Leviathan Falls

Well, that concludes a nine, 500 page book series. Around book 4, I knew I'd keep following these characters no matter what. I'd say they really stuck the landing here.

The series managed to be impressively consistent while taking creative risks. Tying most of the loose ends together after crafting such a sprawling story is pretty darn impressive from my perspective.

The Expanse books are mostly about how humans continue to be human no matter what situations they find themselves in. There is an almost folksy quality to the writing that I appreciate.

I feel well-rewarded for my time investment in this series and have developed a genuine emotional attachment to the four principal characters. Farewell Rocinante.

The series is over, maybe the best one I've ever read, and its final entry a fantastic finale. While the final third of the series isn't my favourite of the lot, there isn't a single book in the Expanse universe that I don't love, and the nostalgic points in this finale leave me wanting to start the whole bloody series over again.

It was weird toolbar Alex was so prominent after they killed him off in season 5 of the TV show.

The ending brought more than I expected for closure on the alien technologies introduced to humanity by the protomecule. I didn't expect the gate builders to basically be the Borg but jellyfish, but it worked for me.

As for our heroes, I thought this book brought perfect closure to their story, even Miller!

Hard to believe the series is done, and I've been putting off writing my review so I could have some time to digest it. What did I think of Leviathan Falls? I think it was terrific. In terms of the series as a whole, I think this book caps off what is likely my favourite of the “trilogies”, and I like the arc that the three trilogies created together. I liked the new character of Tanaka, and the culmination of the characters of Jim, Amos, Alex, and Naomi. While I had kind of anticipated the large beats this book might take in terms of it's plot, it was wonderfully written - in an exciting and stirring way. Even if you anticipate the twists and turns - it's the details that make The Expanse really pop. Even out in the orbit of some planet on the other side of the galaxy, or inside the weird ring space, the writers have been terrific at making characters and situations relatable - and I think that's a hallmark of The Expanse. This isn't a story about heroic archetypes - it's a story about regular blue collar folks caught up in plans much larger than they are - and the lengths to which they are willing to go. I'm going to miss my friends on board The Rocinante - but I'm eager to see what James SA Corey has in store for the future, assuming Ty and Daniel decide to work together again. Cheers, beltalowdas!

Malgré quelques longueurs par-ci par-là, ce neuvième et dernier roman conclut très bien la saga The Expanse. C'est le moment de dire au revoir à l'équipage du Roccinante que nous suivons depuis maintenant plusieurs années, et les adieux sont réussis. La boucle est parfaitement bouclée, et j'ai apprécié ce final à la fois surprenant et attendu : en lisant les derniers chapitres, je me suis dit que cela ne pouvait pas se terminer différemment, et c'est très bien ainsi.

I would have liked a reminder of what happened in the previous book, there are so many folks referred to in this one that have died in prior books. I hate getting those shockers all over again.

I thought the authors did a great job of wrapping things up! Considering the middle section started taking the concepts so far ‘out there' I was wondering how they were going to bring those to a closure AND THEN bring a closure of the book and series that wouldn't leave their fans wanting to throw big penalty flags and flashing red cards at them. [as in those authors that wrap up 6 storylines in the last 2 paragraphs of a book!]

I started The Expanse not long after the first book came out. I've religiously read each and every sequel almost as soon as they appeared on shelves. I don't think there are many other series I can say that for, especially not ones that go to 9 books. I think it is my favorite long-running series of all time. Every character is interesting and complicated. Every plot point is intriguing and well-researched. I can't fathom spanning this many decades with characters, and would love to sit in on the planning meetings with the authors.

Each book made me eager to read the next one, and as a finale, I couldn't have asked for better. Justice done to all the characters and to the world, beautiful moments of reflection on past events. I got teary-eyed more than once, which is something I can count happening while reading on one hand. It completes the circle while still being full of surprises. Look, if you're reading this review, you've hopefully read the other eight books, and if you've done that you need to read this one. That's about as simple as I can make it.

Broke my heart a little to say goodbye to this series, but it was such a fantastic finish. It could easily have been two books, but it moved at a breakneck pace keeping my ears glued to the story (because audiobook) while still going deep in concept and character.
This series is a true masterwork of science fiction.

Executive Summary: Endings are hard. This one isn't “perfect” but is quite satisfying.Audiobook: Early on I felt that Jefferson Mays was just OK and kind of hoped for a better replacement. I'm not sure if he grew on me or simply got better, but he does a fantastic job here. I can tell who is talking just by the way he reads. It probably helps that I just redid the entire series beforehand, but either way I highly recommend this series in audio.Full ReviewI was late in coming to the Expanse. I think 3 (or maybe 4?) books were out by the time I first picked it up. However I was pretty instantly hooked. I tore through everything published and from then on I would eagerly await each new book.The series peaked a little for me with [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] and [b:Babylon's Ashes 25877663 Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse, #6) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442247299l/25877663.SY75.jpg 45754030], but I enjoyed it enough to revisit the entire series ahead of this final book. This is one of those series that is really good from start to finish, which is rather hard to do with such a long series.I won't get into any real detail here, but I will say the book answered most (but not all) of my lingering questions and left things off at a pretty good stopping place with a satisfying conclusion.I'm pretty stingy with my 5 star ratings, but one of my go to criteria is a tendency to find extra time to read a book. There were several points in this book where I wanted to listen to “just 1 more chapter” only to find myself needing another 1 (or 2) because I really wanted to know what happened next.I thought the choice of POV was pretty good, although I did struggle a bit with Tanaka. Most of the characters in the series have been interesting, even if they aren't likeable. Tanaka is probably up there with Singh for least enjoyable. I think is in part due to a dislike of the Laconians in general. They zealotry is just hard for me to empathize with. Tanaka is a VERY different character than Singh, but yet I couldn't help to think back to him throughout this book.I've always been drawn more to fantasy than sci-fi with my reading. I don't really like too much “science” in my book. I'm not looking for the author to show me how smart they are with the science in their story. One of the things I've loved about this series is the science seems sound/interesting but doesn't beat you over the head with it. It comes up where relevant, but the characters are the main driving force of the plot.I'm going to really miss this series, because I've yet to find anything else like it. However I appreciate that the authors had a story in mind and they stuck to that. It'd be easy to drag things out or add on extra books because of it's popularity.In the meantime I'm excited for [a:Daniel Abraham 13557729 Daniel Abraham https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s return to fantasy with [b:Age of Ash 58340712 Age of Ash (Kithamar #1) Daniel Abraham https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639378569l/58340712.SY75.jpg 90047600] while I wait to see what [a:James S.A. Corey 4192148 James S.A. Corey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1573162332p2/4192148.jpg] has in store for us next.

Off the top of my head I cannot recall a long series with a more than OK ending, most are at best disappointing. This ending is...okay, maybe a bit better than okay. The series ends? Check. Majority of plot lines and character arcs, wrapped? Check. Epic with a foreshadowing of a future with/without our characters? Check. Reading the book itself is quick, easy, and adventurous, it sloughs a bit here and there, nothing new for the series. I would not call the best of the series, but it's a fun and enjoyable read. I loved the series, and this does not change my opinion on it one way or another, I'll miss this world.

Solid ending to a very good series.
Jefferson Mays provides a good narration. However, I found the ending a bit difficult to follow. For me it seems to require close reading. Anyway, I went back and reread the final two chapters in text.
I reckon one needs to read the earlier books in the series first. Otherwise, I think they may have a bit of trouble understanding things.
4+ stars.

When I really think about it, it's pretty impressive to finish a series well and in a timely manner. I think The Expanse might be the first big series to manage both since Harry Potter. Lots of series finish on time but poorly (Hunger Games, Game of Thrones TV), or take forever but finish well (???), or are stuck in limbo and could easily never finish (Game of Thrones, Name of the Wind, Locke Lamorra). I think JK Rowling deserves a lot of credit for publishing regularly and ending the series well, and so does Corey.

I thought it ended in just about the only way it could have, and each character's arcs made sense. The end is the right amount of sad, the right amount of sympathetic to villains, and the right amount of messy. I appreciated that the series wasn't too “tied up with a bow” tidy. Lots of small but fairly important things never got followed up on (Alex's first wife, Naomi's son), because that's how life goes. At the same time, we often saw minor characters become major characters in later books, and this is a great addition. It's fun to see them again, and it makes you reevaluate their past decisions in light of what you now know about their motives, which works really well. Captain Singh was one of my favorite characters, so seeing Tanaka's viewpoint adds a lot of depth to his interactions with her. This approach still gives character development, just via an ensemble. It keeps things fresh in such a long series.

The whole series is about two questions:

1. what do we do when we come across an alien thing?
2. if the aliens are dead, what could have happened to them?

This overall makes it a great extended meditation on the Fermi Paradox, and I'm very glad I took the deep dive.