James S.A. Corey’s Babylon’s Ashes is the most recent Expanse book. I’ve said in the past that this series is a mix of SFnal big ideas and human-scale intrigue; this installment is almost entirely human-scale politics, though.
But that doesn’t mean it’s about small things; I’m not going to spoil this series at this point, but if you’ve been reading along, you’ll remember that some major shit has gone down in previous volumes, and it would almost be ridiculous if the various factions of humanity weren’t focusing on their own divisions and future plans right now. (I read this not too long after the recent election, and in a weird way, it feels like the first post-Trump piece of fiction. Which, considering what this book is about, is not the most optimistic statement ever, obviously.)
The series continues to be excellent in the ways I want it to be, with its found-family crewmates working together in a universe where it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the fate of humanity hangs in the balance on the regular, trying to tip things over to the good side. It also wraps up some important storylines and moves the series forward, although I admit I have no idea what will happen in the next book at this point.
If you like space-flavored SF at all, this series is basically a must-read at this point.
Comments