Review: Babylon's Ashes by James S. A. Corey

Blurb:

The sixth novel in James S.A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now a major television series from Syfy!

A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.

The Free Navy - a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships - has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets. The colony ships heading for the thousand new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them.

James Holden and his crew know the strengths and weaknesses of this new force better than anyone. Outnumbered and outgunned, the embattled remnants of the old political powers call on the Rocinante for a desperate mission to reach Medina Station at the heart of the gate network.

But the new alliances are as flawed as the old, and the struggle for power has only just begun. As the chaos grows, an alien mystery deepens. Pirate fleets, mutiny, and betrayal may be the least of the Rocinante's problems. And in the uncanny spaces past the ring gates, the choices of a few damaged and desperate people may determine the fate of more than just humanity.

Review:

“If no one with power loves us, let’s make our own damn power.”

Babylon’s Ashes is the 6th book in The Expanse Series, and it completes the second arc including the Marcos Inaros plotline. This review will include spoilers for books 1-5 of the series!

I read this shortly after Nemesis Games, which ended up being one of my favorites in the series so far!  While this one was good, it seemed to spend a lot of time wrapping up plotlines from the last book, and I did enjoy it.  It just, had a few repetitive passages and I think quite a bit belonged to the last book, but that would have made it too long… alas, so here we are!

“If the universe needs a knife, it makes a knife. If it needs a pirate queen, it makes Michio Pa.”

First of all, MICHIO PA, second of all, I adore her (fans of the tv series will recognize much of her plot, as her show counterpart, DRUMMER).  She really got her moment in this book, and I think she’s a great character.  She learns to follow her heart, and she has a great support system to help her make decisions, and she’s careful to protect her own.  Her role as both ally and antagonist to Jim was wonderful.  

While other books have had 4 or maybe 5 POV characters Babylon’s ashes has 10 POV characters, and that’s before you include all the POV characters that only have 1 chapter!  With a total of 19 POV characters, and 15 that we actually know, it was a lot, and the extra 4 POV chapters were so hard for me to get into that those are where I ended up taking breaks. 

“Fought the oppressor before. Fighting the oppressor now. Followed your heart then. Still following your heart now. The situation changes, that doesn’t mean you do.”

All that being said, PRAX is back! It was so nice to see how the world is fairing on the science front, especially with Earth being mostly destroyed, how they are going to make enough food is going to be very important! Also, the multiple versions of resistance that we explore with Prax are great parallels for the plot. We talk about plant resistance in the ‘science’ sense, but then we also see him breaking the rules and fighting, in his own way, against the Free Navy. 

James Holden – Jim’s dedication to humanizing Belters to his fellow earthers was interesting, and I think his character has really grown in an organic way.  Funny for him and Naomi to sort of slide into each other’s roles.

“I’m just trying to make it a little harder for people to feel comfortable killing each other.”

The authors discuss how when a new species invades a habitat, both the native species and the invading species undergo changes. I think they really drill down of this in their new series “Mercy of Gods,” but seeing it here and seeing the changes in the crew of the Rocinante was another great parallel. 

This series continues to be understandable, interesting, while also carrying a diverse cast list, and an incredibly comprehensive plot.  While this one did add a bit of baggage, I wasn’t sure about, I still think it is very strong overall!

While I enjoyed this one, I don’t think it will usurp Nemesis Games for my favorite Sci-Fi read this year, but overall, I’m still really enjoying this series!

Would I reread? Yes, mostly for Micho Pa, who was an iconic leading lady. 

Would I recommend? Yep, I continue to beg anyone I can to read this series 😊 This series is so fun, and you really feel like these characters are your friends, and most of the time, they deal with their problems like adults. 

Recommended for Fans of found family, Mistborn Era 1, and Red Rising.