Cibola Burn

The Expanse is probably my favorite modern Sci-Fi series. I fell in love with Leviathan Wakes, and it just hasn't stopped. Cibola Burn definitely does justice to the characters I've come to love, entrenching them in conflicts new and familiar alike. By far my favorite aspect is the relationship between Holden and “Miller” and I was extremely sad to see that it is more or less ended. The dialogue is, as usual, snappy and funny and absolutely will translate well into the tv series (Please be good to this one, Syfy... just... be good). The Peril quota is off the charts as the entire crew of the Rocinante and everyone they encounter utterly fails to catch a single break throughout the entire book.

I didn't like this book quite as much as Abaddon's Gate if only because these the human-generated peril situations that occur are so deeply frustrating. We sit there, like Holden, seeing what needs to be done and just getting knotted up in ego, bureaucracy, and neurotoxic slugs. It's a feeling I'm too familiar with in my daily life (except the neurotoxic slug part) and the idea that we are all wasting time trying to get through the day when bigger issues are looming uncomfortably close hits pretty close to home. Murtry's single minded obsession with his way or the highway stretches a bit further than I can personally conceive, but that doesn't mean it isn't a real possibility.

We get a slew of new viewpoint characters in this one and cameos by some old favorites. Of these, I found Elvi the hardest to read (probably the most traditional “girl” character the Corey team have ever done and thus a little hard for me to stomach) and Havelock's the most compelling. Havelock's perspective is the only reason I'm able to take any of the RCE's team actions as logical possibilities for this situation, and he provides a much needed justification for the “evil corporation.”

For fans of the Expanse, definitely lives up to its predecessors. For non-fans of the Expanse, please go read the Expanse. I'm excited to see it hinted that Bobbie is going to feature in the next book, and I'm cautiously hopeful about the Expanse tv series. I just wish we could pull the cast of Firefly to fill in the Rocinante's crew. Also, if anyone on Etsy is making Rocinante crew apparel, I'd like some please.