Defalt

The beginning of a long, epic sci-fi—The Expanse.

The story is set in the close future solar system where capitalism is still the main driver and the amount of explored space is similar to Red Rising but the society is much closer to modern. So there are some research stations on some of Saturn’s moons and that’s the farthest we get in this book.

There’s a very short intro—compared to most other books where it’s at least a third—after which we get one gripping event after another with very short breaks between them. And also there’s a lot of mystery about what’s happening for like half or two thirds of the story which gets even more mysterious and dangerous. But then it all slows down around 70% mark until almost the very end which feels a little strange and like the authors try to build tension through a lot of text instead of a lot of exciting stuff.

Also the story is told from two points of view: a detective on the asteroid belt and a captain of some transport ship who, at the moment, works for the belt. I think they’re pretty good in showing the story from different perspectives and telling a lot of interesting details about how the world works and how people live on the asteroids. And I mostly prefer the detective here as he shows some real dangers and unpleasant details of that future, while the captain has some good points and decisions in the beginning, he later becomes too naive or strict with his rules (at least he starts to realize this in the end).

So the epically open ending promises some big events and even bigger threats. Can’t wait for the second book.

The second part of The Three-Body Problem.

For the most part the plot feels slow and mystical, very similar to some classic sci-fi—like Foundation and Childhood’s End—where you and some characters don’t know what’s going on or going to happen next. Or it’s just you and the author doesn’t reveal some character’s plans. Also there are some unique—to me—alien features, which has a big impact on their communication with humans and perception of the world.

The intro (the first third) is kinda slow and I’m like "where are the aliens or some cool sci-fi stuff?", cause mostly it’s just discovering how ordinary human lives may change in that kind of alien situation. And then, as always, after the intro the plot accelerates to the first cosmic velocity. We also get some time jumps here, the last of which for me is very captivating.

Then there’s that action episode on the 80% mark… It’s just shocking.

And then it’s very devastating and depressing because The Dark Forest finally gets explained to you. But the ending suddenly becomes hopeful during the last 5 pages. Which leaves you with a lot of questions about the next book’s potential story.

Overall it’s a realistic, grounded and even scary science fiction story. Can’t wait to read the conclusion!

Should've read it with a cup of latte

The first chapter is nice, kinda anti cliche or anti adventure, but then it feels like a quest log to upgrade a coffee shop. And overall it’s written in a simpler style compared to other fantasy books, maybe similar to young adult books, but it’s not for that age, so there’s some dissonance for me.

A few cute moments here—drinking the first latte, adding cold drinks and baked goods to the menu, various, unique customers. But sometimes it's just too sweet, and they actually literally invent things from our world without any fantasy features except calling it a “gnome technology”. Also the romantic relationship feels like it was added in the last moment, maybe because there are almost no hints about it.

When describing most of the dialogues the author doesn’t specify emotions or a way of speaking which can be a little confusing sometimes. And the stakes are really low as stated on the cover and that’s the point, but the villain feels very simple and not threatening at all.

Super light read overall, the ending is fine but the epilogue isn’t interesting at all.

Maybe the prequel is a bit more interesting.

Getting more hooked by the story

The art is still awesome, maybe even a bit better than in the first volume—great battles and duels, a lot of very nice landscapes.

The story also doesn’t loose the quality presenting Thorkell—super cool and intimidating—, some mystery with the prince and some part of Askelad's past. Overall it’s one dangerous event after another with no flashbacks this time. Also interesting to see what's happening with Thorfinn's family.

Can't wait to see what's next.

It could be fun but it’s Marvel

The art is mostly nice with some really epic panels and interesting locations, though in some places it looks weird, especially the lightsaber trails in the air, and some fights are hard to follow.

The concept of Vader’s first mission is cool and there’s a nice scene where he makes a red lightsaber, but it’s over very quickly and characters talk too much—telling the reader some information, telling each other very obvious things or their motivation or what they think—, especially during fights.

Another bland project from Marvel.