Reviews

Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey

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bergsteiger's review against another edition

3.0

Okay, the luster is wearing off. Holden's crew has become staid. As has "the formula." Calm, forward thinking female leader and hard hitting warrior that is willing to take a step back and think, work with Holden's crew in the face of humanity trying to annihilate itself beneath the shadow of a looming alien threat, managing to pull off last minute touchdown drive to save humanity!!! Cue the celebratory fireworks.

I found myself skimming the platitude laden monologues and predictable action sequences in this one. Not to mention the "science" of the alien civilization is very magic like. I get that there could be technology out there that we can't grasp yet, but this can be done well, as in Lilith's Brood, where it is beyond human capability to grasp or emulate, but still has some basis in reality. What I am reading in the Expanse novels is more like what would be called "soft magic" in fantasy.

Maybe I will take a break before number 4. I'd like to finish the series and can't honestly say I haven't been entertained. Like I said though, breathing the recycled air is getting a little old...

pantaz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

essie85's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

ismelllikebooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Holden may be the saviour of humanity several times over but he is the worst.
Yea, he's the moral compass, everyman hero type but at this point, the guy needs to get with the program and listen to the smarter, more reasonable/capable members of his crew (aka everyone else).
Story's still lots of fun and I am fully enjoying the space epic.
But, really. Holden.
Can Naomi be the main character for the next one....

chaosetc's review against another edition

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3.0

The new characters in this book weren't nearly as interesting as the characters in the previous book, so it dragged on a bit. All that preaching was also a snoozer. Overall the book felt like filler because the main story didn't move ahead much. I still want to know what happens in the main story though so I will be reading the next one.

grfirestorm's review against another edition

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3.75

Have to say the least favourite so far. It just didn’t keep me hooked or really interested in the characters or outcome as the other two books. Will be interesting to see if book four can recover but struggling to see how this can be an eight book series at the moment after really enjoying one and two.