Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7) by James S.A. Corey

"It felt like a bit of a forced reboot, Crew of the Rocinante, 2.0 or something. I liked it and I didn't. The time jump was confusing and felt like lot of missed character growth. Not a terrible addition but not my favorite."

3 Stars

Pros: Same cast of characters, so not a lot of new people to remember/Sanchez was frighteningly inept but powerful and that's what made him terrifying.

Cons: I think it was the pacing that put me off, or the fact that a number of years were supposed to have passed in between Babylon's Ashes and Persepolis Rising that made me feel like I'd missed something. I feel like this was trying to be a reboot, kind of like "The Force Awakens" for "Star Wars."

Full Review

Years have passed and the crew of the Rocinante have been through it all together. But, there comes a time when the life of derring-do adventure loses its flair and Holden realizes that, he doesn't want to be the pilot of the Rocinante anymore. He wants to just, live his life with Naomi and not worry about the Transport Union's rules or the Earth/Mars Coalition. He just wants to relax.

Of course, things never work out that way in The Expanse and just as he and Naomi have finished transferring the command of the Roci to Roberta, Bobbie, Draper, all Hell breaks loose. The Laconian Gate, one of the 1300 that were discovered once the Sol Ring Gate opened, activates and a nightmare ship crawls out into the Slow Zone and wreaks havoc. Led by a militaristic authoritarian Martian, Winston Duarte, the Laconians believe that their way of life is the only way of life and all those who resist will be dealt with, harshly.

So, there goes Holden and Naomi's plans of a peaceful retirement.

They return to find the crew of the Roci working an underground uprising which has sprung up, thanks to the Laconians takeover of Medina Station. Of course, there's self sacrifice, there's anger, there's violence but it's all in the realistic way of The Expanse. At the same time, I wanted to see more into these characters lives. I feel like with the time jump, I lost opportunities to see them live and work together. I would have liked to have seen more of that.

I'm definitely interested to see how Corey can extend this for another two books, so #8's on my nightstand and we'll get to it soon. Not a terrible addition but I feel like it had such potential and was a bit of a disappointment. Alas, they can't all be home runs.

Comments

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