Cibola Burn

Book 4 of the Expanse

By: James S. A. Corey

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The gates have opened the way to a thousand new worlds, and the rush to colonise has begun. Settlers looking for a new life stream out from humanity's home planets. Illus, the first human colony on this vast new frontier, is being born in blood and fire. Independent settlers stand against the overwhelming power of a corporate colony ship with only their determination, courage, and the skills learned in the long wars of home. Innocent scientists are slaughtered as they try to survey a new and alien world.

James Holden and the crew of his one small ship are sent to make peace in the midst of war and sense in the heart of chaos. But the more he looks at it, the more Holden thinks the mission was meant to fail. And the whispers of a dead man remind him that the great galactic civilisation which once stood on this land is gone. And that something killed them.

Cibola Burn is the exhilarating fourth novel in the New York Times best-selling Expanse series, following the Hugo-nominated Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War, and Abaddon's Gate.

Please note: The original recording has now been replaced with a new performance by Jefferson Mays. If you own this audiobook, simply re-download it from your library to access the new recording.

©2014 Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (P)2014 Hachette Audio

A good story, badly narrated

The change of narrator really made this a difficult book to get through. I probably wouldn't have stuck with if not for the knowledge that the next book goes returns to the previous narrator.

I wouldn't say that this book's narrator is inherently bad, but he did not seem to understand the characters who he was portraying. For example, Miller is made to sound like a robot, and his narration of Avasarala's lines is beyond awful.

The narration which just involves telling the story is fine, but this book is dialogue heavy, and as such the majority of the narration is quite jarring to listen to.

If you're invested in the series, there's still a good story here, so if you can handle the narration definitely still give it a listen...

Reading disability

The narrator of this book sounds like he has a reading disability. His staccato way of presenting is quite disconcerting. I felt myself holding my breath at times. Although it was just a one off I felt myself rushing to the end just so could end up in mr mays warm voice. Onto the next one!

Not as strong as the first three

Loved the first three books. Cibola Burn however had me losing focus sometimes, and it took a long while to get a grip of who the characters were. Not a bad book by any stretch, but not as captivating.

Another excellent book in the Expanse series

The team aboard the Rocinante are presented with an unusual challenge to mediate between a civilian population and a large energy corporation, and as usual things don't quite go as planned. James Holden and his team are faced with many problems, including dealing with our old friend Miller, an overzealous security chief and a crisis that threatens to destroy an entire planet.

Once again Corey pulls off a great storyline with interesting character development that throws the listener into an emotional rollercoaster. The story has a nice pace and never gets boring. Who is right and who is wrong in a new world? When does colonization end and civilization begin? How far can you reasonably go to protect your interests? Adolphus Murtry might have an opinion about that and I have to say that despite the brutality of some situations, his arguments are hard to fault. He's a wonderful character to have in the book in any case.

The book is very well written and I especially want to highlight the interlude chapters, which in my opinion is some of the best writing from Corey and indeed from any author I've read.

Can't wait to get started on Book 5.

Changed narrator?

I see some people complaining about the narration, they must have updated this audiobook because its the same narrator as the previous ones at the moment.

Last one for me

Enjoyable book and the action sections are engaging. But this is enough of the book series for me. It feels too much like episodes of a TV drama, also having a ring or stargate for transportation though the galaxy. Excellent and entertaining it feels too predictable. Book 1 of the series introduced a new way to think about the expansion of the solar system and is a favourite, but the ring has been done before.

Not the greatest of the series

The story seems to have somewhat of a stand still in the middle of this book, but otherwise it's an entertaining read!

Terrible narrator. Do not buy.

Narrator is so terrible that I'm not even sure how much it influenced my impression of the story.
Stay away from this audiobook. It's not worth it even for free.
Read the book instead.

I hate when they change narrator

The narrator has been changed from the previous books, and the new one has a horrible cadence.

The story is not as good as the previous books.

Good story, jarring narrator

Don't get me wrong, the narrator is good, but it's a different narrator from the first three books so all the voices and inflections are just off. The story itself is good, but weaker than the previous three overall