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.

I finished: A Short History Of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. Not that impressed by this book as I was expecting. The author spends a lot of time on the history of physics which I didn’t like since I’d known (heard/read) most of it before. Though I am impressed by how deep the author goes with the material.

Learning about other branches of science was interesting.

I’d give it 4/5. Where 5/5 would be something I’d like to read again, those arent common.

I finished 1/3 of Nemesis Games, by James S. A. Corey I like how Amos is getting his own chapters. Love that character :)

I finished Nemesis Games, by James S. A. Corey and am halfway through Babylon's Ashes, by James S. A. Corey.

I did not like Nemesis Games. It almost turned me off the series and why I am taking longer to finish Babylon's Ashes. Reading through BA is making me realise why I dislike NG. It all comes down to the fact that the Free Navy kills billions of people and this removes all tension in the book. Like in BA you have the Free Navy leaving Ceres Station and keeping 4 million people or so there. But really, who cares if they die or whatever since that is a rounding error compared to Earth. Or Naomi almost dying (also why did they make her captured for two books in a row? I was getting bored with her being captured...). Who cares when there are billions on Earth dying. And I also find the whole Earth being destroyed thing taking way too big a backseat in the story. We get a little bit of it with Amos, but otherwise it's almost entirely in the background. That just doesn't work for me because it makes it hard to care about what is going on on the Roci or Medina station or Ceres or whatever. I would much rather be investigating the gates and the worlds that they find there. Plus the protomolecule plays a little role in this book, and that is the part of the story I find way more interesting.

I just find NG a roadbump on the way to a more interesting story that is evolving in BA. Also the pacing is now completely whack. Like in BA things just are happening so quick after the relatively slow paced NG. Like when Holden and the crew destroy the ship controlling the asteroids in BA, it's dealt with in like a chapter or two. And then they are on Luna then Ceres so quickly. I think the two books should be more evenly distributed. Here is just a suggestion of what I would have liked to have seen:

Make the Free Navy only throw a single rock and have more threatened if Earth doesn't comply or something. To me this makes them more powerful as an enemy as they feel real threatening and it keeps the tension there. You just don't know how crazy they are and what they will do. The threat is more scary then the actual thing. I would make the culmination of NG them finding one ship that is hidden dealing with the asteroids, which eases the threat for a bit. But I would still have BA start with the Free Navy still taking random potshots at Earth which is occupying all of Earth's defence forces. I also wouldn't have Naomi be captured but instead have her at the end of the book make the decision to go off to find Macro and try to get to reason with him, having a similar character debate that she has in the book, but starting when she sees his broadcast when she realises who is behind this and she wants to go save her son. Also I would probably have added a character on Mars so we get to see that side of the plot, maybe a lower level military person, so get to see more of Duarte's plan or maybe the increased problems on Mars due to the gate and the inhabitable planets threatening the terraforming of Mars. This character would probably replace a lot of what Amos did, since I found his story to be completely forgettable in NG.

Or something. I'm just throwing out ideas that can be silly. Overall, I just felt with the POVs we were given in NA we missed a lot of a more interesting story that is being explained in BA.

Finished:

Shift by Hugh Howey Definitely not as good as Wool. Not even close. It felt like a very inconsequential sequel. I'm sure that the characters introduced here will show up in Dust when I get around to reading that, but I very much doubt that we needed 500 pages of the same damn thing happening over and over to prep for Dust. Oh well.

Yellowstone Hellfire by Bobby Akart So here's the thing. This book is not very good. The adventures of Ranger Manly Man and Dr Hot Chick with her assistants Those Darn Millenials fear that Yellowstone is going to erupt. And it does. What will Manly Man and Hot Chick do now??? It's pretty bad. But. There is a big part of my brain that claps with glee when the explosions get real big and the world ends, like it's slapping my arm going "DID YA SEE THE SPLOSIONS???" and I have to assure my brain that I sure did see them and they were very big. So I'm gonna keep reading the series.

Started:

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey This is much better than Cibola Burns. I'm having a hard time putting it down. But I need to slow down because pretty soon I'm gonna hit a point where there's no more Expanse to read.

I began reading Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. So far I like it.

Edit: I finished Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey last week. I have to say I liked Cibola Burn a lot more. But Amos’ chapters in Nemesis Games was enjoyable.

I'll be reading Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey for the next two weeks.

Continuing with the expanse series. :)

Finished:

Red Sister, by Mark Lawrence I liked it. Some parts dragged a bit but there were huge sections that I went through in a day. Part of me wishes to become a badass assassin nun.

The Last Colony, by John Scalzi This was probably my favourite in the series so far. Very excited for what happens next.

The Truama Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster, By Sarah Krasnostein Very well written. Made me think a bout a few things.

Started:

Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey Literally just started. Not yet through the prologue.

Finished:

Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey Wow. Ok, so confession time. I actually stopped reading the synopsis' for these books. I only read this one once I was a good part of the way in. Did not expect for the series to go in this direction and it floored me. 10 out of 10 would read again and eagerly gonna start the next book.

The Vital Abyss, by James S.A. Corey Did enjoy the novella and it brought back people that I didn't think of or care about after the first novel. Boy was I wrong to ignore what happened to them.

Zoe's Tale, by John Scalzi I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed The Last Colony but I still liked it. The book did flesh out the story a lot more and made me want to know more about Zoe's future.

Started:

The Scandalous Lady W, by Hallie Rubenhold The true depiction of one of the wildest divorces in British history. I adore it.

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?)

finished Nemesis Games, by James S. A. Corey. So good, constant page turner and I love how every book has a real impact on the state of the universe.

Due to my "No back to back books by the same author" rule I started The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Only a chapter in but really liking it so far, although I feel like there's going to be a big m night shyamalan twist with the whole unreliable narrator thing.

Finished

The Three Secret Cities, by Matthew Reilly

Started

Nemesis Games, by James S. A. Corey

Finished Nemesis Games, by James S.A. Corey

Gallery of the Dead, by Chris Carter

Started Babylon's Ashes, by James S.A Corey

Finished:

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey I liked it a lot. While I'm a little salty that everyone got split up, it was nice to spend time with the rest of the crew and learn more about them.

The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren Cheap little horror novel about bad things happening to a group of the most unlikeable characters possible. All of the men are violent and rapey, all of the women bounce around in their underwear (and the author makes sure to remind you, a lot, that they're stuck in their underwear) wondering what's going on and where the men are. Not a great story, but decently violent I guess.

Started:

Flood by Stephen Baxter Slow burn global disaster novel. This may be one of the more depressing books I've read recently. Every chapter should pretty much end it "And the characters figured it wouldn't get worse. But it would." I like it though, even if I can kind of feel myself deflating as I read it