Reviews

Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey

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odin45mp's review against another edition

4.0

I have conflicted feelings on Abaddon's Gate. On one hand, the last half of the book was a better series of action sequences and machinations than the last two books. I could hardly put it down. Come to think of it, I read the first half of the book in a long evening. Suffice to say, it was gripping. The universe of The Expanse continues to widen as the curtain is pulled back a little more, and humanity sees anew its place in the cosmos. James S.A. Corey continues to improve the timing and description during the fight scenes, making them even better this time around.

Awesome action and fast-paced plot aside, I didn't enjoy the newly introduced secondary cast nearly as much as the characters in the last two books. In particular, I missed the ones introduced in the second book, Caliban's War. They had more life, more depth, to them than these characters had.

I look forward to where the series goes next. Strongly recommended to fans of science fiction and action-packed adventure. I am definitely along for the ride.

brosamabinmobbin's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

andyslibrary42's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

This is probably my least favorite of the series so far, but overall I really enjoyed it. I liked our new characters a lot, but I didn’t find myself as invested in them as I have been with the others. I think the main reason this is only 4 stars for me is because we don’t really have as much going on as the two previous books. I think the point of this one was to set up for the next part of the series, so I’m really excited to see where we go from here!

thegoodnavigator's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

tomasthanes's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the third book in "The Expanse" series, the continuing saga of James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante, its 6-book mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. No wait, that's something else. They're further away from the Sun than they've ever been and stand on the threshold of an adventure that will take them to un-imagined parts of the universe.

I like the progress in this novel. New characters Clarissa Mao (Julie Mao's little sister), Doctor Annuska "Anna" Volododov, Carlos "Bull" de Baca, Samara Rosenberg (engineer extraordinaire), and the molecular return of Detective Miller. Good final solution which was setup earlier in the book. Good emotional arc for Clarissa.

I liked the tiny details that they ran out of "real coffee" at the end of the book once they were back on the Rocinante and Amos' nickname for Clarissa ("Peaches"). "The guests don't return for the obvious things we do, the garish things. They come back because of the subtleties, the details." [Westworld, S01E02]

I hope that the TV series eventually gets as far as this book.

If this were a trilogy, I'd be done. As it is, I'm heading over to Amazon to get the fourth book in the series, [b:Cibola Burn|18656030|Cibola Burn (Expanse, #4)|James S.A. Corey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405023040s/18656030.jpg|26109318].