I love The Expanse series. I’ve read every book and watched the series on television. I waited so long with great expectations for this seventh book only to be let down and disappointed. It started off great, as usual and put me right back into the fold with Holden and his crew. These characters are why the series has been so good. However, separating them and then falling away from their storylines was a huge mistake. Holden, the main character and heart and sole of the books was barely even in the story. By the end, the book had jumbled the story line into a big rushed mess and confused me as to what had just happened. It was as if the writers just wanted to end it quickly because they had a dinner date to get to. Totally killed the thrill of the Expanse story.

I grew up on Heinlein, Clarke, & Asimov... the Expanse equals & surpasses them all. Can't wait for the next one! MC Lynch

This series continues to entertain and keep me wanting more. Sad I’ll have to wait who knows how long got the next installment. Really excited to see where it goes from here.

The worst in the series. This book is slow and filled with by stories that don’t advance the plot. New characters are shallow and incomplete. The authors finally fall into the trap of telling half a story to get more book sales. The series has been getting slower and thinner and now its dropped to a waste of time. Skip this one altogether.

Some of the last few books in the series have been less than stellar. This is headed in the right direction.

I noticed some parallels between this first book of a new Expanse trilogy and the Star Wars film. I won’t include spoilers of exactly how. The title references the fact that after the fall of Babylon, the new power was Persia with it’s capital Persepolis. The new power here is Laconia and it’s proto-molecule enhanced ruler Winston Duarte, the leader of the rouge Martian fleet that disappeared beyond the gates in an earlier book. Of course Holden and the crew of the Rociante are once again at the center of the action. But some 30 years after the events of Leviathan Wakes, the crew is starting to show their age and is on the edge of dissolving until events force them to reunite. The strength of this series is always the superb characterization, rich, complex 3D characters. Even the “villains” believe their cause is noble, it’s just that their noble end justify their questionable means. And of course, power corrupts and absolute power, well, you know where that’s going to end up. As if that’s not enough, the entities who killed the proto-molecule builders are evidently still around and not taking kindly to someone trying to rebuild their empire. All in all this is a must read for any SF fan.