Caliban's War

I just loved Chrisjen Avasarala for her no holds barred speaking and the fact that the author had her telling you exactly what political intrigue was about to happen. I HATE when the author has folks sneaking around in the background generating trouble. I think, they think they're creating anticipation but all they do is make me want to stop reading their work.Pacing was even better than [b:Leviathan Wakes 8855321 Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411013134l/8855321.SY75.jpg 13730452] and I was at first disheartened to see my favorite character from it was gone but I took a keen interest in Bobbie Draper.I'll be reading the next in the series.

Executive Summary: A step up from [b:Leviathan Wakes 8855321 Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1) James S.A. Corey https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1289046195s/8855321.jpg 13730452] with some really great new point of view characters. It started a bit slow for me, but eventually it became hard to have to stop listening for the day.Audio book: Jefferson Mays is once again a good, but not great narrator. He doesn't add much to the story. He does an decent Indian accent for Avasarala, but reads everyone else the same as far as I can tell.Full ReviewUnlike [b:Leviathan Wakes 8855321 Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1) James S.A. Corey https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1289046195s/8855321.jpg 13730452], this book started slow for me. It's likely due to three brand new characters to get used to and the fact that two of the four POVs annoyed me at the start.Once I got warmed up though, this book was even harder to put down than the first. I really enjoyed both of the new female POV characters, Bobbie and Avasarala. Especially Avasarala. The crafty elderly politician who swears like a sailor, but really has the solar systems best interest at heart.Prax took me much longer time to warm up to, and Holden who I was mostly indifferent towards in [b:Leviathan Wakes 8855321 Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1) James S.A. Corey https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1289046195s/8855321.jpg 13730452], was down right obnoxious for about half the book.Overall I think the story was better too. Mr. Abraham and Mr. Franck are able to build on what was established in the first story and really get into the meat of the story much faster.By the addition of Avasarala as a POV character we get a lot more politics than the first book. While I'm not much on real life politics I usually find them especially interesting in my reading. It really shows the stupidity of humans with only self interest at heart.Another major difference from [b:Leviathan Wakes 8855321 Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1) James S.A. Corey https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1289046195s/8855321.jpg 13730452] was the cliffhanger ending. I feel like that book could almost be read stand alone. It leaves you with unanswered questions, but the story comes to a good conclusion. When I reached the end of this one, any debate about taking a break for another audio book was put to rest. I'm glad I didn't have to wait between books 2 and 3.Very Enjoyable. 4.5 Stars (losing half a star for the slow start)