My review for book 4 of The Expanse. Another great entry to this epic series, where Humanity is reaching for the stars, but also, they are still human
Cibola Burn continues to deliver the same exciting action, science fiction and a pint of horror of the previous three books in The Expanse.
From now on, I really think I have to contain some mild spoilers at least when it comes to the progress of the series as a whole. This is the fourth book of The Expanse after all, so I will assume youâve read the previous three books, or watched the show, or have some idea of how things have developed so far..
I will not spoil anything about the book itself, of course, or at least Iâll try not to.
After Holden and company witness how all of the ring gates that lay dormant in the slow zone begin to wake up, the way to countless solar systems across the galaxy is now open. Humanity finally reaching the stars, doesnât seem too far fetched anymore.
As soon as one of those planets is deemed suitable for human life, a rogue Belter ship claimed it as their own and began to colonize it, they name the planet âIlusâ. After some time, an Earth ship is on its way to what they decided to call âNew Terraâ, with the goal of studying the planet, mine it for resources and of course, to claim it as their own, after making a deal with the belters, and dealing with all the paperwork on Earth to do things âright.â
When things eventually go wrong. Holden is tasked by Earth and the OPA to act as a mediator and try to resolve the local conflict going on, but the tension would only rise, as the planet itself hides a mystery that endangers everyone on it.
This book, was just as fantastic as the others. I canât help but say the same thing book after book, it keeps being true.
Like before, the story jumps across different perspectives. This time, it features Basia, a character mentioned only by name in the previous book, who is part of the Belter colony and wants to protect his family, and his new home. Havelock, who was Millerâs partner in the first book, is now part of the security team for the Earth ship, and tries to keep things in check and train a militia, in case things go south. Finally, Elvi, a scientist from Earth, that wants to figure out the best way to coexist with the local biology, and study the different forms of life in the planet.
Holden joins the party after plenty of chaos has already been done, and now has to clean up the mess and try to make amends. But of course, itâs not that simple. Eventually, things will turn out to be much more dangerous and cosmical than expected, and boy does it get kind of crazy this time.
I really enjoyed the new charactersâ points of view, they all brought something to the table!
It was nice to let Havelock shine for once, and to see the choices he makes and the way his character developes as the story progresses was quite entertaining. He is just really good at what he does too, if a little bit stubborn. Through him, weâll learn what most of the Earthers in the ship think about the situation, as well as internal conflict between what he is asked to do and what is the right thing to do throughout his journey.
Elvi is almost like a second mediator, being one of the scientists that interacts with Belters the most, while also disagreeing on things like the way they have tampered with the ecosystem without any care. Her relationship with Holden is also kind of interesting, if a bit weird. Through her, weâll meet other scientists and colonists, how they deal with disaster and finding solutions to their problems.
Basia is an interesting fellow. He is the father of the dead child Holden and company found in Ganymedeâs secret laboratory, so, he has quite a lot of trauma and guilt, and a grudge against those that want to take away the new planet and way of life he has managed to build for him and his family, which weâll get to know pretty well. He has made mistakes, and the way he deals with all of that is a common theme throughout his story.
And of course, Holden is Holden, and he will do everything he can to protect his people, and to find a way to balance everything out. Of course, Millerâs ghost is still haunting him with random quests and revelations about the planet in question.
The planet itself is a really interesting setting, there are some really vivid descriptions of the flora and fauna, as well as signs of an alien civilization that inhabited the planet at some point. How some characters deal with gravity and having a sky above their heads is kinda fun too.
Overall, I really liked this book. I think it has some problems in the way a few characters are portrayed, the villain was pretty clear from the start, and I couldnât really take him very seriously. But he devolves in interesting ways later on, so I will give that a pass. The dangers faced and the revelations made here were quite mind-blowing, and at the same time, I felt like they werenât enough. Still, it kind of feels like the beginning of a new trilogy, so I understand the plot keeping some cards hidden for now. I am quite excited to start the next with my reading club soon!
