I'm really enjoying The Expanse and devouring immediately and have put all my other books on hold to power through this series. It's fun, straight forward sci-fi that I am really enjoying which is rare since I've never been the biggest sci-fi fan.

Abaddon's Gate, by James S.A. Corey

Looking back, this is definitely a more interesting novel than Caliban's War. The main story actually starts getting going and stuff actually happens. Corey's (I know it's two people) writing definitely improves from book to book. I like that this novel starts off with a bang and keeps things interesting from page 1. The Ring isn't something that shows up in the end, but right near the beginning and drives a lot of the story. This is nice I found in Caliban's War, there was a lot of lead-up to the main plot and the novel dragged until the end. It didn't help that Prax was a boring character. Especially now that one knows where the story is going, I found Caliban's War to be a bit treading water compared to Abaddon's Gate. Although I did find this novel to drag a bit in the middle, especially when not on Holden. His explorations of the sphere were the most interesting bits and picturing the architecture of the Ring and the sphere is really interesting. I really enjoy the way that the creator's of the protomolecule has set-up defenses against whatever destroyed them. It feels very clever .

The religious angle was unique in this book and I felt it worked. I like that the world Corey has created is a somewhat logical extension of the way society is moving. There are new religions, more open sexuality, a very diverse race of people. None of it feels very forced. Instead, humans don't quite discriminate based on race, but on planetary origin which makes sense to me.

I think last week I was unsure about Clarissa's character and I'm not the biggest fan. I never like characters with unlimited money and seemingly godlike abilities. Also if there is tech to create fake broadcasts that are super accurate, why isn't this a bigger plot point? She mentions it is expensive to do, but it's not like Mars, the UN, or the OPA have no money. Seems like it would be a bigger deal.

Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey

This is probably my favourite of the series so far, although from reading around people consider it the weakest. I think after 3 novels about flying around in space, it was a nice change of pace to have something on a planet, even if that planet did try and kill them in the end. The whole new biosphere and exploring it scientifically was fun to imagine and probably Elvi was my favourite character of this novel. Basia was just like Prax, except actually interesting. I didn't care much for Havelock. In contract to Clarissa, Murtry is a villain that I actually like. He isn't all powerful or something like that, he is just a regular person who is crazy. I found him to be a much stronger character than Clarissa.

Like AG, this book starts off strong but then kinda gets dull in the middle before finishing strong. I am kinda getting tired of the same thing happening where the Roci just manages to barely escape and terrible things are happening to all the characters. I enjoyed that part of the action took place on the planet and not in space, which changed this up. For the overall plot, I definitely didn't see it going this way back at the end of LW. I really like the direction the story is going and now one can finally start to understand why it is called The Expanse. I also like that the direction of the protomolecule. I can forgive it for the whole vomit zombie thing seeing it as part of the larger plot. I think the protomolecule may be my favourite character. The whole alien world on Ilus (or New Terra) was fascinating and just so much fun to imagine. I haven't watched the TV series, which I hope gets picked up somewhere, because the series is about to get to this part and I think it would translate really well to TV. A field day for the set designer and prop masters.

And naturally I've started

Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey

I just started and am only about 50 pages in. Apparently this is the best one of the series (at least according to goodreads) and it follows all the crew of the Roci. This'll be nice since the backstory of all the main characters hasn't really been fleshed out. Glimpses of it here and there but given that all the crew has dedicated chapters, that backstory will be filled in. As for the overall plot, I dunno where it's going. Unlike the previous two, the intro chapter here didn't really suck me in which hopefully means Corey mixes it up a bit.

Finished:

Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey When I mentioned reading this last week, someone mentioned that this was the least liked book in the series. And I can totally see it. Between Elvi fangirl squealing over Holden every 8 seconds to a very middling plot to spending all their time on a planet...yah not my favorite. But hey, if this is the worst that it gets, that only means that it goes up from here!

Started:

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer I don't like it. It's not that long, so I'll finish it, but I don't like this book so far. Maybe it improves? I dunno. Absolutely not my cup of tea though

Finished:

The Time of Contempt, by Andrzej Sapkowski

The writing is so good. The Witcher series has become my favorite. Also, Peter Kenny’s narration is amazing, such a great voice actor.

Reading:

Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey

Its been more than a year since I read book 3 and I think its time I continue with book 4. The TV show always seems to make me return :) I must say Im not the biggest fan of the books as I always feel the books are longer than they should be somehow, but the overall story has my interest which is, I guess, what counts.

Finished:

The Fold, Peter Clines It was a fast and fun read. Thought the last half of the book was better then the first, with the last quarter being the best part of the book. Until then most of the characters are insufferably stupid for very smart people.

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi Again a fast and fun book. I'm interested enough in the world to continue.

Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells Last in the initial Murderbot Diaries novella quartet. I love this series and Murderbot is the best. So happy the author is writing more.

Started: Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey I adore these books.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers It took me a bit to get into it but now that I am the book is speeding past. I like it so far.

The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi The second novel in the Old Man's War series. The story got me a lot sooner then the first one did. I'm liking it a lot more.

I finished Cibola Burn, by James S. A. Corey and started Nemesis Games, also by James S. A. Corey

The expanse series is totally enjoyable in all formats, and I sure do hope Grrrrr Martin doesn't rub too much off on his assistant (is that even allowed to say?)

Been busy at work so taken longer than I hoped, but reading Cibola Burn, by James S. A. Corey.

Really enjoying this one so far.

finished Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski. I read the 2 books of short stories ages ago and really enjoyed them but found this book a bit slow. I found the occasional chapter of "political intrigue" really draining and not really that interesting. I'll probably pick up the next in the series as it was still interesting enough for me to want to know what happens next.

Currently, back on the expanse series. Started Cibola Burn, by James S. A. Corey . Really looking forward to seeing how they build on the current universe.

Finished:

Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk Very trippy book, I must say. I liked it, it kept along at a brisk pace and didn't linger too long here or there, and didn't really give you a chance to catch your breath. I wish we'd gotten more details about the book that kicks things off, but I guess I can see why the author figured we wouldn't want to read a book while we read a book. But it was good.

Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End by Manel Loureiro Cool zombie book right here. I admit that I read most of this one between my fingers. Not because it was scary (it's a good book but definitely not scary) but because the main character owned and loved a kitty, and beloved pets don't usually make it through zombie books. But fear not! The kitty lives! The writing felt a little off, but I assume that's because some things were lost in translation from spanish to english, so I'm not gonna knock it too many points for that. Very much enjoyed it, and I'll be picking up the other books in the series.

Started:

Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey Trying to get away from reading so much expanse, but I can't. I'm back again. I just barely started this one so I can form no opinions yet, but I'm sure I'll like it

Finished Abaddon's Gates, by James S.A. Corey

Started Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey after how the third book ended, I was dying to know where the story was going to go, so I moved right onto the next book in the series.

Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey

Amazing book, amazing series.

Finished Abaddon's Gate, by James S.A. Corey and I've started Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey which I'm enjoying a lot more than Abaddons to be honest.

The pacing in Abaddon's felt off, I felt like the book climatically peaked at the half way point and it kept going. This had me thrown for 50 - 100 pages, but it kept itself focused and had a satisfying conclusion that set cibola up quite nicely