Re: "Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, 9)" by James S. A. Corey

On 7/22/24 1:09 AM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

"Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, 9)" by James S. A. Corey
 https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Falls-Expanse-James-Corey/dp/0316332941/
 Book number nine of an nine book science fiction series.  I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback weighing 1.3 lbs published by Orbit in 2023.  Ah, Science Fiction by the pound, cool !  This book is the end of the series as far as I know.  BTW, James S. A. Corey is two guys writing under a single nom de plume.
 James Holden has escaped from the fallen empire of Laconia.  The ancient central station with the 1,300 gates, shortcuts around the Milky Way, is a free for all now.  But, somebody else has awakened and wants to destroy everything.  And the leader of Laconia, Winston Duarte, has turned up at the central station.
 I really enjoyed the series.  It was almost hard science fiction if you skip the protomolecule and the central station at the edge of the Solar System.
 You can watch books one through six converted to a six season tv series on Amazon Prime.  The series was started on the Syfy channel and moved to Amazon for the fourth season.
 My rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating:  4.8 out of 5 stars (25,657 reviews)
 

You're probably aware of this, but in case you're not:
In 2022, they published Memory's Legion, a collection of 8 short stories and novellas in the Expanse universe, as well as some author notes at the end of each one. Seven had been published elsewhere, but this volume collects them all and adds a new novella.
On the one hand, the writing is very much as good as the novels. On the other hand, 6 of the 8 stories feature minor and/or new characters that — with one exception — aren’t as interesting as the main characters from the novel series. (One of those 6 does feature Bobbie just a bit.) There’s a story featuring Amos, and one featuring Fred Johnson, but the best story may well have been the new novella, about Filip (Naomi’s son).
Tony