Persepolis Rising

Publisher's Summary

The seventh novel in James S. A. Corey's New York Times best-selling Expanse series - now a major television series.

The Expanse

• Leviathan Wakes
• Caliban's War
• Abaddon's Gate
• Cibola Burn
• Nemesis Games
• Babylon's Ashes
• Persepolis Rising

©2017 James S. A. Corey (P)2017 Recorded Books

Beginning of a new story

Persepolis Rising is James S A Corey's 7th full length installment in the Expanse universe. At the end of Book 6, a splinter group of the Martain navy defected to Laconia with a sample of the protomolecule. 30 years later, with the Sol system getting back on its feet and a fledging world spanning commerce enterprise beginning to take off, Laconia returns to impose itself as the ruler of all humanity. Jim and crew are still around and get caught up in the initial conquest of Medina station. Relative to the technological might of Laconia, the rest of human is clearly outclassed. Think Star Wars episode 4.

The sci-fi elements are in line with the Expanse universe. Laconia displays some unique adaptations of protomolecule tech with strange, self healing spaceships and powerful weapons with advanced tactical gear. Also reintroduced is the mysterious vanquisher of the original alien tech creators. The main characters have aged well, but this set (assuming a trilogy for the complete story arc to finish) must be the finale for James Holdren and crew. Corey also does a tiny bit of housecleaning with send-offs for a few long time characters.

Jefferson Mays continues to perform admirably with another excellent narration. The pace is easy going with good character distinction.

47 of 49 people found this review helpful

Big leap in space and time.

What made the experience of listening to Persepolis Rising the most enjoyable?

Jefferson Mays as always performs this book with precision and grace. His character voice variances are clear and his dialogue diction is superb. The familiar characters are well written and remain true to their personas from the past books.

If you’ve listened to books by James S. A. Corey before, how does this one compare?

Whoa, so there's a 30+ year time lapse since the last book Babylon's Ashes. Which throws the reader off a bit at the start. The Authors do their best to quickly catch you up that it's been a few decades of frontier missions for the crew and introduce you to the governmental factions that have evolved since the last book but it's still an odd transition. It was necessary to advance the story and allow the new villain the time to develop fearsome new tech based on the protomolecule. Once you ease past that initial time lapse shock it's business as usual for the rough and tumble crew of the now very old and no longer state of the art Rocinante.

What about Jefferson Mays’s performance did you like?

All of it. He's fantastic.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I blew through this book. It had enough to keep you listening and I really enjoy the universe, characters, and story so it was enough to keep me hooked.

Any additional comments?

It's a set up book that lines up a big finale.

24 of 25 people found this review helpful

Interesting, but I’m left unsatisfied.

I enjoyed this book and I enjoy all of the Expanse books, but I feel that the part of the book I enjoy the most is the world building of the creators of the proto-molecule. What happened to them, what is this race that killed them off and why did they do it? What other kinds of technologies did these proto-aliens leave behind? These are the sort of questions that make me excited to read these books and I feel like the authors are more interested in showing what the human race would do if they were to stumble across these amazing technologies. So, although that is an interesting direction to take the series in, I’m left unfulfilled after reading this book. I’ve been hoping that they will bring in some bridge to connect humanity with the proto-race the way that the Miller thing was, but it just hasn’t happened again. Here’s to hoping the next book won’t be pretty much completely politically driven, like this one and the last one were.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Good but flawed entry to a great series

I am a big fan of the series and have read all the novels and novelas. This entry was enjoyable but not my favorite nor my least favorite. The authors continue to excel in their ability to create exceptional narrative (and Jefferson Mays continues his series of terrific performances) and are very good to great with plot. I feel the setting scope and size is getting away from the authors though. Earlier novels' character viewpoints felt right and aligned with the reader in the face of the large but covert conspiracy taking place. But now events seem so much larger than the characters (or at least some of the newer pov characters) and their perspectives seem... Inadequate. For example, Drummer reminds me more of a student body president and not arguably the premier head of state in all humanity. Which leads me to my biggest criticism: Characterization. Many of the characters did not feel legitimate. For example, see Drummer above, and Singh was totally unbelievable as a senior officer in a Spartan-esque military that feeds soldiers that fall asleep on duty to the protomolecule. The majority of the first act was introducing or reintroducing pov characters. The first few chapters felt like a repeated formula: Here is character X. He or she is either a psychopath or a flawed hero who is wrestling with insecurity but finds comfort with his or her love of Y and here are some of those relationship's tender idiosyncrasies. Rinse and repeat with the next character. It really made the first act a hard read, but once the story got going, it was much more enjoyable. Also, while I liked that the setting moved forward by three decades to advance the story, it seemed like the characters took a time machine to get there. Except for a failed marriage or so, the main characters seem identical to who they were in the final chapters of the previous novel. It feels jarringly artificial.

Critical points aside, the Expanse is still a great series and I very much recommend the series to anyone who enjoys sci-fi or political conspiracy genres.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

If Alastair Reynolds & Tom Clancy had a love child

If Alastair Reynolds and Tom Clancy had a love child it would be The Expanse. The depth of characters, captivating use of hard science and incredibly woven plots are almost unrivaled. It's one of the best book series in any genre. I don't make that claim lightly. And a key component to any great achievement is a beginning, a middle and an end. For those reviews complaining about the 30 year gap - you have to end a series somehow. Dragging it out forever, grasping at new adventures and plots and bad guys only diminishes the central arc of the main story. The time jump sets a great stage for the ending of the series. Persepolis Rising is a little slower on action, but the wonderfully developed characters continue to hold it all together while the science and mystery are still in your face and brilliantly textured. And there's still the awesome Expanse A#@ kicking that fans have come to expect. Corey continues to create scenes that you can see vividly in your mind as they play out, and stick with you long after you've read (heard) them. Jefferson Mays' delivery does all the great writing justice. His narration throughout the series continues to be perfect. Do yourself a favor, start with Leviathan Wakes and listen to the whole series. The story does not lag and all the books create an intricate piece of the puzzle. Persepolis Rising does exactly what it needs to for the betterment/completion of The Expanse. Plus, the last sentence of the book would be my new life theme if I was a lot more of a badass. It's real cool.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Wow!

Wow! What a story. Didn’t see this one coming. A real plot twist here for sure. James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are some of the best characters the genre of Sci-Fi has ever given rise to. The moral compass displayed by the characters in these books is like a breath of fresh air considering the current moral backdrop against that which we’re currently living under. These two guys weave a hell of a tale. There was only one point in the story which had a predictable outcome. Although the situation wasn’t. Can’t say enough good things about my new favorite series. Won’t say anything about the plot line as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Yeah made a fanboy outta me.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not the Expanse I fell in love with..

I just feel like Corey put 30 years worth of stories in the Trash. I loved the heroes in the Expanse and the Rosenate. Less than 10% of the book is on the ship.. It felt like Disney and Star Wars heartache....

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

My least favorite of the series

Hard to pinpoint, but some of the best qualities of the characters were absent. It was still a great hard science fiction story. I just didn't feel the same emotional connection.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Really Disappointing

This book takes place 30 years after Babylon's Ashes. Jumping forward can be a device that can envigorate a literary world. This book does a huge disservice to the characters we've grown to love. Ending with such an ambiguous thud, we are really unsure where our heroes are left in the end. It does not build a world where there is more to look forward to visiting.

I really would have been much happier to hear about the 30 years of adventures we missed.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Climb into your crash couch and get ready!

To my dismay Persepolis Rising starts a full thirty years after the end of the previous book and I found myself instantly unhappy that the writing duo known as James S. A. Corey had decided it was time for the crew of the Rocinante to be getting old. All of a sudden my favorite characters were spending time complaining about the aches and pains associated with aging instead of kicking ass and taking names. Luckily the authors also put forth an intriguing story line that makes it easy to set aside those concerns. When everything goes to hell, Holden and company prove that despite their age, they aren't done just yet.

With thirty years gone by the seeds planted at the end of the last book have had ample time to grow and the new Belter controlled Transport Union has become a political powerhouse. The Earth-Mars Coalition may still have the military might but the Transport Union controls access to all the colony worlds and a new balance of power has been reached. However, this new peace is a fragile thing and when the missing faction of the Martian Congressional Republic Navy finally re-emerges old habits begin to resurface. Of course the crew of the Rocinante is right in the middle of the action and more than willing to do what it takes to set things right, no matter the cost.

By the time this one was over I was completely grabbed by the new story line and I continue to find the Expanse series as compelling as ever. So if you are a fan of the series then climb into your crash couch, hit the juice, and give this one a listen. Jefferson Mays is back at the mic and on top of his game once again so this is a good thing for sure.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic entry to the series

A great addition to a wonderful series, there's a time skip which will worry those of us who have read the previous books. Don't be worried, nothing major is hand waved away between the point of the last book ending and this ones beginning, all will be revealed in a compelling manner.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting and exciting

Really enjoy all of these books but, for some reason, this one didn't captivate me as completely as the previous books. That might have been my situation, the setting of the story later in the characters lives, or something else. I still recommend it to fans of the series.

Kinda disappointing

It was disappointing specially after the genius previous books. It was quite extensively boring at some points, looong descriptions about things that's been described 10 times before. Like reading "The Fellowship of the Ring" for the first 40+ pages. Story structure very similar to Nemesis Games and Babylon's Ashes, shit storm in the 1st presumably the satisfying results in the second. No issues with that, but that "godmode" ship, jeez, it's like imagination ran out or something. I really thought i'll have a firefly like crew I can love and read about their journey, but, of course, every "journey" need to be about saving something exponentially larger every time. I'm sorry about that, and waiting for Tiamat's Wrath.

Wtf?!?!

Wow... Just wow. The next instalments are going to be very interesting. Can't wait.

Top class sci-fi

Really good addition to the series. Avesarala underused a little again in my opinion. Loved the ex-force Easter eggs.

Cliffhanger??

Well, shit! Please god tell me there’s more coming, you can’t just leave me like this...

Another awesome entry in this exceptional series

Great, moving the whole Expanse narrative to the next level. These guys really know how to turn the screw.

Great

The book starts slowly, introducing the new reality years on from the last book and builds into another clever, intertwined and action packed story.

can't wait for the next instalment!

Persepolis Rising

Amazing that Space operas can still thrill. I love James Corey’s imaginative future tale and he’s banging the episodes out with no drop in quality. The narrator is first class come on James you’ve got 6 months.

Good, but a bit slow

A bit slower than the other books, but a bit more character driven. Wish there was more on the protomolecule. Roll on the next book!