Tiamat's Wrath

I think each of the Expanse books feel like payoff for the ones before, they keep building on the already rich universe within them. This was no different. I like so much about these books: the realistic physics, plausible science, the intense battles, intriguing technology, rich characters, the set of heroes that we've been following for so long. This book threw some more weird stuff at us like the Jupiter-sized diamond and the weird consciousness snuffing monsters. I can't wait for the next book to see how the story continues.

Executive Summary: It's hard to say why I gave this book 5 stars without massive spoilers, so I'll simply say that I was always looking for reasons to keep listening, and had I been reading it instead I would have finished it much sooner.Audiobook: Another great job by Jefferson Mays. Early on I didn't find him that impressive, but when he didn't do [b:Cibola Burn 18656030 Cibola Burn (The Expanse, #4) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405023040l/18656030.SY75.jpg 26109318] I realized how much I liked him for the series. I'm not sure if he's a narrator that I'd pick up another series for, but he's the only one I want narrating this series now.Full ReviewThis series has quickly become one of my favorites and each new book was always one of my most anticipated and best reads of the year. I still really enjoyed [b:Persepolis Rising 28335696 Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, #7) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481562381l/28335696.SY75.jpg 48382887], but I wasn't happy with all the turn of events.When they announced this one was delayed from December to March I figured it was due to the the time they've spent writing the show, and was happy to wait if it meant a return to form. It was definitely worth the wait.I'm really happy the show got picked up by Amazon and I hope they get to complete the series because once the final book is published I'd have a big Expanse (get it?) in my reading schedule.If you haven't read the books, or watched the show you're missing out and I highly recommend checking out one (or both) because I think they are fantastic. Now I'm going to eagerly await the release of Season 4 and then (hopefully) book 9.

Had me hooked from start to finish. Great Read.

Well, holy shit!

Wow...this book was incredible. After how we left things at the end of Persepolis Rising, I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.

I'm writing this 2.5 years after I finished Tiamat's Wrath for the first time, and a week after I finished it for the ... ~10th time. So saying I like this book and this series is a bit of an understatement.

If you're reading this review, chances are you liked the previous Expanse books (plus we're ages past its release date) so I'm not going to worry about spoilers after this point. You've been warned.

So the opening is a bit of a heartbreak. Take a cry break if you need to, but power on because this book is real good.

While Holden has never been my favorite (I've always liked him, but he gets edged out by a decent margin), he really grew on me here. He's learned a lot and I love what he does with his shit situation after getting captured on Medina in Persepolis Riding. The way he interacts with everyone, the dancing bear, the way he just has to push a button if he sees it.

Naomi continues to level up her awesomeness with each book. She's boss level now and I love it.

Alex just keeps doing his thing and continues to be the heart and soul of the Roci crew.

Bobbie Draper is the most badass woman to ever exist, and everything about her character is perfection.

Amos. The last man standing. His whole arc in this book is great and rivals his post-apocalyptic trek with Peaches.

Elvi makes a fun re-appearance and I'm so glad. I liked her in Cibola Burn (yes, even her crush on Holden, I thought it was realistic!) and I like her here. She's another awesome woman who gets shit done in her way.

Teresa is a nice new addition and I hope she sticks around for the last book. But if you didn't like Elvi in Cibola Burn, you'll probably need to dust off your Liz Lemon eyeroll for some of her chapters. She's a bit cringe at times, given she's the teenage daughter of a galactic dictator, but her story is important, interesting, and pretty funny.

While there's some heartbreak in this book, the ending is happy-ish (I mean, we are still in the Expanse series, it's not a Disney movie) and will leave you eagerly anticipating Leviathan Falls.

This series is just my favorite long-running series in existence. We're in the penultimate chapter, and so much is lost. So much of the book is spent with a broken, fractured crew. So much of the book is spent far away from the Rocinante. It's deeply impressive how far the world has moved from Leviathan Wakes, how much the characters have changed and grown. If you're already an Expanse fan, you'll need this in your life. If you're not, get on it. You also need this in your life. This fine ship. This fine crew.

Great stuff as usual, but a very distinct attempt to take the series in a new direction and setup a forthcoming conclusion that's pretty epic.

There's a lot that happened in between this and book 7 though. Hopefully more short stories and novellas are in the oven too.