Babylon's Ashes
The Expanse series, Book 6
James S. A. Corey
Orbit
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The unthinkable has happened: the power of the inner planets of the solar system has been broken. Earth is dying, crippled by Belt-born Marco Inaros and his Free Navy, while Martian defector Duartes - now holed up on a colony world beyond the ring gates - left Mars in shambles and missing many of its fighter ships. Even Medina Station in the hub of the ring gates is under Free Navy control, choking off supply lines and any chance Earthers might have of fleeing their devastated world. But while Marco promised freedom for the Belt, he instead delivers instability and chaos... problems complicated by his ongoing obsession with his former lover Naomi Nagata and her new boyfriend, Earthborn James Holden. As Chrisjen Avasalara, OPA leader Fred Johnson, and others scramble to survive and respond to the Free Navy threat, the crew of the Rocinante are once again thrust into the heart of the danger, culminating in a mission where their legendary luck may finally run out.
REVIEW: After a fifth installment that focused more on the core Rocinante crew, if punctuated by the attack on Earth and the rise of Marco Inaros, the series again broadens its scope to deal with the system-wide chaos created by the Free Navy. Too many people learn too late that destruction, while easy and temporarily cathartic, is not a viable solution; the killing of Earth may be the death knell for a species that still depends on our only native habitat. The story brings in characters from previous books and a few new ones, fighting battles in space, in meetings, and in their own hearts as they struggle to find a way forward. It's a well-paced, action-filled tale with many nice human moments, as I've come to expect. (And if there are a few oddly Earth-centric ideas and idioms floating around in the depths of the Belt countered by equally-odd gaps in knowledge, and the occasional rare clunk in description and dialog, well, those are easy enough to overlook.) Another good series installment that sets up a major shift in the inner planet/Belter/colonist dynamic, one that will make things very interesting going forward.
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