Persepolis Rising

By: James S. A. Corey

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins

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

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.

Spoiler Alert and I'm Really Depressed Now

You know how all the chapters in this epic are told from the point of view of a particular character, right? Well, in this volume, most of those characters are the bad guys to whom I have no attachment, nor empathy. So that alone, bummed me out. But I still expected the usual triumph of good over evil. Something uplifting. You won't find that here. There is a sliver of hope for an entirely new epic seeded. But I feel like I paid too high a price for that.

I feel let down. I feel depressed. I mourn for the characters I have to come to love and cherish. If this review hasn't dissuaded you from listening, then let me recommend that you first read the preceding novella.

And of course, if you need to finish this series as I do, you must first suffer through this. Pray for redemption.

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.

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.

should have combined books

apparently something happened before this book. and this story was rather uneventful. they should have combined them instead of excluding something that may have been worth hearing then devoting 10 hours to a station being evacuated.

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.

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.

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.

Look past the formula

It's fair to say I've been binge-listening the Expanse series. the family of the Rocinante feel as close to me as they could be without becoming flesh and blood. The Expanse, like many space operas, has been an ever-intensifying arc, one novel after another, with a fairly predictable cycle in each book (no spoilers here... if you've read this far into the series you know how this goes, and that there are at least two more Expanse novels to follow): the crew finds some measure of equilibrium, the crew gets into a manageable scrape, all hell breaks loose in the universe, the crew gets through. Oh, yeah-- then the book ends with a cliffhanger.
What sets this book apart for me is the remarkably sympathetic cast of antagonists. The authors have crafted a very human, attractive, charismatic, and tragic story as a foil to Holden and the other heroes of the series.
Another striking element is an explicit contemplation on human history-- again, this is broached early in the instalment-- specifically the question of whether humanity is locked in to a predictable cycle of violence and peace or guided by the discrete ambitions and choices of significant historical figures.
It's a useful lens for analyzing the series itself, which has been structured to align with either philosophy, depending on the reader's bent. What is art if it isn't an examination of our very existence, framed within a schema that makes otherwise unattainable concepts relatable?
Look past the formula. These novels are Sci-Fi at their best, lifting the reader not just beyond the gravity well that we first slipped past 50 years ago, but more sublimely beyond the confines of our terrestrial self-importance.

man fights man. getting repetitive. I miss Detecti

Man fights man. No aliens. I miss Detective Miller. I Adore Avasarala witt and venom.

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.

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.

headlight

deus ex bullshit plus 30 f.in years gone... 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

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!