Book four of the sci-fi series The Expanse, Cibola Burn, is my least-favorite book in the series thus far. While I read the previous three books in a matter of days, this one took me several weeks to finish. Book three also took some time to get going, but ended up being fantastic. 
I mentioned in a previous review of this series that it seems like each book takes on the flavor of a different genre. Book one was a mystery, book two was a political thriller, and book three was an action movie. Book four is a western. Holden & Co. ride through space to land on a frontier planet. A sparse, barebones settlement of squatters dots the otherwise native landscape. Unfortunately for the settlers, a big and bad mining company has a questionable title to the land. They aim to take it back. If this were a western set in the American west, it would’ve been a railroad company instead of the mining company.
While I’m a fan of westerns (and used to live in West Texas!), unfortunately this one fell flat for me. The big bad didn’t make much sense to me. He was menacing in the first couple of scenes, and then he quickly became a cartoon. While the stars of the series went through some tough times, they seem invincible at this point in the series.
I’m going to take a break from The Expanse and hopefully come back fresh and ready for some more of the Rocinante gang.
I liked this book a lot better than you did, but it’s pretty much agreed it’s the “worst” one in the series. (I say that because I still love it.) Books five and six are the shit. And I’m reading seven right now, and it looks like it’s on track to be awesome as well!
I think this book might play better for you on re-read (or upon re-reflection if you don’t re-read) as it’s sort of a pivot point in the series.
That is encouraging to hear – I will take a break from the series for some distance and then get cracking on book five!