Hello Cannonball Read 9 and hello to my very first Cannonball Read review! I’m more than happy to do whatever I can to help kick cancer squarely in the metaphorical nuts.
All right, let’s get down to business.
And by “business” I mean a quick note: Nemesis Games is the 5th book in Corey’s Expanse series which means we’re coming in in the middle of a LOT of stuff. Each book is self-contained, but the further we go in the series, the more it relies on the reader’s familiarity with the universe it’s set in and its pre-existing characters and conflicts. We’re well in mid-stream here and, even though each book’s primary plot is self-contained, I would recommend starting with the first book, Leviathan Wakes, before jumping in here.
That’s enough business, let’s get to the good stuff. And the good stuff is that this entire series is space opera at its finest, and Nemesis Games is no exception. The action is whip-crack fast and intense, the plot pulls you along until you careen into the final climax. Choices have weight, actions have consequences, and sometimes even when the characters win they still end up losing in the long run.
Sometimes, as a reader, I want the heavy, philosophical meal of a Kim Stanley Robinson or a Cixin Liu, and sometimes I just want to skip right to the indulgent, action-adventure dessert. And that’s where Corey always delivers.
With Nemesis Games, Corey levels up like crazy. Shit gets real in a way I never expected and definitely do not want to spoil. It’s intense, and every single character that we know and love has their own part to play, some in ways I absolutely didn’t expect.
I would even go so far as to say that this was the best book in the series (at the very least, it’s neck-and-neck with Leviathan Wakes, come at me bro). I have a feeling that a lot of that comes, strangely enough, from the process of turning the books into a most excellent TV show. Because here’s the thing, my biggest complaint with books 2 to 4 was how little we knew about the most prominent supporting characters. Oh, we know all of the in’s and out’s of Jim Holden, the most upstanding space pirate to ever captain a ship, but the three members of his crew were pretty much ciphers, especially Naomi Nagata, the ship’s XO and Holden’s main squeeze. You can kind of get away with that stuff in a book that the reader digests in one gulp, but it does not fly on a weekly TV show during this era of Peak TV. Not if, you know, you want the show to be any good.
Thankfully, I am here to tell you, she’s not a cipher anymore. No way, no how. Holden, the author’s Golden Boy, takes a back seat, pretty much playing detective (which is funny on a couple different spoilery levels), while Naomi runs this town. Her actions have the most widespread impact of anyone’s in the book and she finally, FINALLY, starts to resemble the character I’d already met on my TV screen.
In the end we’re left with some resolution, a little consolation, and a whole heaping mess of trepidation about what’s going to happen next. As this book shows, humanity is more than capable of ruining everything, but there are other forces out there in the universe that are hungry for their next big meal.
If you love science fiction, I recommend this series; if you love tales of political intrigue, I recommend this series; if you love creative world-building with interesting, flawed characters, I recommend this series; and, if you love rollicking space adventures with action and explosions and feats of derring do, I definitely, DEFINITELY, recommend this series.
And if you love all of that, you should absolutely watch The Expanse on Syfy. Because it’s the whole package and then some.
Welcome to CBR! And what a great book for your first review. Seriously. I just finished the 6th book about ten minutes ago, and it’s just as good! I love this series so hard.
I’m not as into the TV show, but I do enjoy it. I mostly just hate the casting for Holden, who is my favorite character. It really messes with my head to watch it. Also, Naomi isn’t how I pictured her at all, either. But like it, and I’m so excited to meet Bobbie in S2!
I continue to have a very hard time with the inconsistencies in Belter physique on the show. Their whole thing is that they’re all supposed to be super tall and lean compared to Earthers and Martians, and I’m not advocating CGI or anything. But it’s like, Naomi standing next to the rest of the Roci’s crew is not significantly taller than any of them, but sometimes Miller is walking around amongst some obviously stretched-out folk.
Yeah, that does bother me a bit, but I know there are budgetary restrictions, so I’m willing to forgive it a lot. I know they mention that Miller isn’t tall because he had some medical procedure? I can’t remember the details. But Naomi should be taller for sure, larger head, more fragile. I also picture her as more of this quiet, gentle strength, as opposed to the more straightforward badass they have her as in the show.
Hello and thanks for the welcome! I’m really feeling the love. :-)
Welp, now I’m salivating EVEN MORE for Book 6. Just when I’d thought they’d settled into a rut they literally shook everything up and omgomgomg I’m so glad to hear that it just keeps on going.
So, when I started the show part of the fun was to see how things changed from the books and how they stayed the same, you know, documenting the integrity of the transition, or something highfalutin like that. And yeah, they really changed Holden. Show!Holden doesn’t have a lot in common with Book!Holden. They totally Aragorn’d him. But I really, really enjoy how the show fills out that particular universe. When I’m reading the books I kept kind of swept away by the adventure and plot but the show takes its time a little more, makes me sit with things that I would have sped past while reading, which I really appreciate.
I can’t even wait to meet Bobbie. She is so the best and the little bits of her that they’ve teased in the trailers are just so great.
I read these books immediately prior to joining CBR, so the Fall of 2014. I have no idea which I read last. Maybe book 4? I don’t really even remember much of what happens, though I did enjoy them.
I should probably give them a re-read.
Anyway, welcome to the Cannonball!
If book four was your last, OH MY GOD KEEP GOING.
Looks like I need to give this a revisit this year.
Hi and thanks for the welcome! Everyone over here is just so friendly.
You TOTALLY have to keep going. After Book 4 I was like, “Oh, that was fun. They’ve really settled into their serialized formula.” And then Book 5 came and HOLY SHIT everything changed and it was AWESOME. Trust me, if you enjoyed the other books even a little, you won’t regret picking this one up.
Lol aaaaand, I should stop myself from regurgitating the review I already wrote and you already read. Yay for fun books and good company to read them with!
Welcome! I should really pick up this series!
Hi! If you like sci-fi, you totally SHOULD pick up this series. It’s a whole lot of fun. :-)