Book Review: Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey

This is the 4th book in The Expanse series. Just continuing my read of the books and comparing them to the TV series. Here is the Goodreads blurb:

The gates have opened the way to thousands of habitable planets, and the land rush has begun. Settlers stream out from humanity's home planets in a vast, poorly controlled flood, landing on a new world. Among them, the Rocinante, haunted by the vast, posthuman network of the protomolecule as they investigate what destroyed the great intergalactic society that built the gates and the protomolecule. 

But Holden and his crew must also contend with the growing tensions between the settlers and the company which owns the official claim to the planet. Both sides will stop at nothing to defend what's theirs, but soon a terrible disease strikes and only Holden - with help from the ghostly Detective Miller - can find the cure.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Overall Impression

This was an excellent addition to The Expanse and perhaps the best I've read thus far. The plot is intense and the setting new and unusual- the first interstellar colony. We also have recurring characters or new ones with links or ties to others so the cast feels familiar.

Plot

This is another Expanse book that benefits from a tight plot thanks to everything being in close proximity. All major characters are in this new colony, either as Belters having settled there, as humans working for a corporation that claims ownership, or as the crew of the Rocinante working as mediators. Some people are in orbit, others are on the ground, but everything is close together which keeps the pace fast and focused. The tension really ramps up in this one, once bad things start happening they just keep pilling on and on. Other books felt like they had a bit of a reprieve, but this one keeps the tension all the way to the end.

Characters

Interestingly enough, some characters here feel more connected to prior books than I got from the TV show. One of the security guards is Havelock, from way back in Leviathan Wakes. I have no memory of that from the TV show. Another character is a family who was friends with Prax from Caliban's War and whose child became or died due to the protomocule experiments there. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the TV series. While there are still extra characters compared to the TV series, in this book, it seems more of an effort was put to connect them and it ends up working better.

Setting / World Building

In the prior book, the universe has opened up thanks to the mysterious Ring. Now, humans are expanding to other places and we get to see the first interstellar colony. It's interesting in its own right, but also offers up a way to see more remnants of the technology behind the protomolecule. Ancient ruins, strange aliens, mysterious planet, we have it all. And just because we can't escape it- human conflicts and corporate greed. I think we get to see a little bit more of the flora/fauna of the world in the book and maybe also for the alien ruins, though the visual aspect of the TV series helps there.

Final Thoughts

This was another great addition to The Expanse series. I liked how focused it was in the characters and the tense plot. The alien planet is a unique new setting and a refreshing change from the zero-g action of prior novels. The villain is probably the most hateful one we've seen thus far. The Expanse doesn't necessarily have too many shades of grey- its villains are usually very clearly bad, but this one is probably the most obvious. From the get-go we know this is the bad guy and nothing really changes. Fortunately, that clarity just puts the rest of the story in perspective as man vs man conflict gives way to man vs world. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series shapes up as we near the end of the TV series adaptation (I think the next book is the last that was adapted).