Nemesis Games

By: James S. A. Corey

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.

Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed. The sole remaining protomolecule sample is stolen. Terrorist attacks previously considered impossible bring the inner planets to their knees.

The sins of the past are returning to exact a terrible price. And as a new human order is struggling to be born in blood and fire, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante must struggle to survive and get back to the only home they have left.

©2015 Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"As close as you'll get to a Hollywood blockbuster in book form." (io9.com on Leviathan Wakes)

Enjoyable SciFi, recommendable, with faults

If you are into the expanse franchise this is still worth to listen to or read. It's great to be on the Roci with the crew and I really enjoyed it.

However this and the following book (Babylons Ashes) have really one big problem in their story.
--- VERY SMALL SPOILER - basically none at all ---

Something terrible happens, some bad guys do it, and even though it is very very terrible they still have the support from most of the fraction of humanity they belong to. Given the gravity of what happened it is not credible at all that they would have that support. Or not without at least a generation of brainwashing and isolation from facts. But that didn't happen.

It's really quite bad that the story kinda relies on the people being fine with that bad thing, so very often in that story I just got annoyed because of this. It's just not credible without assuming the that all the normal people are being extremely stupid, bad or downright sociopaths. And stories that rely on people, a whole fraction of humanity even, being stupid or bad really aren't well thought out.

Nevertheless: Enjoyable.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Feels like a filler gap between interesting events

Spends way too much time talking about irrelevant things to the story and world development, the Naomi chapters are the the worst offender at this.

Very sol focused without the depth or mystery or exploration of humanity that previous books indulged into.

And while it spends many chapters in small irrelevant happenings, it glosses over big significant events including the biggest disaster in humanity's history like they dont matter much from a storytelling perspective leaving many aspects completely unexplained and without an actual motive.

Additionally I don't like that the story seems to ignore the alien's arch completely.

Narrator did a great job and the writing itself while annoying at times when it goes over the top in belter accents, is mostly solid.

This felt like the obligatory filler episode before a big budget episode where big things happen. I hope that impression turns out true.

Another solid chapter in this epic tale

Corey once again takes us along for a ride, although this time less on the Rocinante. Each of the crew get their hands full on their own little adventures, which results in some interesting comebacks for characters from the previous books. Will we see the permanent crew of the Rocinante increase I wonder.

I have to say that although the story is solid I found the first many chapters to be a little slow paced this time around. There is a lot to tell, especially concerning Naomi but the whole thing is slightly convoluted this time around.

Also I have to say that I was very disappointed with the recording. The audio seems clipped, as if the microphone volume was too high the whole time. It was very distracting. Other than that, a solid continuation of this amazing adventure.

A bit of a let down.

Still the same expanse, with the same awesome characters and engaging plot. But for the first time in the series I spotted some serious plot holes and they rubbed me the wrong way. Spoilers for the book below! The way the Free Navy took over makes pretty much no sense whatsoever. You have Earth's Force and the Martian Force (smaller of the two). Third party steals some ships from the Martians and they suddenly have the strongest force in the system... The math just doesn't add up. The attack on Earth made little sense as well. There was a constant tension between the Earth and Mars, on top of constant treat from Belter terrorists, and they didn't have a system to prevent someone from dumping a rock to the surface? And those rocks are invisible, because of some stealth coating? A coating no one is using on ships and weapons? Sure... The author could've used some McGuffin from the Aliens, or something. It would've made more sense than this.

Great continuation of a great story

This book is a bit different from the others since the crew goes on different journeys where we get to learn about their past lives. It's nice to get some backstory and also to not have all four of them on a ship the whole book. Like with every previous book I'll just jump straight to the next one!

Pretty good but with one major character issue

The book is good for the most part and there are other reviews that are more in-depth about the book over all but I have one major issue with the story that I feed ruins a lot, a basic overview of the situation (without being specific or naming anything) is below the spoiler warning:


MINOR SPOILER BELOW
There's a returning character which shouldnt be there, in no way does it make sense to me that they'd bring that character back in the way they did. It doesnt benefit the story in any way and its unbelievable that the character is let back in.

solar system war: crew on vacation

another masterpiece of hard sf in near future setting with our crew and chracters growing from narative ache types to complete persons. clearly this is an interlude story preparing us for the next increments of this series and tying up loose character ends. Again an exceptional performance from the narrator.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Rich, dense story-telling, beautifully executed

This, and the others in the series, is really near the top of my listening list from the last 20 years. It is so engaging and well-paced. Yes, there are a couple of really annoying characters, but I suppose life is like that and there are many nuanced and enjoyable characters to balance them out. I don't look forward to getting to the end of the books.

I would like to put in a good word for the narrator, Jefferson Mays. He does a wonderful job with the different characters, both male and female. His Avasarala is actually better than the book version: his Avasarala is a lady who knows how to speak properly and does not indulge in euphemisms. She says "arse", not "ass".

Perfect.

Enjoyed it as much as first three books of the series.
Can't wait to continue it.
Definitely recommend.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good again

After the poor narration of the last book, this one was excellent and the story line was top class, leaving us hanging and waiting for the next instalment .

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

Stunning next episode

As usual a great plot and wonderful characters. Great to learn more about the back story of our core team and in such an unusual way. Thank you for bringing back Jefferson Mays as the narrator.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Space Opera At Its best!

Wow! what can I say! Just finished reading James S.A Corey's fifth
instalment of his Expanse series of books and I believe this is his best
book yet. Now, that's a pretty weighty statement in light of his first three
books. Granted, his fourth part of this series wasn't quite up to his
incredible ability to tell a ripping yarn but on balance Corey sets a very
high bar and so for those who have read his other books in this series I think
my assertion that this could well be the best to date is an indicator of the
quality and fantastic story-writing skills that is Nemesis Games.

Although this is Corey's fifth book in his Expanse series, it is by no means
the last. There is just so much scope for further books that Corey has an ever expanding canvas from which to work with. As with his previous parts to this series, we are left with a tantalizing and somewhat unexpected cliff-hanger that has left me chomping at the bit for the next book. I was fortunate enough to have picked up on Corey's work late enough to have all first five parts of this series available and so no waiting time for the next one. Now, though I'll have to wait quite a while.

Corey brings together all the characters from previous stories such as the Martian marine Roberta Draper, the cranky under secretary Avrasarila and even Clarissa Mau and weaves them into this story and pulls them all together in a very satisfying way like an old friends reunion but is integral to the unfolding plot. Nemesis Games also expands some of the core characters back stories and provides interesting insights into their lives before joining up with Holden.

This book also sees a welcome return to the job of narration by Jefferson Mays with his smooth and flowing style that is flawless and competent in its delivery.

Nemesis Games is up there with the very best of any authors work in the genre I've read and Corey has raised the bar yet again with this absorbing and riveting read.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

best of the series

hallelujah, welcome back Jefferson Mays! great performance, gripping plot, and a welcome shift in pattern to previous instalments.

can't wait for the next one!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great sci-fi adventure!

Real page turning action, more depth into favorite characters and epic story progression. Great work from the reader too, like watching the best blockbuster in your head!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Breathtaking

Breathtaking in its scope and originality. My third listening to this superbly narrated series. The TV dramatisation doesn't live up to the quality of the books

expanding story

The politics and evolving story are gripping. Interesting background stories on some of the crew. Cant wait to start the next book.

the best sci fi series ive ever read. excellent!

the series continues to deliver. excellent story, characters, technologies and pace. im a very well read hard- core sci fi fan. and this is the best series ive read in decades.

another great episode

in this one we find out about Amos and Niomie's past life. some comic LOL moments for me.

Things escalate in the best expanse book yet

After the fourth expanse book, I was getting a bit weary of the Expanse universe, but with Nemesis Games, it's back with a bang. The stakes are higher, with a genuine game changer which just leaves you wanting to know 'what happens now?'.

As always, Jefferson Mays gives another stellar performance, giving his voice to the characters I have grown to love. Brilliant book.

Best one in the series

Reasons:
1. Amos. so much Amos. He finally gets his own point of view chapters and they're great.
2. By separating the characters, it gives them more space to flourish. Even Holden, who is arguably the main character becomes richer as he processes things.
3. Big big stuff happens.