Babylon's Ashes

Executive Summary: This is the second book in a row I've given one of my rare 5-star ratings to, and the second year in a row that an Expanse book is my favorite read. If you haven't given this series a look yet, you really should!Audiobook: Jefferson Mays once again does a great job. He reads with good inflection, volume and pace. He does a few voices for the characters, including an excellent job with Avasarala. This is definitely a series I plan to continue in audio so long as he's the narrator.Full ReviewI imagine that most Sci-Fi fans know the Expanse by now. The SyFy channel's adaptation earlier this year was fantastic. However I think this is one of those series that will have a broader appeal. It doesn't spend too much time focused on the science. Sure there is advanced technology, but it's used in a way as to be commonplace and not necessarily exceptional. This is Space Opera in the vein of Star Trek, Battlestar Galatica and Firefly.At the core of this series is the conflicts between Earth, Mars and “The belt”. Last year's [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] really ramped that conflict up to a whole new level making my expectations for this book incredibly high. This was my most anticipated book of the year, and I was really bummed when it got delayed. I'm happy to report that [a:James S.A. Corey 4192148 James S.A. Corey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1573162332p2/4192148.jpg] have once again delivered.I've seen this series called a “trilogy of trilogies” which would make this the final book in the second trilogy. That seems like a good fit. Many of things set in motion by [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] and ramped up in [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] get resolved in this book, all while setting the stage for the next arc to come.A quick glance at the table of contents may give you some pause. In the past the format has 2-5 PoV's with James Holden as the only recurring viewpoint. This book however has a whopping 19 PoV's (including the prologue/epilogue). So has the Expanse gone full Game of Thrones? Not quite. I think this book tells a “bigger” story in terms of distance, and it's nice to have a boots on the ground view that doesn't introduce implausible reasons for a small number of characters to be everywhere. I thought it was well done. Every chapter/PoV felt like a good addition to the story. Many of the PoV's are one-offs, and a few of them are only a handful of chapters, while Holden and two other characters (Pa and Filip) have a large number of chapters throughout. I'll be curious to see if they keep to this format in future books of if this one was a special exception. I typically prefer a smaller (~4) number of PoVs.I often have a hard time deciding between a really good book (4-4.5 stars) and a really great book (5). I don't have a hard and fast criteria. The one sure fire sign is when I hate to put a book down and make excuses to read/listen longer each day. This book was definitely that. On the very first day I had to make time to squeeze in a few extra chapters because I hit a “no way I can stop here” moment.The characters in this series are excellent. Avasarala continues to be my favorite, but I love the entire crew of the Rocinate, and Bobbie Draper nearly as much. The main antagonist in the book Marco Inaros can feel a bit 1 dimensional at times, but he still feels very real to me too. His motivations and actions make sense. He never feels like he's doing things simply for the sake of a good story. He's just a bit single minded.Overall I really enjoyed this book, albeit slightly less than [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]. I'm really excited for [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] (which will hopefully be out next year). In the meantime I can't wait to see Bobbie Draper on screen for the first time with Season 2 of the Expanse in February.