The Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again.
In the dead system of Adro, Elvi Okoye leads a desperate scientific mission to understand what the gate builders were and what destroyed them, even if it means compromising herself and the half-alien children who bear the weight of her investigation. Through the wide-flung systems of humanity, Colonel Aliana Tanaka hunts for Duarte's missing daughter. . . and the shattered emperor himself. And on the Rocinante, James Holden and his crew struggle to build a future for humanity out of the shards and ruins of all that has come before.
As nearly unimaginable forces prepare to annihilate all human life, Holden and a group of unlikely allies discover a last, desperate chance to unite all of humanity, with the promise of a vast galactic civilization free from wars, factions, lies, and secrets if they win.
But the price of victory may be worse than the cost of defeat.
Title : Leviathan Falls
Author : James S. A. Corey
Series : The Expanse (book nine)
Format : eBook
Page Count : 528
Genre : sci-fi
Publisher : Orbit
Release Date : November 30, 2021
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★.5
Hollis' 2.5 star review
Well. I certainly didn't think I'd be coming to the end of this incredible journey feeling so meh. I initially rounded this up because of how much love I have for the characters and what came before. And because I did get choked up just before the end. But then, of course, I changed my mind. Because separate from the rest? It failed.
I don't know how to put into words what went wrong with this finale but for all that there was a lot of things purported to be happening, it didn't feel like much was happening. We seemed to revisit some of the same situations, from the same angles, and I don't know if we got anything new out of them to warrant the repeat. The only thing I did find interesting was what a certain character was trying to do by modifying the human race. Not so much the why or the how of it but the complicated reality of what it meant, the consideration given to consent and self, and the metamorphosis of the individual instead to the whole.
Overall, I'm by no means mad that, after all of this, the entire journey to get here, it has come to this. The experience is definitely not something I regret. I loved so many of these books, fell under the spell of these characters, was invested in their fates, and spent all week eager to jump back in to find out how things end. So, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed that this is how we leave things. So much of the intensity, the emotion, and the feeling of connection just wasn't here. We heard about it a lot. But it felt rote instead of genuine. And for all that this has become so big, with space gates and powerful alien entities and artifacts that can change a being's molecular structure, it was still always tethered by the human element; and you could always feel that. Until book nine.
Also, I think maybe I'm too dumb to understand, exactly, what the epilogue means. Like, I think I get it? But I might need to poke at some reviews to confirm.
I still have the final novella to complete before I can officially tie a bow on this series. But after that? I can't believe it's over. Maybe if I ever put in the effort to reread this series I'll feel differently about this end, understand it all in a different way. Who can say. But for now? This is it.
All that to say, I will definitely not be changing my position on this series. I still highly recommend it. And I'm very excited to treat myself to a rewatch of the show and also equally to see what these authors have in store for us as they kick off a new series -- the first instalment of which comes out in August. Looking forward to both!
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