Book 9 out on Tuesday, 11/30 aaaaand done by 12/2… 😢. I highly recommend the audiobooks. Jefferson Mays really brings the characters to life. In fact, he IS the characters! Also, don’t skip the novellas. They add so much. Can’t wait for the final novella coming out in March. End of book 9 gives them a couple of good directions to go and not really sure which one I want to hear about more…. My only complaint about this series is that it’s over 😢
@@eeruss1 I got the same sense. I've listened to all the books at least twice and Mays does an incredible job. Funny: he starts out pronouncing gimbal as "jimbal" for the crash couches, only later correcting himself.
Naomi lost her rock. Her Holden. That utterly resonated throughout, especially when it was time to say goodbye. Her total understanding of him, and her love for everything they loved, made her quiteness perfect.
I was searching for the black metal band Leviathan, but this is cool too. Love her enthusiasm. Maybe I’ll check out the books while listening to Leviathan.
I believed the authors toed the line of hard SciFi pretty well via the dreamer chapters and the Miller tie in to help build a scope of the aliens. I believe it would have pushed the narrative to far in the wrong direction considering the focus if they didn’t keep the sense of mystery.
I feel Miller's explanation of the extra dimensional beings was quite satisfying. If aliens had shown up in the last minute it would have felt cheap. It also would have taken away from all humanity had gone through up to that point. Very Deuce ex machina.
@@TheShadesofOrange There are some really good Reddit threads that explain the evolution of the proto molecule gate builders and how they evolved technology instead of building them. I really recommend reading them a neurobiologist explained everything quite brilliantly. One of the authors has a degree in biology and the gist is that the “aliens” are so alien they (or it singular being a hive mind) basically defies human comprehension and perception, while at the same time being completely plausible in terms of physics and biology.
@@bobroberts4934 I agree and it’s sort of implied the other universe “dark gods” might be quite justified considering the sheer amount of energy they are siphoning from their universe and protomolecule builders are kind of the “baddies”. It’s also implied they are not completely dead and they just stored themselves and their consciousness in that massive Jupiter Sized diamonds.
@@muthannauchicago that makes sense and I might still look up the reddit post, but I just wish I didn't have to go outside of book itself to get those details. Since recording this I think I've come to terms with the fact that the authors were writing a different one then I personally was looking for
SPOILER… … I inhaled the last book :D I was very satisfied with the ending, because the authors accepted, that the whole ring-gates-hive-mind-universe was much too big for humanity. „We“ were not ready for that. The dialoge with Alex, where he described the process of a travel to all systems as a project for a whole lifetime for a tiny human was perfect, for me it shows how small we are, how tiny in comparisson with the „angels“. It would felt forced when humanity did this step to an hive-mind. So closing down the ring gates and let find humanity its own way through the galaxy was purly honest. :D And there are so many threads open - Philip, the Alien-kids, the post-breaking, Amos… I hope there will come some more storys and books from this ;-)
I totally hear what you are saying and a lot of comments like yours are helping to sway or balance out my initial reaction. I did love the concept that humanity is now cut off... and just really want to see that situation play out
Just got this series recommendation from a local bookstore and I couldn’t be anymore in after hearing your review, spoiler free of course!! Thank you for the video!
@@TheShadesofOrange I enjoyed your perspective on the characters. Would like to follow along with your other recommendations but horror freaks me out to much hehe
Awesome review! I have to say though, i disagree on one point. SPOILERS I think when it comes to the story about the protomolecule engineers and the unknown aggressors, LF did better than was expected. I kind of wanted to see the aliens too but I think it would have cheapened the previous books by giving them a deus ex way out, and it would pose more questions than it would answer. For the readers and for the story, the way they did it with Okoye's experiments with Cara and eventually Amos as well as Holden's final few chapters gave a satisfying level of insight with room for some speculation. Still loved the video though, and aliens would have been awesome to see.
Hey I welcome disagreements because they lead to the best the discussions. And I definitely acknowledge that my thoughts were just fresh after finishing the book that evening so I certainly don't think my opinions are objectively "right". So as for the ending, Yes I do what you are saying. Everything happening would have become rather irrelevant if an alien invasion had happened (or something like that). However, I still really wanted that. 😅 since reading Leviathan Wakes, I had been reading book after book waiting to meet aliens in the Expanse and it wasn't until the later books that I finally realized the story may not (and did not) go in the direction.
Spoilers, obviously. . . . . I so agree with this. It's been clear for a long time that the PM builders are dead. The last thing I wanted to see was them "I was just hiding in the closet all this time muahaha!" I think the Dreamer chapters were an innovative way to explore their story without deus exing them. I also think you final conclusion undersells the fact that the gate network is destroyed and humanity is left spread out over the galaxy, with many colonies doomed to failure. Overall, I did enjoy your discussion. Thank you.
Agree, agree... As soon as I saw Holden's decision coming into place I thought it was brilliant. It was that line about, "stealing energy from another dimension"... I knew what Holden was going to do from that moment on.
Requisite: SPOILERS My thoughts to this and the other comments written below (so far): V #1. It would have been impossible to confront the PM builders (or their destroyers) directly. To challenge them directly would either lead to the immediate annihilation of the human race or aliens that, having been built up over eight books to be so far technologically advanced as to be almost incomprehensible, would seem impossibly cheap and weak. In fact, even if they had immediately destroyed humanity, just by trying to describe them risks undermining the whole buildup. #2. In spite of that, we DID see the PM builders, and who they are. While never being shown directly what they looked like, we did get to see their evolution, and what they became. And, importantly, how they used other beings/creatures to do their bidding. In fact, is it fair to say that they assimilated other creatures within themselves? Aside from being part of a hive mind collective consciousness, what did it mean to be a PM builder? I think an argument can be made that all of the assimilated technologies/creatures that were used to do their bidding were subsumed into the PM builders themselves. #3. Contra the point made in #1 then, isn't it true that perhaps we DID see the PM builders directly? Once Duarte got busy turning the human race into a hive mind collective consciousness, is it possible that humans were essentially being rebuilt into the PM builder/s itself/themselves? I think this is an open question consciously left open by the authors to let the reader ponder over. But to me, it's not clear where humanity stopped and the PM builders started inside Duarte's body and then pushing on into other human bodies as well. As the protomolecule was absorbed into Duarte's body, was it Duarte making his own devastating decisions, or was the PM builder consciousness somehow seeded into the protomolecule itself? #4. Considering #3 then. Perhaps the PM builders never were dead. Not until James Holden allowed the PM destroyers to finally destroy the ring network. (And even then, with PM in Amos, presumably Cara and Xan, and the PM remnants and seeds scattered around the universe, might there be an opportunity for them to live once again? Another open question.) #5. Then the being who destroyed the PM builders. Another problem for the authors. Beings (the PM builders) who are so advanced we can hardly imagine them. How to imagine the builders who destroyed THEM? This I think was another ingenious trick by the authors. Position them in another universe/dimension where we cannot see them directly. They are only acting in a indirect manner and we can only see the effects of their actions. Furthermore, we are as blind to them as they are to us. They're just experimenting with different methods to plug up that energy drain. They don't have the slightest conception of what we are. #6. Finally, since book 4 we've been conditioned to worry about the beings who destroyed the PM builders. It's the "big threat." The PM builders are dead, but there's something else out there powerful enough to destroy them that is going to be our true enemy. Except we find out that's not true at all (maybe). Perhaps the PM builders aren't actually dead. Perhaps they're going to use us to their own designs. Perhaps humanity will be incorporated into the PM builders themselves to be used to finally beat back the entity that "destroyed" the PM builders. But instead humanity will find a way to destroy the PM builders once and for all (maybe) and that will in turn solve the problem of the entities that we've been told are the "true" threat. With significant consequences for humans as the ring network is destroyed. But, hey, at least humanity has now been seeded into 1300 systems that were previously unreachable, giving us 1300 chances to make things work and get past the Great Filter so survive into the millennia.... It's almost impossibly difficult to finish a series like this in a way that seems satisfying and also true to the characters and storylines that were built up through the series. And I think that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck accomplished that here.
Again SPOILERS... ...but I loved the fact that we never really got to see or understand the Unknown Aggressors. I liked the idea that they were just TOO alien for us to comprehend. In the early part of the series the Gate Builders were a similar flavour of strange (alien-beyond-alien), but we gradually came to get some understanding of them through the Interludes and the Dreamers in the BFE. In a way, it was great that we never got a similar explanation of the Aggressors, because that maintained the sense of mystery around them. On a side note, I also loved the poetry of the Interludes - they were basically info-dumps but the style of the language kept a musical quality that was in keeping with the sense of Otherness. Anyway, one of the best series we've had in years, both book and TV versions :)
Getting ready to start this series as a read along with Media Death Cult and really looking forward to it now. I'll be coming back to this video once I've finished to hear the spoilers.
I'm hurt... Feels like I lost a world and friends, just finished and I'm just lying here sad. Going to Catch all of the novelas, and I hope they don't stray too far from this universe, because it's a dope place full of future potential. Ten whole years to get here, what a story, they could have gone so many ways with it, and I wasn't ready for this end.
@@cullenfarran3750 well we're getting a series of all the novelas compiled in March, and where they left off with the series is gonna be dope if they ever pick it back up because Amos did say "I'm gonna be the last one to go" and he's made it a thousand years! I am delighted at that, and can't wait to see the next series, especially knowing Holden and Miller will make a cameo, I'm sure of it.
@@cullenfarran3750They're new series is coming out in August (the captives war) the first book is called "the mercy of gods" can't wait to read it it sounds really good from the description
Listened to the audiobook of Leviathan Falls until I was near physical and mental collapse - Jefferson Mays is perfect for the voices. I am sad that it is over, but I am so happy that I read 9 books of epic story!
This is exactly how I’m feeling. - SPOILERS - Maybe my expectations were impossibly high but we spent so much time treading the mystery of the builders and their extinguishers, then didn’t get much clarity on that at all. I guess I just wanted it to go on forever. The journey is more fun than the destination
Spoiler I feel like Miller's explanation at the end was enough to understand the protomolecule creators and their destroyers. The creators were a hive minded conscious light entity that eventually figured out how to break space and time and fit matter from our universe into the next universe over. This space and the ring gates were powered by drawing energy from that universe and apparently the entities that live there didn't like it and figured out a way to snuff them out. I don't think we could really comprehend such beings. Writing about them in any depth would be really hard. I think the writers did a good job at creating aliens that are truly unique. Maybe even plausible to some degree. On a side note, I hope there's a short story that plots the last 1000 years of Amos' life up to the point of that guy showing up.
They said that the last novella (that they intend to remain the last piece they write for this universe) wouldn’t be about what many fans might have liked (like an update for known characters), but rather show a window on one of humanity’s 1300+ chances to reinvent itself.
Super satisfied with how LF played out. SPOILERS: Interviews with the authors have been really helpful for me in understanding the overarching themes and messages of the series and explaining why we didn't get to "meet" any aliens, other than Holden's "fight" with the dark gods/aliens on the other side of the ring gates. The focus is on humanity and the chances it has to break the cycle of history and do things better and to be better and that was encapsulated in a lot of the characters' arcs too. I actually disagree and think Naomi had some terrific development over the later books and overtook Holden as a competent and powerful leader. I loved that Alex essentially became the emotional core of the central group and Amos is just this hilarious and brutal unstoppable force. As ever the villains are brilliant, the callbacks to dead characters were bittersweet and being with Miller one last time was great. I'm gutted we don't get more time with these wonderful characters.
I don't usually listen to a lot of author interviews but you have me intrigued. And totally okay to disagree. I do agree that her character development in the later books is much stronger, but I just never fell in love with her like other readers.
No one has mentioned or realized as far as I can tell that the Falcon has a protomolecule sample in the form of the catalyst. Also Laconia will have some too. Be that as it may, I can’t think about Holden, Jim, without sobbing.
You got me into this series a long while ago. I only got to book three so I will most definitely be picking it back up. Thank you for your enthusiasm 🥰🥰 I think that I am going to start back over at book 1 & keep going this time lol
I think the ending was good considering… The ring monsters were hinted as a side effect of the rings being opened and having holes in space time which add a very interesting twist given that in most sci-fi advance races open wormholes in space without any real repercussions. So given that the closing of the slow zone is kinda being the fix in the end makes the most sense.
The gate builders and us. We are not much different we just operate on different scales. Their survival strategy is to expand. Their tactics are supremely successful. Other organisms, tribes, civilizations, planets, stars, are mastered, re-engineered and repurposed to fit their ends. Obstacles are eliminated. Their downfall came from using an energy source which seemed abundant and cheap. It was not theirs to take. When the bill came in, it spelled doom. Sound familiar?
A nice little detail relating to Holdens PTSD/ character arc that initially threw me was "Chapter one: Jim". He's no longer referred to Holden in the chapter titles after his time on Laconia, and while he's still the captain of the Roci, Naomi has taken on the role of commander of the Resistance. I might be misremembering but I think his final chapter title reverts to 'Holden'.
Just started book 6 - I've been doing these as audiobooks on my work commute - great performance and great story. I've really enjoyed them all. Can't wait to finish the series. Will be back for the 2nd half of the video in a few months...
I really like the way how the universe opens in the books. In the first book, we see the events solely from the perspective of the Roci crew and Miller, a half a dozen people. Then from the second book the world opens up, we get to know the point of view of the Earth, Mars, the Belt and the events extend to the Solar System. Later in the slow zone the ring gates opening and we entered the Galaxy. Sensational feeling.
Regarding Duarte, I also thought, who are the crew of the Rocinante to make this choice for humanity. Maybe Duarte's solution IS the only way to save the species, maybe this IS the next step in human evolution. They even said THEY were connected from decades of working together. There should have been ONE opposing or devil's advocate discussion on doing this. Or, it should have been made clear Duarte's ONLY motivation was to create mindless Borg like automatons where he was the leader for his own ego reasons or he was in league with the aliens to enslave us and he becomes Pontius Pilate to their Romans. But nope. As such, I found it kinda hypocritical that they chose and took risk for humanity just as Duarte was doing.
I think Miller made a good point. At some point it became impossible to differentiate between what was Duarte and what was the Ring Station. Was it his wishes for humanity or was he corrupted by the protomolecule?
I believe they called that out pretty well. That Holden was basically doing the same thing as Duarte. For me it goes back to the writers idea that there are no "villains", just different perspectives and only time will tell which one was "right".
I also loved this series. I held off originally because I just wasn't sure about the space opera thing. I really liked that they didn't know what they were doing in the beginning. Miller was my favorite. The TV series is also great! Old Man's War is a close second though for very different reasons.
I just finished the series, loved it!. I couldn’t stop reading, one book after the other xD. I also read Memory’s Legion with a final story that occurs after leviathan falls. great journey
Great to hear how excited you are about these books. I'm going to have to get back into this series at some point. I read the first two books around three years ago; Loved the first and enjoyed the second, don't know why I never continued with it.
I am sooo excited for the last segment of the Amazon adaptation to come out. I haven’t even started the books yet, and I bet they are even more fun. It has been a wonderful series to share with my college age sons, and now I have faces to connect with the characters once I read the books. My absolute fave characters are Bobbie and Alex and I just have to say it hooked me on space opera adventures. Thanks for all the great videos!
I have the whole series, just received book 9. My TBR is huge! But now it's time for The Expanse! Thank you so much for this video! I'm leaving before the spoilers.
Spoiler I thought the implications of shutting down the ring space and stranding humanity throughout the galaxy was pretty huge from an implication stand point. I'm sorta glad it didn't turn out to be an alien invasion storyline, because that's been done to death. This was truly a unique alien storyline that somehow felt more grounded. The idea of forcing people into a hive mind against their will being the only way to keep the Unknown Aggressors at bay was a really cool way to bring the nature of humanity and what it means to survive into the light. If we have to completely change who we are and loose our individuality, is that really surviving? I just like that the book didn't try to jump out of its own skin to try and shock us or provide that "they were dead the whole time" twist ending that so many stories try to go for.
Totally fair... and you may very well be right. I wanted that alien... but maybe I wouldn't have actually been happy with it if we had gotten in. And I agree that the Rings shutting down is a huge detriment to humanity. It was a big idea, but I guess I wanted to that played out. I'm very curious for the final novella promised
I loved the TV show, I'm actually watching through the seasons now for the second time as it's just such a stunning show. I've never read the books but heard good things, so I think I will grab the first book and see how it goes! Amos and Miller are by far my favorite characters in the show, few others come close for sure but man these 2 are fantastic actors.
I would also add that there are several Novellas that take place in this universe. These are excellent, and would be a great way for someone who isn't sure about starting the whole series to get a taste without much commitment.
I’ve listened to all the main books on audible and really enjoyed them as I can listen to them while I’m working, now my plan is to re listen to them but with the small novellas included and in chronological order so already listened to Drive and I’m halfway through The Churn. So far I haven’t had any complaints with any of the books and I like the way they all have their individual stiles of story I.E book one is a mystery/detective story, book 2 is a war/political drama, book 3 is other world adventure and book 4 is almost a western.
I read 1st book around 2010 and it was only book released in Poland back then. When tv series started the started to print next parts. I am now before part 3 but plan to read it all
The series is amazing! I discovered the books years ago, probably a little while after the first book came out, and fell in love with it! I think they have been doing a great job putting it on screen too!
I have bought the final book but haven't started reading yet. I'll come back to the video after finishing it. ~ Spoilers for books upto 8 ~ I am surprised that Persepolis Rising is considered a not-good book in the series. For me, it was one of the best (and my favourite). It handles so many aspects I have rarely seen in SciFi (e.g. protagonists being terrorists, occupation of a land by a dominant military force that thinks it is doing a good thing etc.) which are addressed with careful nuance. As someone who is engaged in world history and current world (military) politics, this book was one of the few where realities of foreign military occupation are discussed in an interesting way, and you can find many parallels with many modern conflicts.
Love hearing your opinion on Persepolis Rising. I generalized based on reviews and discussions I've seen on reddit and Goodreads I didn't mind the military focus, but found myself very underwhelmed by the ending (because IMO, the conclusion to PR didn't come until I got to read Tiamat's Wrath a year later). I'd love to hear your thoughts on Leviathan Falls once you get a chance to read it
I guess I expected something a little more epic and flashy, but I did really love Leviathan Falls. I loved how complete and “full circle” it made the series feel. I plan on starting over with Leviathan Wakes on audio in January. (l love Jefferson Mays narration) I’m curious to see if Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham continue to collaborate - maybe they’ve said so somewhere and I missed it - because I would definitely pick up anything they work on together. I definitely missed Avasarala’s foul mouth!
Yes I think we had similar experiences. And I definitely want to reread book 9 on audio. I read all the books first but I enjoy the audio for rereads. And yes give me Ava's potty mouth 😄
Tanaka wasn't new. IIRC she maybe "new" in the sense that we get perspective chapters, but not new from a story standpoint. She was the head of security on Medina Station under the Laconian invasion.
Good review. And I mostly agree; loved the series (the first book in particular has to be one of my all-time favorites), thought Leviathan Falls did a solid job bringing the series to a close. Mostly, I'm just sad its over!
The one interesting thing about Amos is how the way they referred to him based on which point of view the chapter was based on... Naomi say him as "the thing that used to be Amos" while Alex completely saw him just as "Amos" without question.
The final book was awesome! Its rare a series is tied up so well, but the authors did all the characters justice. Tanaka was a good addition too in an expanded role, A worthy adversary and keep a human element to the antagonists.
Tiamat's Wrath was definitely my favorite. It's just mind blowing event after mind blowing event. Caught on to the Timothy thing pretty much right away so that was fun. The Laconians finally popping up in 7 and what Duarte goes through is soooo interesting. Also shout out to Bobbie, she rules!
I personally also found the book to be a page turner and found the ending to be a good bittersweet ending for the characters. The ending is also kind of dark but hopeful for the world building though, which I found pretty interesting. Spoilers When it comes to the whole getting more Roman and Goths details. I think we actually got a lot more insight and details about them in the interludes. It’s just the info has to be interpreted since we’re dealing with things that are so not human and alien.
I like that the goths were left ambiguous. I felt that knowing that the ring system was siphoning power from their universe was enough. As for the romans, I liked how their evolution was explained; it was a really good parallel to how the protomolecule works. There were some things that were hand waved, but I'm ok with that.
@@TheShadesofOrange I wouldn’t say the ending worked 100% for me, as I did find some of it predictable but I did spend time in forums speculating how the series would end. So that might be on me. And I do see how you found the final battle to be small in scale but I think that could be down to the limited POV perspective. However I do think there were large scale implications to the final battle based on decisions our characters made.
Thanks! I have enjoyed all of your expanse reviews and can't wait to read leviathan falls as soon as I find the time! I have never really enjoyed reading before but picked up leviathan wakes after seeing the show and have absolutely loved the series so far😁 Do you have any recommendations for any scifi book to move onto after the expanse? for someone who is relatively new to sci-fi... and reading in general!
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it! And I'd actually like to work to make a video on what books to read to fill the Expanse void. I'm already missing it
Great to see any discussion on the books, as it's tough to find. BUT, I respectfully disagree across the board. The finale and series in general gets ALL THE STARS
Spoiler in comment warning. You know Bobby and Avasarala were my favorite characters in this series as well, and Miller I wanted to know a little more about the void aliens, communicate with them even, but after thinking about it a while I think it's OK to leave them as a mystery and was satified with the ending. After reading the epilogue I felt hungry to learn more about the universe in that time period. I hope the authors write a story about the universe in the epilogue time period and Amos can explain what happened to the people at the end of book nine. I am sure there would have been some way to communicate with Alex, Quantum Entaglement "Maybe".
Yes I really wanted more. I understand there will be one novella to come out after this final book but I don't think it'll give me the answers I was seeking
If this topic has been discussed already I'm sorry for the repeat. (you have so many videos to filter through lol) So, I looooved the TV series ... but wow, I like the book series even more. I'm on Cibola Burn so I do have a ways to go (I'm trying not to rush through them ... I want to savour every morsel), but I want to ask ... did you read the short stories? I'm about to grab Memory's Legion with the whole short story collection. Do you recommend reading them? Some more than others?
Just came here after listening to the book to drop my two cents,so obviously, SPOILERS AHEAD. I really enjoyed the book, though I felt a little bit deflated by the end. Obviously even the name of the book hinted at how things were going to play out in the broadest sense, but I was hoping that something more transformative would happen given the huge revelations and implications that were present in the last two books. I was hoping for an epilogue from the POV of someone the reader knows, like Kiki or Drummer or even (someone who I really hoped the authors were saving for the very end,) Filip Inaros, to give us an insight into the post-gate society. The Linguist's chapter taking place a millenium after the key events felt a little bit too detached from the story. But all whinging aside, I'm still convinced this has been the greatest sci-fi universe ever put to paper, and I'm glad I've been along for the ride.
I have a lot of the same "issues" with this installment. Especially about Filip, like I get not everything in life gets wrapped up in a bow, but that definitely affected how I felt at the end.
There is sth I don't like about the ending... One of the reason is that someone who is very active in reddit basically predicted the re-collapse of the ring gate after book 8. That kinda ruin the epicness for it just like the ending of mass effect. The rest of the book was amazing though, the protomolecule civilization, the dark god etc. etc.
@@whensonzhou4174 I'm glad I'm not the only one who got a m Mass-Effect-ish feel from the conclusion, and though I was deliberately unaware of any speculations for the ending, I felt the ring-gate collapse was pretty much a given once the name of the final book was announced. I had a pet theory that the eerie "stuttering" presented by drone-repaired people like Amos and the kids were a kind of "latency" issue, as in my mind their consciousness was based within the giant diamond thing and the "people" who emerged from death were just some sort of "client devices" projecting their remote minds like some sort of messed up networked "dongles". That gave me low-level anxiety as I expeced them to "disconnect" and "die" once the whole network went down. Although I'm glad that did not happen, I'm also kinda disappointed it did not get more attention in the story.
Thank you... your comment really captures how I felt about the ending to this book and the series. And despite my quibbles, I agree that it's one of the best sci fi series out there
Love this series so much! I was binge reading them to try and reread them all before book 9 but I couldn't fit in Tiamat's Wrath before the last one came out
Finished LF today. Could not agree more about the ending. I didn't necessarily think the aliens would appear (like the Borg), but MINIMALLY after thinking I missed something over 8 books, I figured they would explain in detail what happened and why and how between the ring builders, and the species that killed them. Even tease a threat to humanity in the future at the book's end. Even at the prologue I thought this is it. We are going onto the alien's ship/existence to get some exposition and some implied threat about getting even. But no, nothing!!! To your point, now it's clear the books were never about them. Ok. But if so, then JSAC should have stopped teasing the "stay tuned' to find out repeatedly in all the books (Chekov's gun?). Nice video. Thanks. Just subbed
Thanks... it's always validating to find like minded readers with similar opinions. I know other readers felt we got enough explanation but it was more ambiguous than I personally wanted
Reading the books now, I agree with your impressions of Naomi. Given her high levels of talent and intelligence hinted at by the stories, her focus seems to be fawning over her boyfriend more than anything else.
Ah thank you! I feel like people's impression of Naomi has been swayed by the TV show but rereading parts of Leviathan Wakes and the earlier books... I was disappointed by how she was presented
I loved the book!! Spoilers: I feel that Naomi has become a great character in books 8 and 9. Becoming the leader of the resistance and coordinating the strike on Laconia in book 8 and becoming the captain of the Roci because of Jim's PTSD in book 9. I felt they added Kit's POVs to add characterization to Alex, but it also set up a really gut-wrenching scene in "The Lighthouse and the Keeper." When Kit and his baby began to go dutchmen, I had tears in my eyes. Then, they were brought back only to learn about the shared memories. That was such a great chapter! I feel the ending was great, though a bit predictable. I like how the goths (inter-dimensional aliens) weren't over explained. It lets the reader interpret whether they were actually beings or just a force connected to their universe. I disagree with your system wide implications comment, though. Shutting down the gate system will strand millions of people. The systems that are not self-sustaining will collapse and everyone will die. The Sol system was already having resource issues before the events of book 1, so with the gates being shut down, their future will be difficult (as shown in the epilogue). Not to mention Laconia moves most of the scientific minds to their capital. I really do hope we get more stories about the post ring civilizations. Also, I love that they brought Miller back!
Yes, I agree Naomi became so much stronger by the series end. (I think I just never got past my first impression of her as "the girlfriend". I must be callous because I had NO emotional connection to Kit & Alex in this one. I'm glad it worked better for you as intended And yes.. how did I forget to talk about Miller? I fangirl whenever he "returns". I adore his dialogue with Holden.
@@TheShadesofOrange Have you ever read African Queen, CS Forrester? I ask because I think it's one of the best examples of men writing women. I am new to your channel so I don't know if you've discovered Forrester. Anyway, I get what you're saying about Naomi and it's a common thread in your comments. I just don't think men can write women... And whenever we come even close it deserves some note.
That's something I had a problem with.. I really don't see Holden being ok with the deaths of all those people. Like I know the book kind of addressed the hypocrisy of his character, but it felt cheap. Like they couldn't figure out a different way for the story to work, so they just made a throw away line to "explain" the break in character. The Holden I knew would have took the time he had, and the interconnectivity, to stage the first inter-universal vote whether or not to go threw with the hivemind plan. That's literally how his character has handled every other issue he's come across.
Also, Miller is hands down my favorite character. Even Proto-phantom Miller. Him being brought back was my favorite part of the book. Even though it had me thinking Bobby might make an appearance xD
@@adryandawnstarr477 I would agree with you if it wasn't for the predicament he was in at that moment, in that chapter its stated that everything he does, like looking closely at the Rosi would take energy. He was using everything he had to stop the entities before he pulled the plug. He simply didn't have enough in him to connect all of humanity together for a vote, and he was faced with the trolley dilemma.
Just finished it, loved every minute. Sad to have the saga end, but it was a good finale. I hope they continue the story at a future time, the epilogue was a great tease.
Alex is, and kind of always been some sort of anchor to the group. Sure, his backstory might be a bit simpler (Married, divorced and although it seemed like it at one point, he haven't given up and married & divorced again ), but saying he was boring... i was really feeling it toward the end where he chose his son vs his crew, and the fact that it happened so fast with no possibility for regret was harsh. I do agree about Naomi. In this book she again was based around Holden to a point where when she had to act as the underground leader, it felt unnatural. But i still love her, as i do with the rest of the crew of the Roci. This book series had been with me since May 2020 up until i finished the last book 2 days ago. I really donno what I'm gonna do with my (reading) life now =)
Aw I'm so glad you connected more with Alex. Did you watch the TV show? Because I admit that the character on screen captured my heart a lot more than the books. But glad that you shared my opinion of Naomi. I know people love her, but I'm frustrated of how much of her story revolves around Holden
@@TheShadesofOrange I've actually started watching last week, and im in episode 6ish season one. I waited until i finished the books before doing so because i didn't want my imagination while im reading to be effected (hope that makes sense 😅). Gotta say, while its nice so far, i don't find it as enjoyable as the books. For example, comparing to the books, Avasarala's personality does practically not exist in the tv show. But, since bim curious how they managed to execute the more crazy stuff, im still goving it a shot for now. (Naomi is shorter than Holden which is not so tall on the first place! Thats wrong lol)
PS I DO hope that this marvellous and scary universe is developed in the future in the manner of Dr Who or Marvel as it has SO MUCH one could explore more.
im sure wether to get it or not, I mean if I spend alot of money if it is I haven't re checked it yet if it is and I don`t like it then that would mean I have wasted all that money, I mean I like sci fi, but the way war on earth is going in rl the way we act, and if we epand and colonise othere planets and cause the war etc out there the way we do down here, we see enough fighting violence etc down here is it worth reading about it might be happaning up in space in the future? so is it worth a read?
I'm an audiobook guy and gone ok from leviathan wakes and slugged a bit in Caliban's war so I said f* it and went to leviathan falls and it was a fine experience, I haven't seen the tv show and I wanna try season 2 to begin with.
I am less than 100 pages from end of Leviathan Wakes, but have all 9 books in hardback to binge inc the final volume. I will be back in x months time to see the conclusion of the video 😄 🚀🛰🌠
Finished my 2nd WOT read through and was looking for a new series a question though i have watched the tv series up to beging season 5 how much more detail and depth will i get out of reading the series
Well I definitely can't compare it to the WOT but yes the Expanse book series is definitely worth reading even if you've watched the show. There is a lot more details and the story is a little different too
Spoiler alert: I absolutely cried through the last half of book 9… and I can’t get over the ending but it is very fitting and is perfect. It was absolutely correct that Holden has to do what he did. It was the only thing that could happen. He knows very well that he has to inject himself with the Protomolecule in order to open up the station to get inside and to possibly get in touch with Miller again. Still,… I cried and I am crying now. And all of this was fore-shadowed by what Miller had to do with Julie Mao on Eros. He loves her and he acts selflessly and out of true love to help her end her life and by chance to also save the earth by diving into Venus. I also believe that while Eros heads for its final end on Venus, he is transformed by the protomolecule or co-oped by the protomolecule. His physical body does indeed die when Eros crashes into Venus but I believe he was co-oped by the system as a useful app “to find things”, which is what we see him develop into. At the end of Book 9, we see the love that Holden has for Naomi in his final farewell to her expand into his morel dilemma to also love and save the human race. He has always been a person to ALWAYS act in the morally correct way no matter the result to himself. By the way, Tanaka is NOT A NEW CHARACTER. She was on Medina station when the Laconians took it over. At that time, she held the rank of a Marine Corps colonel, and was posted as the security officer for governor Santiago Jilie Singh, who held the Navy rank of captain. She served in this capacity until she resisted an order from Singh to crackdown on the inhabitants of Medina Station and advised the governor to reconsider. She was then relieved of her command post. She then directly served High Admiral Anton Trejo aboard the Heart of the Tempest. Check it out. It seems Amos was transformed by the repair bots, not just repaired. And I think the other transformed characters, Cara and Xan most likely are still living but are just not mentioned in the epilogue. It’s interesting that they are “ever living”. One wonders what other creatures were “transformed” by the bots on the Laconian world that no one knew about. I was hoping for some ending information about Filip Inaros, who later changed his name to Filip Nagata. I had always hoped that he and his mother would meet again, Filip all grown up, an older man. Of course, all through those decades he would’ve known about his mother and that she was the leader of the opposition. But it’s interesting that he never tried to get in touch with her. And at the end of Book 9, the end of the whole book series, absolutely nothing was mentioned about him. I think that is too bad, something could have been said. Even if he didn’t meet with Nagata…
So happy you enjoyed the first book. And yes I misspoke... I found have said that Tanaka was a new perspective. And if you want more about Filp and I recommend the final short story that was recently published
Spoiler Also, speaking of the small ending. It also ended FAST. Like, we didn't even have a second for Naomi to greif or cherish the loss of Holden. It was crazy. She got him back just to lose him again and her and Amos are talking about the implications of the gates and stripping it for ore...and Holden and everyone else isn't even mentioned by them! Felt like a real miss. Loved the book too, did cosmic horror really well while focusing on the characters, but in that, the focus on the characters on the end got pushed to the side to do the final business of the big plot that wasn't really that big of a resolve anyway. Def one of my favorite book series, but I feel like Children of Time/Ruin managed a more satifactory ending with mostly the same kind of theme.
Yes... I forgot to say it, but I agree that the ending was too fast. The climax was so late into the book and it didn't give enough time to spend with the characters afterwards. I kept looking at the pages left and wondering how they could possibly wrap it up so fast
I watched the show and am so bummed we don’t get the final 3 😢 I’m about to have to start reading these books because it’s a great series but looks like an intimidating read 😅
Thanks for the review! I just finished the last book, and am pretty satisfied with the ending. It's probably my favorite series. The thing that has always bothered me about the series is how often "shifted" is used. Not sure if it's just me. I feel a little like William Shatner on an overnight flight though because no else seems to notice or acknowledge it.
@@TheShadesofOrange Just the word shifted, shifts, shifting, any form of shift. It's used an absurd amount. It's one of those things, once you notice it, you can't unnotice. I listened to the audio books because I spend a lot of time driving with my job, it could be more noticeable in an audio book.
I just finished Leviathan Falls. Absolutely incredible. A perfect ending to a perfect series. I literally teared up. Incredible.
So glad you loved it!
*Spoiler alert*
I did too...sad because it was done, and also sad because everyone except Amos was gone.
100% agreed, he (NO SPOILERS) did the right thing, he always did !
Finished book 9 the other night. The epilogue put a big smile on my face.
It was good! Definitely want to reread it again
It's the best Epilogue ever, the fact that, well, humans found a better way to "do it", it was amazing !
A line from Season 1/Book 1, that gave us a clue to the end of the story......."Last man standing......it's in my job description"
Such a good line
Had to reread those last lines to really soak in that Chekhov’s gun.
Oh man, I totally missed that
They seed it all over the place too. Everyone that talks about Amos kind of has these premonitions. It’s kind of cute.
Yes, Amos was my favorite character for a that reason. First to take a bullet for the right reason but still the last man standing.
Book 9 out on Tuesday, 11/30 aaaaand done by 12/2… 😢. I highly recommend the audiobooks. Jefferson Mays really brings the characters to life. In fact, he IS the characters! Also, don’t skip the novellas. They add so much. Can’t wait for the final novella coming out in March. End of book 9 gives them a couple of good directions to go and not really sure which one I want to hear about more…. My only complaint about this series is that it’s over 😢
Mays is awesome. You can tell he loves these characters. It almost sounded like he was tearing up in those last chapters.
I know! I'm sad it's over. I read the ebook so I'm planning to do a reread on audio
@@TheShadesofOrange especially don't skip the novellas. I came to them late waiting for book 9... Really loved Strange Dogs.
@@eeruss1 I got the same sense. I've listened to all the books at least twice and Mays does an incredible job.
Funny: he starts out pronouncing gimbal as "jimbal" for the crash couches, only later correcting himself.
Glad to know the audiobooks are awesome! I was planning on trying them on this
This is the series that have inspired me to be serious about writing my own.
Naomi lost her rock. Her Holden. That utterly resonated throughout, especially when it was time to say goodbye. Her total understanding of him, and her love for everything they loved, made her quiteness perfect.
I was searching for the black metal band Leviathan, but this is cool too. Love her enthusiasm. Maybe I’ll check out the books while listening to Leviathan.
Do check out the books, and the tv-series. They are equally awesome.
Only books have the full story (yet).
I believed the authors toed the line of hard SciFi pretty well via the dreamer chapters and the Miller tie in to help build a scope of the aliens. I believe it would have pushed the narrative to far in the wrong direction considering the focus if they didn’t keep the sense of mystery.
Yeah a few people came to the same conclusion... and I suspect you all might be right. I might feel differently on reread
I feel Miller's explanation of the extra dimensional beings was quite satisfying.
If aliens had shown up in the last minute it would have felt cheap. It also would have taken away from all humanity had gone through up to that point.
Very Deuce ex machina.
@@TheShadesofOrange There are some really good Reddit threads that explain the evolution of the proto molecule gate builders and how they evolved technology instead of building them. I really recommend reading them a neurobiologist explained everything quite brilliantly. One of the authors has a degree in biology and the gist is that the “aliens” are so alien they (or it singular being a hive mind) basically defies human comprehension and perception, while at the same time being completely plausible in terms of physics and biology.
@@bobroberts4934 I agree and it’s sort of implied the other universe “dark gods” might be quite justified considering the sheer amount of energy they are siphoning from their universe and protomolecule builders are kind of the “baddies”. It’s also implied they are not completely dead and they just stored themselves and their consciousness in that massive Jupiter Sized diamonds.
@@muthannauchicago that makes sense and I might still look up the reddit post, but I just wish I didn't have to go outside of book itself to get those details. Since recording this I think I've come to terms with the fact that the authors were writing a different one then I personally was looking for
SPOILER…
…
I inhaled the last book :D I was very satisfied with the ending, because the authors accepted, that the whole ring-gates-hive-mind-universe was much too big for humanity. „We“ were not ready for that. The dialoge with Alex, where he described the process of a travel to all systems as a project for a whole lifetime for a tiny human was perfect, for me it shows how small we are, how tiny in comparisson with the „angels“. It would felt forced when humanity did this step to an hive-mind. So closing down the ring gates and let find humanity its own way through the galaxy was purly honest. :D And there are so many threads open - Philip, the Alien-kids, the post-breaking, Amos… I hope there will come some more storys and books from this ;-)
I totally hear what you are saying and a lot of comments like yours are helping to sway or balance out my initial reaction. I did love the concept that humanity is now cut off... and just really want to see that situation play out
@Robert Janssen yes I also definitely saw that coming
Just got this series recommendation from a local bookstore and I couldn’t be anymore in after hearing your review, spoiler free of course!! Thank you for the video!
I hope you enjoy it!
It has been fun reading the series over the last year and watching your videos as I finished each book 🙂 Thanks for your great reviews!
Oh thank you for watching threw my videos!
@@TheShadesofOrange I enjoyed your perspective on the characters. Would like to follow along with your other recommendations but horror freaks me out to much hehe
@@papamoto95 haha fair...you can always skip my Tuesday videos. Thursday are dedicated to SFF 🙂
@@TheShadesofOrange From glancing at your videos only if you promise to do more funny faces on the thumbnail😆
@@papamoto95 lol! It's terrible but it does amazing think to the "click rates" when I scream at a stack of books or look very upset 😅
Wow! The spoiler warning in the beginning and right before near the middle is much appreciated. Also, great review!! 🚀
Thanks... I tried really hard to be clear
Great discussion about Leviathan Falls. You hit upon most of my thoughts. I fully expect the alien thing to be examined in addendum books.
Yeah I was still left wanting more after reading the final novella
Awesome review! I have to say though, i disagree on one point. SPOILERS I think when it comes to the story about the protomolecule engineers and the unknown aggressors, LF did better than was expected. I kind of wanted to see the aliens too but I think it would have cheapened the previous books by giving them a deus ex way out, and it would pose more questions than it would answer. For the readers and for the story, the way they did it with Okoye's experiments with Cara and eventually Amos as well as Holden's final few chapters gave a satisfying level of insight with room for some speculation. Still loved the video though, and aliens would have been awesome to see.
Hey I welcome disagreements because they lead to the best the discussions. And I definitely acknowledge that my thoughts were just fresh after finishing the book that evening so I certainly don't think my opinions are objectively "right".
So as for the ending, Yes I do what you are saying. Everything happening would have become rather irrelevant if an alien invasion had happened (or something like that). However, I still really wanted that. 😅 since reading Leviathan Wakes, I had been reading book after book waiting to meet aliens in the Expanse and it wasn't until the later books that I finally realized the story may not (and did not) go in the direction.
Spoilers, obviously.
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I so agree with this. It's been clear for a long time that the PM builders are dead. The last thing I wanted to see was them "I was just hiding in the closet all this time muahaha!" I think the Dreamer chapters were an innovative way to explore their story without deus exing them. I also think you final conclusion undersells the fact that the gate network is destroyed and humanity is left spread out over the galaxy, with many colonies doomed to failure.
Overall, I did enjoy your discussion. Thank you.
Agree, agree... As soon as I saw Holden's decision coming into place I thought it was brilliant. It was that line about, "stealing energy from another dimension"... I knew what Holden was going to do from that moment on.
Requisite: SPOILERS
My thoughts to this and the other comments written below (so far):
V
#1. It would have been impossible to confront the PM builders (or their destroyers) directly. To challenge them directly would either lead to the immediate annihilation of the human race or aliens that, having been built up over eight books to be so far technologically advanced as to be almost incomprehensible, would seem impossibly cheap and weak. In fact, even if they had immediately destroyed humanity, just by trying to describe them risks undermining the whole buildup.
#2. In spite of that, we DID see the PM builders, and who they are. While never being shown directly what they looked like, we did get to see their evolution, and what they became. And, importantly, how they used other beings/creatures to do their bidding. In fact, is it fair to say that they assimilated other creatures within themselves? Aside from being part of a hive mind collective consciousness, what did it mean to be a PM builder? I think an argument can be made that all of the assimilated technologies/creatures that were used to do their bidding were subsumed into the PM builders themselves.
#3. Contra the point made in #1 then, isn't it true that perhaps we DID see the PM builders directly? Once Duarte got busy turning the human race into a hive mind collective consciousness, is it possible that humans were essentially being rebuilt into the PM builder/s itself/themselves? I think this is an open question consciously left open by the authors to let the reader ponder over. But to me, it's not clear where humanity stopped and the PM builders started inside Duarte's body and then pushing on into other human bodies as well. As the protomolecule was absorbed into Duarte's body, was it Duarte making his own devastating decisions, or was the PM builder consciousness somehow seeded into the protomolecule itself?
#4. Considering #3 then. Perhaps the PM builders never were dead. Not until James Holden allowed the PM destroyers to finally destroy the ring network. (And even then, with PM in Amos, presumably Cara and Xan, and the PM remnants and seeds scattered around the universe, might there be an opportunity for them to live once again? Another open question.)
#5. Then the being who destroyed the PM builders. Another problem for the authors. Beings (the PM builders) who are so advanced we can hardly imagine them. How to imagine the builders who destroyed THEM? This I think was another ingenious trick by the authors. Position them in another universe/dimension where we cannot see them directly. They are only acting in a indirect manner and we can only see the effects of their actions. Furthermore, we are as blind to them as they are to us. They're just experimenting with different methods to plug up that energy drain. They don't have the slightest conception of what we are.
#6. Finally, since book 4 we've been conditioned to worry about the beings who destroyed the PM builders. It's the "big threat." The PM builders are dead, but there's something else out there powerful enough to destroy them that is going to be our true enemy. Except we find out that's not true at all (maybe). Perhaps the PM builders aren't actually dead. Perhaps they're going to use us to their own designs. Perhaps humanity will be incorporated into the PM builders themselves to be used to finally beat back the entity that "destroyed" the PM builders. But instead humanity will find a way to destroy the PM builders once and for all (maybe) and that will in turn solve the problem of the entities that we've been told are the "true" threat. With significant consequences for humans as the ring network is destroyed. But, hey, at least humanity has now been seeded into 1300 systems that were previously unreachable, giving us 1300 chances to make things work and get past the Great Filter so survive into the millennia....
It's almost impossibly difficult to finish a series like this in a way that seems satisfying and also true to the characters and storylines that were built up through the series. And I think that Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck accomplished that here.
Again SPOILERS...
...but I loved the fact that we never really got to see or understand the Unknown Aggressors. I liked the idea that they were just TOO alien for us to comprehend.
In the early part of the series the Gate Builders were a similar flavour of strange (alien-beyond-alien), but we gradually came to get some understanding of them through the Interludes and the Dreamers in the BFE. In a way, it was great that we never got a similar explanation of the Aggressors, because that maintained the sense of mystery around them.
On a side note, I also loved the poetry of the Interludes - they were basically info-dumps but the style of the language kept a musical quality that was in keeping with the sense of Otherness.
Anyway, one of the best series we've had in years, both book and TV versions :)
I just finished the book like 10 minutes ago, I don't have words to describe how emotional I am.
I sighed "Oh." and had a single tear right when I hit the end.
Yeah it actually hit me harder the next day (after filming this)
Getting ready to start this series as a read along with Media Death Cult and really looking forward to it now. I'll be coming back to this video once I've finished to hear the spoilers.
I'm excited that he's doing a readalong
Thanks for the video! Loved the series and now I am ready for the books! Thanks
I hope you enjoy them!
I'm hurt... Feels like I lost a world and friends, just finished and I'm just lying here sad. Going to Catch all of the novelas, and I hope they don't stray too far from this universe, because it's a dope place full of future potential. Ten whole years to get here, what a story, they could have gone so many ways with it, and I wasn't ready for this end.
Ahhh yes definitely feeling the loss in these days after finishing
Cant wait to see what they write next!
@@cullenfarran3750 well we're getting a series of all the novelas compiled in March, and where they left off with the series is gonna be dope if they ever pick it back up because Amos did say "I'm gonna be the last one to go" and he's made it a thousand years! I am delighted at that, and can't wait to see the next series, especially knowing Holden and Miller will make a cameo, I'm sure of it.
@@cullenfarran3750They're new series is coming out in August (the captives war) the first book is called "the mercy of gods" can't wait to read it it sounds really good from the description
This series has been on my radar but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pick it up but now I feel convinced. I think I will plan to read it in 2022
Yes! Do it!
Well worth doing, each story builds upon the last in such a fantastic way 👍🏻
Listened to the audiobook of Leviathan Falls until I was near physical and mental collapse - Jefferson Mays is perfect for the voices. I am sad that it is over, but I am so happy that I read 9 books of epic story!
Ahhh yes I just reread the final book via the audiobook and love his narration
This is exactly how I’m feeling. - SPOILERS - Maybe my expectations were impossibly high but we spent so much time treading the mystery of the builders and their extinguishers, then didn’t get much clarity on that at all.
I guess I just wanted it to go on forever. The journey is more fun than the destination
Thank you! It's nice to hear someone else found the same way.
Spoiler
I feel like Miller's explanation at the end was enough to understand the protomolecule creators and their destroyers. The creators were a hive minded conscious light entity that eventually figured out how to break space and time and fit matter from our universe into the next universe over.
This space and the ring gates were powered by drawing energy from that universe and apparently the entities that live there didn't like it and figured out a way to snuff them out.
I don't think we could really comprehend such beings. Writing about them in any depth would be really hard. I think the writers did a good job at creating aliens that are truly unique. Maybe even plausible to some degree.
On a side note, I hope there's a short story that plots the last 1000 years of Amos' life up to the point of that guy showing up.
Yeah that's a fair perspective. I want to reread the book and see if my opinion changes. I think I wanted a more concrete ending.
They said that the last novella (that they intend to remain the last piece they write for this universe) wouldn’t be about what many fans might have liked (like an update for known characters), but rather show a window on one of humanity’s 1300+ chances to reinvent itself.
I'm glad that it doesn't have hard science. I'll give the first book a try. Thank you for the recommendation! 🛸
I hope you enjoy the series!
Super satisfied with how LF played out. SPOILERS: Interviews with the authors have been really helpful for me in understanding the overarching themes and messages of the series and explaining why we didn't get to "meet" any aliens, other than Holden's "fight" with the dark gods/aliens on the other side of the ring gates. The focus is on humanity and the chances it has to break the cycle of history and do things better and to be better and that was encapsulated in a lot of the characters' arcs too.
I actually disagree and think Naomi had some terrific development over the later books and overtook Holden as a competent and powerful leader. I loved that Alex essentially became the emotional core of the central group and Amos is just this hilarious and brutal unstoppable force. As ever the villains are brilliant, the callbacks to dead characters were bittersweet and being with Miller one last time was great. I'm gutted we don't get more time with these wonderful characters.
I don't usually listen to a lot of author interviews but you have me intrigued. And totally okay to disagree. I do agree that her character development in the later books is much stronger, but I just never fell in love with her like other readers.
Finished the 9th book sooo fast. The ending was good, then I read the epilogue and my mind was blown and felt I needed another 9 books
So glad you enjoyed it! And yes I want more!
Thanks for the review! 🚀🚀
No one has mentioned or realized as far as I can tell that the Falcon has a protomolecule sample in the form of the catalyst. Also Laconia will have some too. Be that as it may, I can’t think about Holden, Jim, without sobbing.
Great discussion and I really loved Leviathan's Fall.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Loved this book series. I listened to it on Audiobook and definitely recommend it. The narrator is exceptional.
Yes I just did a reread via the audiobook version
Just put the book up in the shelf-GREAT read wound up things better than I thought it would.
Now the big question... what do we all read now?
I am definitely going to try this series this year!
I hope you enjoy it when you read it!
You got me into this series a long while ago. I only got to book three so I will most definitely be picking it back up. Thank you for your enthusiasm 🥰🥰 I think that I am going to start back over at book 1 & keep going this time lol
That's so awesome to hear! Thank you!
I think the ending was good considering…
The ring monsters were hinted as a side effect of the rings being opened and having holes in space time which add a very interesting twist given that in most sci-fi advance races open wormholes in space without any real repercussions. So given that the closing of the slow zone is kinda being the fix in the end makes the most sense.
The gate builders and us.
We are not much different we just operate on different scales.
Their survival strategy is to expand. Their tactics are supremely successful.
Other organisms, tribes, civilizations, planets, stars, are mastered, re-engineered and repurposed to fit their ends. Obstacles are eliminated.
Their downfall came from using an energy source which seemed abundant and cheap. It was not theirs to take. When the bill came in, it spelled doom.
Sound familiar?
Ooo love this!
A nice little detail relating to Holdens PTSD/ character arc that initially threw me was "Chapter one: Jim". He's no longer referred to Holden in the chapter titles after his time on Laconia, and while he's still the captain of the Roci, Naomi has taken on the role of commander of the Resistance. I might be misremembering but I think his final chapter title reverts to 'Holden'.
Yes! I remember being shocked by the name change... it was a really nice detail
Thanks , I'll give it a try. Sounds interesting
Just started book 6 - I've been doing these as audiobooks on my work commute - great performance and great story. I've really enjoyed them all. Can't wait to finish the series. Will be back for the 2nd half of the video in a few months...
Definitely come back with thoughts when you finish!
I really like the way how the universe opens in the books. In the first book, we see the events solely from the perspective of the Roci crew and Miller, a half a dozen people. Then from the second book the world opens up, we get to know the point of view of the Earth, Mars, the Belt and the events extend to the Solar System. Later in the slow zone the ring gates opening and we entered the Galaxy. Sensational feeling.
Yes the name of the series fits the story so well!
Im here for the discussion, friends!
Regarding Duarte, I also thought, who are the crew of the Rocinante to make this choice for humanity. Maybe Duarte's solution IS the only way to save the species, maybe this IS the next step in human evolution. They even said THEY were connected from decades of working together. There should have been ONE opposing or devil's advocate discussion on doing this. Or, it should have been made clear Duarte's ONLY motivation was to create mindless Borg like automatons where he was the leader for his own ego reasons or he was in league with the aliens to enslave us and he becomes Pontius Pilate to their Romans. But nope. As such, I found it kinda hypocritical that they chose and took risk for humanity just as Duarte was doing.
I think Miller made a good point. At some point it became impossible to differentiate between what was Duarte and what was the Ring Station. Was it his wishes for humanity or was he corrupted by the protomolecule?
Ooo that is an interesting take!
I believe they called that out pretty well. That Holden was basically doing the same thing as Duarte. For me it goes back to the writers idea that there are no "villains", just different perspectives and only time will tell which one was "right".
I also loved this series. I held off originally because I just wasn't sure about the space opera thing. I really liked that they didn't know what they were doing in the beginning. Miller was my favorite. The TV series is also great! Old Man's War is a close second though for very different reasons.
Ahhh yes another Miller fan. I feel like he doesn't get enough love from fans
I just finished the series, loved it!. I couldn’t stop reading, one book after the other xD.
I also read Memory’s Legion with a final story that occurs after leviathan falls.
great journey
So happy you enjoyed it!
I have read all of the Novels as well as all of the Novellas and I really loved "Sins of the Fathers."
Great to hear how excited you are about these books. I'm going to have to get back into this series at some point. I read the first two books around three years ago; Loved the first and enjoyed the second, don't know why I never continued with it.
I definitely hope you return to the series. The later books are great
I am sooo excited for the last segment of the Amazon adaptation to come out. I haven’t even started the books yet, and I bet they are even more fun. It has been a wonderful series to share with my college age sons, and now I have faces to connect with the characters once I read the books. My absolute fave characters are Bobbie and Alex and I just have to say it hooked me on space opera adventures. Thanks for all the great videos!
Love Bobby! And yes I need to follow up on the show. I think I'm in season 3
I have the whole series, just received book 9. My TBR is huge! But now it's time for The Expanse! Thank you so much for this video! I'm leaving before the spoilers.
Ooo enjoy binging the series
Spoiler
I thought the implications of shutting down the ring space and stranding humanity throughout the galaxy was pretty huge from an implication stand point. I'm sorta glad it didn't turn out to be an alien invasion storyline, because that's been done to death. This was truly a unique alien storyline that somehow felt more grounded. The idea of forcing people into a hive mind against their will being the only way to keep the Unknown Aggressors at bay was a really cool way to bring the nature of humanity and what it means to survive into the light. If we have to completely change who we are and loose our individuality, is that really surviving?
I just like that the book didn't try to jump out of its own skin to try and shock us or provide that "they were dead the whole time" twist ending that so many stories try to go for.
Totally fair... and you may very well be right. I wanted that alien... but maybe I wouldn't have actually been happy with it if we had gotten in. And I agree that the Rings shutting down is a huge detriment to humanity. It was a big idea, but I guess I wanted to that played out. I'm very curious for the final novella promised
last book of Expanse
last season of TV series
new Matrix movie
what a time to be alive 😍
reading the first book. loving it so far
I loved the TV show, I'm actually watching through the seasons now for the second time as it's just such a stunning show.
I've never read the books but heard good things, so I think I will grab the first book and see how it goes!
Amos and Miller are by far my favorite characters in the show, few others come close for sure but man these 2 are fantastic actors.
Yes the actors were awesome
I would also add that there are several Novellas that take place in this universe. These are excellent, and would be a great way for someone who isn't sure about starting the whole series to get a taste without much commitment.
Yes I'm really excited to read the bindup... Memory's Legion
I love the series!!! Thanks for this video.
I’ve listened to all the main books on audible and really enjoyed them as I can listen to them while I’m working, now my plan is to re listen to them but with the small novellas included and in chronological order so already listened to Drive and I’m halfway through The Churn. So far I haven’t had any complaints with any of the books and I like the way they all have their individual stiles of story I.E book one is a mystery/detective story, book 2 is a war/political drama, book 3 is other world adventure and book 4 is almost a western.
I'm very excited for the bindup of the novellas coming out in March!
Solid review
I read 1st book around 2010 and it was only book released in Poland back then. When tv series started the started to print next parts. I am now before part 3 but plan to read it all
Glad you got back to the series. It's so good!
Amos' resurrection is presaged by the events of the Novella "Strange Dogs."
I loved the show and maybe I will get around reading the books some day.
I hope you do
🚀 finished the last book. Incredible
The series is amazing! I discovered the books years ago, probably a little while after the first book came out, and fell in love with it! I think they have been doing a great job putting it on screen too!
Ahh yes it's been so many good years of reading through this books
great review!
I have bought the final book but haven't started reading yet. I'll come back to the video after finishing it.
~ Spoilers for books upto 8 ~
I am surprised that Persepolis Rising is considered a not-good book in the series. For me, it was one of the best (and my favourite). It handles so many aspects I have rarely seen in SciFi (e.g. protagonists being terrorists, occupation of a land by a dominant military force that thinks it is doing a good thing etc.) which are addressed with careful nuance. As someone who is engaged in world history and current world (military) politics, this book was one of the few where realities of foreign military occupation are discussed in an interesting way, and you can find many parallels with many modern conflicts.
Love hearing your opinion on Persepolis Rising. I generalized based on reviews and discussions I've seen on reddit and Goodreads I didn't mind the military focus, but found myself very underwhelmed by the ending (because IMO, the conclusion to PR didn't come until I got to read Tiamat's Wrath a year later).
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Leviathan Falls once you get a chance to read it
I always had the impression that Cibola burn is the least favorite book for a plurality of the fanbase, not PR.
I think that people find it to be a little too busy and with too many PoVs.
Great as usual :)
I guess I expected something a little more epic and flashy, but I did really love Leviathan Falls. I loved how complete and “full circle” it made the series feel. I plan on starting over with Leviathan Wakes on audio in January. (l love Jefferson Mays narration) I’m curious to see if Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham continue to collaborate - maybe they’ve said so somewhere and I missed it - because I would definitely pick up anything they work on together.
I definitely missed Avasarala’s foul mouth!
Yes I think we had similar experiences. And I definitely want to reread book 9 on audio. I read all the books first but I enjoy the audio for rereads. And yes give me Ava's potty mouth 😄
Ty and Dan are starting in a new Space opera series next year. It will be completely unrelated to The Expanse.
@@hoos3014 That is great news! Thanks.
Tanaka wasn't new. IIRC she maybe "new" in the sense that we get perspective chapters, but not new from a story standpoint. She was the head of security on Medina Station under the Laconian invasion.
Oh I'm so bad with names. Thank you for mentioning that. But yes still new as a perspective which can be hard to get attached to this late in the game
Good review. And I mostly agree; loved the series (the first book in particular has to be one of my all-time favorites), thought Leviathan Falls did a solid job bringing the series to a close. Mostly, I'm just sad its over!
Yes most of all I'm grieving the end of the series. Went into a reading slump in the days after finishing Leviathan Falls
The one interesting thing about Amos is how the way they referred to him based on which point of view the chapter was based on... Naomi say him as "the thing that used to be Amos" while Alex completely saw him just as "Amos" without question.
Yes! I'm glad you mentioned that. I really liked that detail
The final book was awesome! Its rare a series is tied up so well, but the authors did all the characters justice. Tanaka was a good addition too in an expanded role, A worthy adversary and keep a human element to the antagonists.
So glad you enjoyed it so much!
Tiamat's Wrath was definitely my favorite. It's just mind blowing event after mind blowing event. Caught on to the Timothy thing pretty much right away so that was fun. The Laconians finally popping up in 7 and what Duarte goes through is soooo interesting. Also shout out to Bobbie, she rules!
Ahhh yes Timothy was fantastic. And yes I can't get through an Expanse video without mentioning Bobbie
He wears a hat 😂
I LOVE the first book. And I can't wait to keep keep reading.
🤠
I personally also found the book to be a page turner and found the ending to be a good bittersweet ending for the characters. The ending is also kind of dark but hopeful for the world building though, which I found pretty interesting.
Spoilers
When it comes to the whole getting more Roman and Goths details. I think we actually got a lot more insight and details about them in the interludes. It’s just the info has to be interpreted since we’re dealing with things that are so not human and alien.
I like that the goths were left ambiguous. I felt that knowing that the ring system was siphoning power from their universe was enough. As for the romans, I liked how their evolution was explained; it was a really good parallel to how the protomolecule works. There were some things that were hand waved, but I'm ok with that.
Glad the ending worked for you. And maybe was a nice balance between hopeful and dark
@@TheShadesofOrange
I wouldn’t say the ending worked 100% for me, as I did find some of it predictable but I did spend time in forums speculating how the series would end. So that might be on me. And I do see how you found the final battle to be small in scale but I think that could be down to the limited POV perspective. However I do think there were large scale implications to the final battle based on decisions our characters made.
Let's raise a big cup of coffee in honor of Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham ☕
To Ty & Daniel! ☕☕☕
Thanks! I have enjoyed all of your expanse reviews and can't wait to read leviathan falls as soon as I find the time!
I have never really enjoyed reading before but picked up leviathan wakes after seeing the show and have absolutely loved the series so far😁
Do you have any recommendations for any scifi book to move onto after the expanse? for someone who is relatively new to sci-fi... and reading in general!
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it! And I'd actually like to work to make a video on what books to read to fill the Expanse void. I'm already missing it
I like Andy Weir, but his novels are stand-alones.
🚀 I love The Expanse! I’m looking forward to finishing the series off. Great video, Rachel!
Can't wait to hear what you think of the ending!
Im not a sy-fi fan but I loved this series. It reminded me of Firefly which I also loved.
Great to see any discussion on the books, as it's tough to find. BUT, I respectfully disagree across the board. The finale and series in general gets ALL THE STARS
So glad you enjoyed it so much! It's such a great feeling when a book lands the ending for you
Currently through Abaddons’s Gate. This series is adding up to be one of my favorites.
So glad you're enjoying it so far!
Loved it!!
Spoiler in comment warning.
You know Bobby and Avasarala were my favorite characters in this series as well, and Miller
I wanted to know a little more about the void aliens, communicate with them even, but after thinking about it a while I think it's OK to leave them as a mystery and was satified with the ending. After reading the epilogue I felt hungry to learn more about the universe in that time period. I hope the authors write a story about the universe in the epilogue time period and Amos can explain what happened to the people at the end of book nine. I am sure there would have been some way to communicate with Alex, Quantum Entaglement "Maybe".
Yes I really wanted more. I understand there will be one novella to come out after this final book but I don't think it'll give me the answers I was seeking
@@TheShadesofOrange No, the latest book seems to be about a colony surviving being cut off from being able to trade with other worlds.
If this topic has been discussed already I'm sorry for the repeat. (you have so many videos to filter through lol) So, I looooved the TV series ... but wow, I like the book series even more. I'm on Cibola Burn so I do have a ways to go (I'm trying not to rush through them ... I want to savour every morsel), but I want to ask ... did you read the short stories? I'm about to grab Memory's Legion with the whole short story collection. Do you recommend reading them? Some more than others?
I actually just got a copy of the novella collection so hopefully I'll have a review in a few weeks!
Just came here after listening to the book to drop my two cents,so obviously, SPOILERS AHEAD.
I really enjoyed the book, though I felt a little bit deflated by the end. Obviously even the name of the book hinted at how things were going to play out in the broadest sense, but I was hoping that something more transformative would happen given the huge revelations and implications that were present in the last two books. I was hoping for an epilogue from the POV of someone the reader knows, like Kiki or Drummer or even (someone who I really hoped the authors were saving for the very end,) Filip Inaros, to give us an insight into the post-gate society. The Linguist's chapter taking place a millenium after the key events felt a little bit too detached from the story.
But all whinging aside, I'm still convinced this has been the greatest sci-fi universe ever put to paper, and I'm glad I've been along for the ride.
I have a lot of the same "issues" with this installment. Especially about Filip, like I get not everything in life gets wrapped up in a bow, but that definitely affected how I felt at the end.
There is sth I don't like about the ending...
One of the reason is that someone who is very active in reddit basically predicted the re-collapse of the ring gate after book 8.
That kinda ruin the epicness for it just like the ending of mass effect.
The rest of the book was amazing though, the protomolecule civilization, the dark god etc. etc.
@@whensonzhou4174 I'm glad I'm not the only one who got a m Mass-Effect-ish feel from the conclusion, and though I was deliberately unaware of any speculations for the ending, I felt the ring-gate collapse was pretty much a given once the name of the final book was announced.
I had a pet theory that the eerie "stuttering" presented by drone-repaired people like Amos and the kids were a kind of "latency" issue, as in my mind their consciousness was based within the giant diamond thing and the "people" who emerged from death were just some sort of "client devices" projecting their remote minds like some sort of messed up networked "dongles".
That gave me low-level anxiety as I expeced them to "disconnect" and "die" once the whole network went down. Although I'm glad that did not happen, I'm also kinda disappointed it did not get more attention in the story.
Thank you... your comment really captures how I felt about the ending to this book and the series. And despite my quibbles, I agree that it's one of the best sci fi series out there
Ahhh yes it felt very reminiscent of the Mass Effect ending
Love this series so much! I was binge reading them to try and reread them all before book 9 but I couldn't fit in Tiamat's Wrath before the last one came out
Ah yes I read all 8 this past year and then did an extra reread of Tiamat's Wrath in November
Finished LF today. Could not agree more about the ending. I didn't necessarily think the aliens would appear (like the Borg), but MINIMALLY after thinking I missed something over 8 books, I figured they would explain in detail what happened and why and how between the ring builders, and the species that killed them. Even tease a threat to humanity in the future at the book's end. Even at the prologue I thought this is it. We are going onto the alien's ship/existence to get some exposition and some implied threat about getting even. But no, nothing!!! To your point, now it's clear the books were never about them. Ok. But if so, then JSAC should have stopped teasing the "stay tuned' to find out repeatedly in all the books (Chekov's gun?). Nice video. Thanks. Just subbed
Thanks... it's always validating to find like minded readers with similar opinions. I know other readers felt we got enough explanation but it was more ambiguous than I personally wanted
Nice, Thanks.
Reading the books now, I agree with your impressions of Naomi. Given her high levels of talent and intelligence hinted at by the stories, her focus seems to be fawning over her boyfriend more than anything else.
Ah thank you! I feel like people's impression of Naomi has been swayed by the TV show but rereading parts of Leviathan Wakes and the earlier books... I was disappointed by how she was presented
I loved the book!!
Spoilers:
I feel that Naomi has become a great character in books 8 and 9. Becoming the leader of the resistance and coordinating the strike on Laconia in book 8 and becoming the captain of the Roci because of Jim's PTSD in book 9.
I felt they added Kit's POVs to add characterization to Alex, but it also set up a really gut-wrenching scene in "The Lighthouse and the Keeper." When Kit and his baby began to go dutchmen, I had tears in my eyes. Then, they were brought back only to learn about the shared memories. That was such a great chapter!
I feel the ending was great, though a bit predictable. I like how the goths (inter-dimensional aliens) weren't over explained. It lets the reader interpret whether they were actually beings or just a force connected to their universe. I disagree with your system wide implications comment, though. Shutting down the gate system will strand millions of people. The systems that are not self-sustaining will collapse and everyone will die. The Sol system was already having resource issues before the events of book 1, so with the gates being shut down, their future will be difficult (as shown in the epilogue). Not to mention Laconia moves most of the scientific minds to their capital. I really do hope we get more stories about the post ring civilizations.
Also, I love that they brought Miller back!
Yes, I agree Naomi became so much stronger by the series end. (I think I just never got past my first impression of her as "the girlfriend".
I must be callous because I had NO emotional connection to Kit & Alex in this one. I'm glad it worked better for you as intended
And yes.. how did I forget to talk about Miller? I fangirl whenever he "returns". I adore his dialogue with Holden.
@@TheShadesofOrange Have you ever read African Queen, CS Forrester? I ask because I think it's one of the best examples of men writing women. I am new to your channel so I don't know if you've discovered Forrester.
Anyway, I get what you're saying about Naomi and it's a common thread in your comments. I just don't think men can write women... And whenever we come even close it deserves some note.
That's something I had a problem with.. I really don't see Holden being ok with the deaths of all those people. Like I know the book kind of addressed the hypocrisy of his character, but it felt cheap. Like they couldn't figure out a different way for the story to work, so they just made a throw away line to "explain" the break in character. The Holden I knew would have took the time he had, and the interconnectivity, to stage the first inter-universal vote whether or not to go threw with the hivemind plan. That's literally how his character has handled every other issue he's come across.
Also, Miller is hands down my favorite character. Even Proto-phantom Miller. Him being brought back was my favorite part of the book. Even though it had me thinking Bobby might make an appearance xD
@@adryandawnstarr477 I would agree with you if it wasn't for the predicament he was in at that moment, in that chapter its stated that everything he does, like looking closely at the Rosi would take energy. He was using everything he had to stop the entities before he pulled the plug. He simply didn't have enough in him to connect all of humanity together for a vote, and he was faced with the trolley dilemma.
Just finished it, loved every minute. Sad to have the saga end, but it was a good finale. I hope they continue the story at a future time, the epilogue was a great tease.
Ah yes it sounds like we'll get one more novella next year
Amos has become one of my all time favorite characters.
Love him!
Alex is, and kind of always been some sort of anchor to the group. Sure, his backstory might be a bit simpler (Married, divorced and although it seemed like it at one point, he haven't given up and married & divorced again ), but saying he was boring... i was really feeling it toward the end where he chose his son vs his crew, and the fact that it happened so fast with no possibility for regret was harsh. I do agree about Naomi. In this book she again was based around Holden to a point where when she had to act as the underground leader, it felt unnatural. But i still love her, as i do with the rest of the crew of the Roci.
This book series had been with me since May 2020 up until i finished the last book 2 days ago. I really donno what I'm gonna do with my (reading) life now =)
Aw I'm so glad you connected more with Alex. Did you watch the TV show? Because I admit that the character on screen captured my heart a lot more than the books. But glad that you shared my opinion of Naomi. I know people love her, but I'm frustrated of how much of her story revolves around Holden
@@TheShadesofOrange
I've actually started watching last week, and im in episode 6ish season one. I waited until i finished the books before doing so because i didn't want my imagination while im reading to be effected (hope that makes sense 😅). Gotta say, while its nice so far, i don't find it as enjoyable as the books.
For example, comparing to the books, Avasarala's personality does practically not exist in the tv show. But, since bim curious how they managed to execute the more crazy stuff, im still goving it a shot for now. (Naomi is shorter than Holden which is not so tall on the first place! Thats wrong lol)
Excellent series, great ending. Sad that it's over.
Agree
PS I DO hope that this marvellous and scary universe is developed in the future in the manner of Dr Who or Marvel as it has SO MUCH one could explore more.
Such I would love to spend more time in the universe
I started Leviathan wakes and now i just cant put it down im 75% done the book now and i cant wait to get deeper into the expanse
I hope you enjoy the whole ride
im sure wether to get it or not, I mean if I spend alot of money if it is I haven't re checked it yet if it is and I don`t like it then that would mean I have wasted all that money, I mean I like sci fi, but the way war on earth is going in rl the way we act, and if we epand and colonise othere planets and cause the war etc out there the way we do down here, we see enough fighting violence etc down here is it worth reading about it might be happaning up in space in the future? so is it worth a read?
I like it but don't think it's perfect so it just depends what you like
I just finished it and I’m crying.
Aw yeah I'm so sad it's all over!
I'm an audiobook guy and gone ok from leviathan wakes and slugged a bit in Caliban's war so I said f* it and went to leviathan falls and it was a fine experience, I haven't seen the tv show and I wanna try season 2 to begin with.
Glad it works out for me
I am less than 100 pages from end of Leviathan Wakes, but have all 9 books in hardback to binge inc the final volume. I will be back in x months time to see the conclusion of the video 😄 🚀🛰🌠
Haha bookmark it for next Sept!!
Finished my 2nd WOT read through and was looking for a new series a question though i have watched the tv series up to beging season 5 how much more detail and depth will i get out of reading the series
Well I definitely can't compare it to the WOT but yes the Expanse book series is definitely worth reading even if you've watched the show. There is a lot more details and the story is a little different too
Spoiler alert:
I absolutely cried through the last half of book 9… and I can’t get over the ending but it is very fitting and is perfect. It was absolutely correct that Holden has to do what he did. It was the only thing that could happen. He knows very well that he has to inject himself with the Protomolecule in order to open up the station to get inside and to possibly get in touch with Miller again.
Still,… I cried and I am crying now.
And all of this was fore-shadowed by what Miller had to do with Julie Mao on Eros. He loves her and he acts selflessly and out of true love to help her end her life and by chance to also save the earth by diving into Venus. I also believe that while Eros heads for its final end on Venus, he is transformed by the protomolecule or co-oped by the protomolecule. His physical body does indeed die when Eros crashes into Venus but I believe he was co-oped by the system as a useful app “to find things”, which is what we see him develop into. At the end of Book 9, we see the love that Holden has for Naomi in his final farewell to her expand into his morel dilemma to also love and save the human race. He has always been a person to ALWAYS act in the morally correct way no matter the result to himself.
By the way, Tanaka is NOT A NEW CHARACTER. She was on Medina station when the Laconians took it over. At that time, she held the rank of a Marine Corps colonel, and was posted as the security officer for governor Santiago Jilie Singh, who held the Navy rank of captain. She served in this capacity until she resisted an order from Singh to crackdown on the inhabitants of Medina Station and advised the governor to reconsider. She was then relieved of her command post.
She then directly served High Admiral Anton Trejo aboard the Heart of the Tempest.
Check it out.
It seems Amos was transformed by the repair bots, not just repaired. And I think the other transformed characters, Cara and Xan most likely are still living but are just not mentioned in the epilogue. It’s interesting that they are “ever living”. One wonders what other creatures were “transformed” by the bots on the Laconian world that no one knew about.
I was hoping for some ending information about Filip Inaros, who later changed his name to Filip Nagata. I had always hoped that he and his mother would meet again, Filip all grown up, an older man. Of course, all through those decades he would’ve known about his mother and that she was the leader of the opposition. But it’s interesting that he never tried to get in touch with her. And at the end of Book 9, the end of the whole book series, absolutely nothing was mentioned about him. I think that is too bad, something could have been said. Even if he didn’t meet with Nagata…
So happy you enjoyed the first book. And yes I misspoke... I found have said that Tanaka was a new perspective. And if you want more about Filp and I recommend the final short story that was recently published
Spoiler
Also, speaking of the small ending. It also ended FAST. Like, we didn't even have a second for Naomi to greif or cherish the loss of Holden. It was crazy. She got him back just to lose him again and her and Amos are talking about the implications of the gates and stripping it for ore...and Holden and everyone else isn't even mentioned by them! Felt like a real miss. Loved the book too, did cosmic horror really well while focusing on the characters, but in that, the focus on the characters on the end got pushed to the side to do the final business of the big plot that wasn't really that big of a resolve anyway. Def one of my favorite book series, but I feel like Children of Time/Ruin managed a more satifactory ending with mostly the same kind of theme.
Yes... I forgot to say it, but I agree that the ending was too fast. The climax was so late into the book and it didn't give enough time to spend with the characters afterwards. I kept looking at the pages left and wondering how they could possibly wrap it up so fast
I watched the show and am so bummed we don’t get the final 3 😢 I’m about to have to start reading these books because it’s a great series but looks like an intimidating read 😅
Thanks for the review! I just finished the last book, and am pretty satisfied with the ending. It's probably my favorite series. The thing that has always bothered me about the series is how often "shifted" is used. Not sure if it's just me. I feel a little like William Shatner on an overnight flight though because no else seems to notice or acknowledge it.
What do you mean by shifted? Like the focus shifted?
@@TheShadesofOrange Just the word shifted, shifts, shifting, any form of shift. It's used an absurd amount. It's one of those things, once you notice it, you can't unnotice. I listened to the audio books because I spend a lot of time driving with my job, it could be more noticeable in an audio book.
@@ryanl8489 ahh ! I'm sure I'll notice that now on reread... especially if I do a reread on audio