Persepolis Rising
The Expanse series, Book 7
James S. A. Corey
Orbit
Fiction, Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: After a few decades of hard work, humanity finally seems to be pulling itself together after the setbacks created by the rogue Free Navy. With the Belters transitioned to operators of the Transport Union between colony worlds and Earth finally clawing back from ecological disaster, the future looks bright... which is, naturally, just when everything goes to Hell.
The Martian deserters on the isolated colony world Laconia have been busy over the past three decades, as well - busy unlocking the secrets of the lost civilization behind the protomolecule and leveraging them into the creation of a next-generation fleet of warships, among other discoveries and modifications. What comes through the gate from their world is nothing humans have ever seen, the flagship of a stated new Laconian empire that claims absolute authority over all inhabited worlds, starting with Medina Station in the ring hub.
James Holden and Naomi Nagata thought they'd finally get to retire from a too-eventful career aboard the aging gunship Rocinante, handing the ship and attendant responsibilities off to crewmate Bobbie Draper. When the Laconian vessel Gathering Storm arrives at Medina, they again find themselves in the thick of a battle for the future of humanity... a battle that may wake the very forces that once destroyed the protomolecule's own unimaginably advanced builders, beside which Homo sapiens barely rises to the level of ants.
REVIEW: In a series that always has been written on an epic scale, Persepolis Rising widens the scope even further, with echoes of historic empires transported to interstellar space. With protomolecule alterations promising immortality, High Consul Duarte sets out to fulfill a dream that has teased our species since the beginning: the creation of a truly lasting and stable rule, untroubled by transitions of power or complications of succession. The fact that doing so requires an iron fist and possible genocide of resistant systems seems to him a small price to pay when measuring his legacy in centuries and millennia - him and his devoted followers, who have expanded the old Martian vision of terraforming one dead world to rebuilding the whole species from the (metaphoric) ground up.
With now-President Camina Drummer spearheading resistance in the Sol system, Holden and the Rocinante crew inevitably become key to the scattered cells of defiance aboard Medina, rooted in cultural Belter resistance to authority - a tendency toward anarchy that can hurt as much as it helps the cause. The characters have aged over the course of the series, both on page and off; being older and more experienced gives them a perspective that their younger selves notably lacked, a combined weariness at having to fight the same battles over and over and a determination not to lose, that there are still some ideals worth fighting and dying for... and still ultimately enough good in humanity to make that fight worthwhile. Interpersonal relationships have shifted, too, with some new strains as Bobbie's rise to captaincy is often overshadowed by Holden's lingering celebrity and tendency to get himself into the middle of everything, not to mention tensions with Amos and the failing health of former-killer-turned-crewmate Clarissa Mao. Like the Rocinante itself, they may have many more miles on the odometer, but they're still a force to be reckoned with, especially when driven by bonds of loyalty, friendship, and love. The Laconians are a force to be reckoned with as well, and they generally do not oblige the heroes by making the same mistakes previous opponents have made. This is a new enemy, and Laconia changes everything in more ways than one.
Like the other books in the series, it starts fairly quickly and ratchets up the tension well. The authors manage to keep space battles fresh despite being seven books (and a few novellas) into the arc, bringing back old characters and creating new ones (not all of whom make it to the finale) without feeling too repetitive. It ends on something of a cliffhanger. Fortunately I have the eighth book on pre-order, due at the end of the month (March 2019.) Unfortunately, the series is supposed to be nine books long. At this rate, I'm fairly confident there's enough story to carry two more books, but it'll be a long wait for Book 9. Dang it.
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