After the events of Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War the powers of the Solar System, Earth, Mars, and the Outer Planets Alliance are all in an uneasy coexistence as the dangers of the protomolecule appear ever more apparent. A mysterious object has formed around Uranus, and everyone is afraid of potentially waking a sleeping giant. So someone decides to do just that, and now humanity wants to investigate this strange phenomenon in our Solar System.
We're going to explore Abaddon's Gate, but on the other side, will we find heaven, or hell?
The third book in the Expanse series of novels, it follows the crew of the Rocinante and a small cast of new characters as they head out to the void beyond Uranus. James Holden is back, and ever since the events of the last two books, he's just trying to keep his head down and keep his little clan of Naomi, Alex and Amos on the Roci alive. There's one small problem with that though, he's being haunted by a ghost. Torn between madness and curiosity, he's finding it impossible to stay out of the spotlight and more sinisterly, someone might be guiding his actions to get him there.
In this story we're joined by a new cast of minor characters. In one corner you have Earth born member of the OPA, Carlos "Bull" de Baca. A long time subordinate of OPA head honcho Fred Johnson, he's been chosen to help keep a disparate crew of Belters together as they try to show the flag in an upcoming mission on the OPA's new dreadnaught. The only problem is, due to political necessity, he's been placed as third in command. With an egomaniac as a captain, and an XO of uncertain loyalties, he's going to have a hell of a time keeping the ship together, not to mention himself out of trouble.
Then we have Annushka "Anna" Volovodov, a Methodist preacher who along with her wife and child have been doing a tour of duty on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Always one to do first and ask forgiveness later, her own curiosity is getting the better of her when she agrees to join an interfaith mission accompanying the fleet heading out to possibly one of the greatest missions in human history. As one who identifies as a Methodist myself, I found her character to be one of the most fascinating to read as she not only accurately reflected much of my own relationship with the divine, but was a human, fallible, and great to view the story through.
Finally, we have the mysterious Melba. She's nobody, trying to hide and keep her head down. She has her own mission to the stars. One which might end up getting a lot of people killed.
Like the previous installment, the book focuses less on the aliens we might encounter in the stars, but more on the human reactions to what happens when we face something down we know precious little about. As poor Anna discovers, the Earth, despite being under the ostensible aegis of the UN, is just as factionalized as it was pre-unification. Similarly, Bull struggles with his own erstwhile comrades of the OPA. Factionalism, competing agendas, and just plain old petty grudges bog down as much of the human endeavors as anything the aliens do.
Taking place largely in one location, this novel was also a bit different from the last pair of books which included chases around the Solar system, battles over multiple moons and planetoids, and a lot of what you'd call rock hopping. Here though, it's all set in one main location. It was very easy to follow the trajectory of the action and you don't find yourself consulting a map of the planets for a while. Not that I mind that, but one location can be a nice breather from stellar wide action.
As I mentioned with Anna being a fascinating character to read about, I enjoyed that this book was also looking at what humans could accomplish when they pulled together and didn't try to mess each other up. The humanitarian element was warming, especially in a pretty potent speech Anna gives to try and keep everyone together, decrying racism and the silly ideas that just because someone was born on Mars or in the Belt that they're somehow fundamentally different from people who grew up on Earth. Despite the inhuman ways people can act towards one another, we can still come together.
It's a supremely strong third installment to this series, and well worth picking up.
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