Abaddon's Gate

As with the other 2 books in this series, the story is incredibly fast-paced and never slow down. The first had the perspective of 2 major characters, while the 2nd expanded to include 2 more. This installment in The Expanse also has the perspective of 4 characters which I enjoyed more than 2. Also the 2nd and 3rd installments have the perspective of women, which is refreshing in this genre.

I continue to be impressed with the depth and variety of the characters in this series. There are 2 female perspectives in this book, and I felt both were believable, and I was sympathetic to their causes. Sure, I personally may not act as they do, but the author's development of the character has led me on a easy path to understanding why they do what they do. And that's important to me.

If forced to choose one aspect of the fantasy / sci-fi genre that I most like, I would have to say world building. The world building in these books is awesome, inspiring, and delightful. I love space operas that expand my imagination like this one does. Also, the world is wonderfully open-ended, the author has so much to do in this world yet, and so many ideas to explore. It's a great setup to the story.

So, the characters are great! The setting is great! The plot... was pretty good.

The rest of my review is spoilerific.

Holden returns in this installment as the protagonist. but he is embracing his new identity as a hero. Miller is also still lingering, this time as ghost. The 3 other characters are Anna, Melba, and Bull.Anna is a (okay I'm making an assumption here, but she is married to a woman) lesbian first-time mom and preacher who is asked to go on a journey to the mysterious ring leftover from the 2nd book. She's a great example of the complexity of characters. She's a lesbian (different enough on its own), but also a preacher so now we have a moral compass in the mix, and finally a new mom who has ties to humanity in that regard.Melba is the big enemy, plotting to ruin Holden's life. In the process, she kills a man, and is basically driven insane by the guilt. Bull is probably the character I least identity with because he's the opposite of me. Although I really liked the characters and the setting, I really hoped to have more in the plot. I think I was expecting knowing more about the "other side" of the ring. The novel ends with some explanation of the ring's existence, and then basically the ring opening for exploration. (There's actually several rings, but I'm paraphrasing here). It did not feel like an ending to 3 books to me. I know it is 6 books, but I still just expected a few more crumbs of info. And, there was a lot of ship battling-type stuff, of which I'm personally not a huge fan.

Great book overall, very much looking forward to the rest of the series!