Leviathan Falls

Not the best of the series but still a fitting send off for the characters in way that's consistent with their arc throughout. It also ties up all the loose ends of the plot in a solid if not a little predictable way.

An excellent finish to an epic series. Logistical and emotional closure with some great action along the way, per usual. I'm definitely going to re-read the whole series consecutively at some point in the future.

I found the ending to the book and the series unsatisfying... not in that it was bad, but that I wanted more.

I would have liked a reminder of what happened in the previous book, there are so many folks referred to in this one that have died in prior books. I hate getting those shockers all over again.

I thought the authors did a great job of wrapping things up! Considering the middle section started taking the concepts so far ‘out there' I was wondering how they were going to bring those to a closure AND THEN bring a closure of the book and series that wouldn't leave their fans wanting to throw big penalty flags and flashing red cards at them. [as in those authors that wrap up 6 storylines in the last 2 paragraphs of a book!]

A Bitter Sweet Ending. It was a good ride.

This book was an incredible read, my heart aches knowing it's over. After reading the previous books during a tough patch of my life and finally reading this book now, allowed me to realise that I can indeed still keep on pushing as I've made it this far. Much love.

Wow! What a ride!

A perfect ending to a great series. I will definitely miss my friends but SUCH a good ending.

2025 Re-read thoughts: reading about the crumbling of empires during an actual crumbling of an empire is weird. I thought it would make me more depressed but it’s reminded me of hope. Of a hope that we can still make the right choice to avoid getting turned into the Borg/Human Instrumentality Project if we just try a little compassion and trust.

This is just the perfect ending for this series and I want to talk about more about it everyone: Tanaka’s violent Ahab routine hunting the leviathan, Amos at the end of the world, the persistence of humanity through all the horrors.

“I absolutely believe that people are more good on balance than bad. […] maybe it’s only a little more good than bad in us, but…..” - James Fucking Holden.

Off the top of my head I cannot recall a long series with a more than OK ending, most are at best disappointing. This ending is...okay, maybe a bit better than okay. The series ends? Check. Majority of plot lines and character arcs, wrapped? Check. Epic with a foreshadowing of a future with/without our characters? Check. Reading the book itself is quick, easy, and adventurous, it sloughs a bit here and there, nothing new for the series. I would not call the best of the series, but it's a fun and enjoyable read. I loved the series, and this does not change my opinion on it one way or another, I'll miss this world.

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What a series.

You know how sometimes the big series – stuff that's longer than 3 books – seem to collapse around the middle and just peter out into something mediocre and disappointing? The Expanse didn't do that. Don't get me wrong – there are definite weak points to the series – but man did the authors stick the landing on this one. No regrets from me on tackling this 9 book monster of a series.

I won't spoil it, because there is a lot to spoil here, but the ending is amazingly satisfying. All ends are tied up, all questions answered. There's even glimpses/mentions of past characters again.

If you like sci-fi stories even a little, you have to read The Expanse. You just have to.

After building up the others so much with their otherworldly bullets, an incredibly disappointing and predictable ending.

A satisfying conclusion to a great series that I am very fond of. ☺

What can I say? Ninth and final book in my favorite series. Such a bittersweet ending and a perfect final chapter.

I'm going to miss these characters

It was weird toolbar Alex was so prominent after they killed him off in season 5 of the TV show.

The ending brought more than I expected for closure on the alien technologies introduced to humanity by the protomecule. I didn't expect the gate builders to basically be the Borg but jellyfish, but it worked for me.

As for our heroes, I thought this book brought perfect closure to their story, even Miller!

Malgré quelques longueurs par-ci par-là, ce neuvième et dernier roman conclut très bien la saga The Expanse. C'est le moment de dire au revoir à l'équipage du Roccinante que nous suivons depuis maintenant plusieurs années, et les adieux sont réussis. La boucle est parfaitement bouclée, et j'ai apprécié ce final à la fois surprenant et attendu : en lisant les derniers chapitres, je me suis dit que cela ne pouvait pas se terminer différemment, et c'est très bien ainsi.

Executive Summary: Endings are hard. This one isn't “perfect” but is quite satisfying.Audiobook: Early on I felt that Jefferson Mays was just OK and kind of hoped for a better replacement. I'm not sure if he grew on me or simply got better, but he does a fantastic job here. I can tell who is talking just by the way he reads. It probably helps that I just redid the entire series beforehand, but either way I highly recommend this series in audio.Full ReviewI was late in coming to the Expanse. I think 3 (or maybe 4?) books were out by the time I first picked it up. However I was pretty instantly hooked. I tore through everything published and from then on I would eagerly await each new book.The series peaked a little for me with [b:Nemesis Games 22886612 Nemesis Games (The Expanse, #5) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407524221l/22886612.SY75.jpg 42456264] and [b:Babylon's Ashes 25877663 Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse, #6) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442247299l/25877663.SY75.jpg 45754030], but I enjoyed it enough to revisit the entire series ahead of this final book. This is one of those series that is really good from start to finish, which is rather hard to do with such a long series.I won't get into any real detail here, but I will say the book answered most (but not all) of my lingering questions and left things off at a pretty good stopping place with a satisfying conclusion.I'm pretty stingy with my 5 star ratings, but one of my go to criteria is a tendency to find extra time to read a book. There were several points in this book where I wanted to listen to “just 1 more chapter” only to find myself needing another 1 (or 2) because I really wanted to know what happened next.I thought the choice of POV was pretty good, although I did struggle a bit with Tanaka. Most of the characters in the series have been interesting, even if they aren't likeable. Tanaka is probably up there with Singh for least enjoyable. I think is in part due to a dislike of the Laconians in general. They zealotry is just hard for me to empathize with. Tanaka is a VERY different character than Singh, but yet I couldn't help to think back to him throughout this book.I've always been drawn more to fantasy than sci-fi with my reading. I don't really like too much “science” in my book. I'm not looking for the author to show me how smart they are with the science in their story. One of the things I've loved about this series is the science seems sound/interesting but doesn't beat you over the head with it. It comes up where relevant, but the characters are the main driving force of the plot.I'm going to really miss this series, because I've yet to find anything else like it. However I appreciate that the authors had a story in mind and they stuck to that. It'd be easy to drag things out or add on extra books because of it's popularity.In the meantime I'm excited for [a:Daniel Abraham 13557729 Daniel Abraham https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s return to fantasy with [b:Age of Ash 58340712 Age of Ash (Kithamar #1) Daniel Abraham https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639378569l/58340712.SY75.jpg 90047600] while I wait to see what [a:James S.A. Corey 4192148 James S.A. Corey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1573162332p2/4192148.jpg] has in store for us next.

This is one of those books/series that you want to read the end of, but don't want it to end. However, as the saying goes, all good things must end.

And this WAS good!

As with the previous books, the secret ingredient is the characters and the depth that we get to explore, especially the core group that we've known from the beginning. That is not to shortchange the story/plot at all; it has been both expansive and yet detailed in its telling.

But the characters are THE stars of this story.

To be honest, before I was halfway through this final book, I expected all of them to die. I won't say whether that happened or not, so as not to spoil the end. But I will say that, after nine books and multiple short stories, I was satisfied with the conclusion of The Expanse series.

This book was beautiful and shattered my heart. I found it to be a satisfying, fitting conclusion that pulled all of the threads together and stayed true to the characters, and I would take that any day over a ‘shocking twist ending' that undermines all that came before.

As much as I wanted Holden to survive and have a chance to heal, in the end he went out as the purest distillation of himself: a reckless, brilliant idiot who saved the whole damn human race. I think I felt sadder for Naomi than anyone else; her wanting the chance to fall asleep next to the man she loved just one last time, and then having to pick up the pieces after his self-sacrifice, just like always.Also, it was so perfectly fitting to have Amos as the last man standing a thousand years later. If anyone could roll with the punches and stand steady through the churn of millennia, it would be him.

My one small complaint was that I wanted to know what happened to Drummer and never understood why she just disappeared from the narrative after book seven, but maybe she will turn up in a novella sometime. I also would love to see more of Teresa; I was so invested in her by the end, and wanted her to have a good life with a found family of her own.

God, what an incredible series. I hope the rest of it somehow, someday makes its way onscreen.