Positives: 3rd sequel, races on, characters we can empathise with
Negatives: The pace is too much sometime? naw carry on!
Book Description: For generations, the solar system – Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt – was humanity’s great frontier. Until now. The alien artefact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark.
Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships going out to examine the artefact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden at its core. As the emissaries of the human race try to find whether the gate is an opportunity or a threat, the greatest danger is the one they brought with them.
Review: First up – those naysayers* (is that a word?) is that its all a bit obvious, well listen up, its a rip-roaring sci-fi novel, excitement and page turning abound. OK you couldnt read this stuff all the time (blistering of page turning thumbs would be a problem aswell as lack of sociability) but its darn fun – and frankly thats what you need sometimes. Hard sci-fi can often be a tad overlong and over-explained (do we need to know about the jet infusion nozzle, that links to the thingy, that produces the wotsit, that creates the quantum bubble, that makes everyone on Ceti Alpha IV a nice Latte?); the answer is not really Jim.
The aspect of a chapter per multi-threaded character,works well and helps build up anticipation – moves the book along nicely. I think the familiarity of the characters from the previous two books helps the prose flow – I don’t doubt that also – with some nods to the other two books (little re-explanations) that this could also be enjoyed as a stand alone novel. This is a good face paced sci-fi book and I urge you to read it.
