engineers of the Expanse universe get a lot more screen-time, which scratches the "competency porn" itch that the series sort of teases at sometimes. If you liked it when Andy Weir had his protagonist "science the shit" out of a string of bad situations, you'll like this book.

I am looking forward to getting beyond the books coveted by the show, and I think either the next book or the one after should get me there.