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A review by ngallion
Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey
3.0
Edit: After further reflection and after reading more of this series, I’ve come back and knocked a star off this book. It’s fine, but it pales in comparison to the next few books. As I think back in this one, it’s pretty clearly the low point of the series for me. It’s worth pressing in after this and this sets up a few very important things, but it’s the least engaging read of the series.
Original review: This book was fine and I enjoyed it, but it was my least favorite in the series so far. It would have easily been a three star read if not for the last third or so that was pretty great. There are LOTS of characters and places in this book and it’s hard to keep track of all of them. One returning character gets two or three POV chapters of a story that runs in tangent to the main plot line and after finishing the book, I couldn’t recall how the outcome of his story fed into the larger plot. Choices like that take us away from our main characters and - in my mind, at least - weaken to plot and pacing.
Despite all that, the status quo is shaken up by the end of this book in significant ways. Plot lines that started in the previous book are tied up here and in many ways, this could be viewed as an end to the series. There’s still enough to love, though, that I’m going to press on. Despite the flaws, I can’t wait to see where these characters go next.
Original review: This book was fine and I enjoyed it, but it was my least favorite in the series so far. It would have easily been a three star read if not for the last third or so that was pretty great. There are LOTS of characters and places in this book and it’s hard to keep track of all of them. One returning character gets two or three POV chapters of a story that runs in tangent to the main plot line and after finishing the book, I couldn’t recall how the outcome of his story fed into the larger plot. Choices like that take us away from our main characters and - in my mind, at least - weaken to plot and pacing.
Despite all that, the status quo is shaken up by the end of this book in significant ways. Plot lines that started in the previous book are tied up here and in many ways, this could be viewed as an end to the series. There’s still enough to love, though, that I’m going to press on. Despite the flaws, I can’t wait to see where these characters go next.