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snhendo's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.25
jefffrane's review against another edition
5.0
Just as riveting as the first book. Most fun I've had with a book in a long time... well, since Leviathan Wakes. I need to read a bunch of other books before picking up #3 because I want to put off running out of them as long as possible.
alchaea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
youngthespian42's review against another edition
4.0
The authors’ ability to continue to raise the stakes in this series blows me away. This move is brisk and plotting but never becomes one note. The UN character and the political focus of this novel is fascinating and I can’t wait for the geopolitical shape of this series to continue to complicate. James Holden is the Han Solo I always wanted.
eesh25's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Leviathan Wakes. It was fun, fast paced, and had a great mystery. So there were, of course, certain expectations for the sequel. And while I can’t say this book met all of them, it was still very good.
One of the things I couldn’t get past was the lack of Miller. Miller was such an interesting character and I'd felt that he had so much potential. I didn’t think his story was done, or would be done anytime soon. And I’m never gonna be over the fact that they killed him the first fucking book. So, a part of me was just whining about him not being there for the first third of the book at least.
Also, the book took some time to really get started. There was an inciting incident and mystery, like in the first book, but it didn’t pull me in immediately this time. Maybe because we already knew that the protomolecue would be involved somehow and had to wait for the characters in the story to catch up.
The story, when it got going, was great. There were a few new characters and some old ones. Holden is a decent protagonist. His self-righteousness pisses me off but I don’t dislike him. Amos and Alex I love. They make the Holden chapters better. And Naomi I’ve started to dislike. She’s this background presence that’s constantly judging Holden and talking shit about Miller. She’s just as self-righteous as Holden but where he gets called out on it and is often told he’s wrong, Naomi isn’t ever allowed to be wrong. I hate her and Holden’s relationship too. I don’t give a fuck if they date, but I never wanna read about it.
Anyway, new characters. There’s Prax, who's looking for his daughter whose disappearance is somehow related to the inciting incident. He was a sympathetic character, if not the most likable. And his story was easy to get invested in.
Then we have Bobby and Avasarala. Bobby is great. She’s smart, bold, and genuine. She starts off okay, but grows on you fast. Avasarala is epic from the start. She’s an old politician who works behind the scenes a lot—a scheming grandma, one might say. She’s clever and foul-mouthed and I love her. She’s even a good person and has some of the most emotional scenes in the book. My favourite part of the book.
Overall, Holden, the protagonist, might have been the weakest part of the book for me. Not sure how that'll fares for the series, but I'm still looking forward to the next book.
One of the things I couldn’t get past was the lack of Miller. Miller was such an interesting character and I'd felt that he had so much potential. I didn’t think his story was done, or would be done anytime soon. And I’m never gonna be over the fact that they killed him the first fucking book. So, a part of me was just whining about him not being there for the first third of the book at least.
Also, the book took some time to really get started. There was an inciting incident and mystery, like in the first book, but it didn’t pull me in immediately this time. Maybe because we already knew that the protomolecue would be involved somehow and had to wait for the characters in the story to catch up.
The story, when it got going, was great. There were a few new characters and some old ones. Holden is a decent protagonist. His self-righteousness pisses me off but I don’t dislike him. Amos and Alex I love. They make the Holden chapters better. And Naomi I’ve started to dislike. She’s this background presence that’s constantly judging Holden and talking shit about Miller. She’s just as self-righteous as Holden but where he gets called out on it and is often told he’s wrong, Naomi isn’t ever allowed to be wrong. I hate her and Holden’s relationship too. I don’t give a fuck if they date, but I never wanna read about it.
Anyway, new characters. There’s Prax, who's looking for his daughter whose disappearance is somehow related to the inciting incident. He was a sympathetic character, if not the most likable. And his story was easy to get invested in.
Then we have Bobby and Avasarala. Bobby is great. She’s smart, bold, and genuine. She starts off okay, but grows on you fast. Avasarala is epic from the start. She’s an old politician who works behind the scenes a lot—a scheming grandma, one might say. She’s clever and foul-mouthed and I love her. She’s even a good person and has some of the most emotional scenes in the book. My favourite part of the book.
Overall, Holden, the protagonist, might have been the weakest part of the book for me. Not sure how that'll fares for the series, but I'm still looking forward to the next book.
ravenslanding's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like it is fairly rare to have a thoughtful and intellectual book that is also exciting, fueled by a large cast of likable characters AND possessing a satisfying ending.
ingo_lembcke's review against another edition
5.0
“Seriously. Now?” she said. “We’re talking about your captain going off to his death, and all that’s going through your head right now is ‘Ooh, boobies!’ ”
Most of what I said for the first book can be applied here, with Holden again playing a major role, alternating the POV with a politician who is a regular professional Spin-Doctor. The slang which made it sometimes hard to get in the context of the story in the first book is not as heavy or I am now used to it. Thinking back to the first book and the first few episodes of the TV-Series, I found it difficult to understand at first, part of the reason may be that I am German, English being my second language, with a leaning to British English, so I am no Native, and notice the differences between US and UK (which will soon not be a U anymore, and cutting the ties to Europe, sadly).
Some commented rightly, that the story-line is similar to the first book: searching for a girl. That could have warranted 1 star less, but I am ok with that, as long as the next book is different, hopefully it is. Also I wonder, why they suspected during searching the girl may be dead, avoided discussing it, but did not think not discuss the far worse outcome that I saw coming, that she would be alive but genetically enhanced becoming protomolecule?!
In hindsight I think the banter between Holden and other crew-members seems lighter than the first book, also a bit more realistic.
One strange thing is the title, which I had to Google, it is a character from Shakespeare "The Tempest", see Wikipedia for more (also, as it is in the Public Domain, you could download an ebook): Wikipedia The Tempest.
Thinking about what happens, the title should have been "The Cascade". Think of a chain-reaction of tumbeling domino-pieces in a row.
The technology and biology, as far as I can tell, is solid and based on extrapolation of current technology logically into the future.
Not really working as a standalone, you should have read the first book "Leviathan Rises".
For me a solid 5 star, but some may think less of it.
The book ends with a whopping cliff of a hanger I did not see coming.
Highly recommended. Will certainly read the short stories, novellas and the next books in the series.
Most of what I said for the first book can be applied here, with Holden again playing a major role, alternating the POV with a politician who is a regular professional Spin-Doctor. The slang which made it sometimes hard to get in the context of the story in the first book is not as heavy or I am now used to it. Thinking back to the first book and the first few episodes of the TV-Series, I found it difficult to understand at first, part of the reason may be that I am German, English being my second language, with a leaning to British English, so I am no Native, and notice the differences between US and UK (which will soon not be a U anymore, and cutting the ties to Europe, sadly).
Some commented rightly, that the story-line is similar to the first book: searching for a girl. That could have warranted 1 star less, but I am ok with that, as long as the next book is different, hopefully it is. Also I wonder, why they suspected during searching the girl may be dead, avoided discussing it, but did not think not discuss the far worse outcome that I saw coming, that she would be alive but genetically enhanced becoming protomolecule?!
In hindsight I think the banter between Holden and other crew-members seems lighter than the first book, also a bit more realistic.
One strange thing is the title, which I had to Google, it is a character from Shakespeare "The Tempest", see Wikipedia for more (also, as it is in the Public Domain, you could download an ebook): Wikipedia The Tempest.
Thinking about what happens, the title should have been "The Cascade". Think of a chain-reaction of tumbeling domino-pieces in a row.
The technology and biology, as far as I can tell, is solid and based on extrapolation of current technology logically into the future.
Not really working as a standalone, you should have read the first book "Leviathan Rises".
For me a solid 5 star, but some may think less of it.
The book ends with a whopping cliff of a hanger I did not see coming.
Highly recommended. Will certainly read the short stories, novellas and the next books in the series.