Tiamat’s Wrath is the eighth book in the The Expanse
series from James S.A. Corey. Honestly, after seven previous books, and an
award-winning TV series currently running on Amazon, you probably know what you’re
getting, at least in broad strokes. A work of science-fiction which contains
detailed, plausible science, alongside deftly drawn characters with complex
relationships, in a richly imagined world. This is a series which wants to
explore the universe, wants t present the reader with big ideas – and does so
through both the grand sweep of events and the intimate details of its
characters lives.
This latest instalment continues the trend. TO put it
simply, it rocks. If you’re seven books into the series and wondering if it’s
worth carrying on – yes. Stop reading this, and go pick up a copy today.
That said, before I carry on: If you’ve not read all of the
previous books in the series, or especially if you’ve only watched the TV show,
be aware that you could spoil things for yourself by reading the rest of this
review. Get caught up first!
So here we are. Humanity has an Empire. An artificially
created one sure. One imposed on Earth, on the Belt, on all of the
not-yet-self-sustaining colony worlds through brute technological force and ruthless
decision making by our new dictator-for-life. But an Empire nonetheless. And
the scale of it is absolutely breathtaking. There’s the entire solar system whose
wrangles filled earlier books – alive with commerce and tragedy and, yes,
politics. There’s the outlying colonies, trying to scrape enough together so
they don’t have to rely on imported food. There’s the Slow Zone, that weird
gateway between worlds, now populated by human debris, an enormous transit hub,
and a very heavily armed warship. And there’s Laconia. Seat of the new imperium,
mostly earthlike, populated by a swiftly rising technocracy, empowered by alien
technology reverse engineered through experiments that would count as crimes
against humanity, except anyone who would say that has probably been imprisoned
and used as a test subject.
It’s a wonderful space, a living breathing tapestry of
diverse cultures, all butting heads under one larger roof. And those cultures are on the
move, impacted by Laconian control of the apparatus of every state. There’s a
wonderful moment when a Belter casts sidelong glances at a Laconian station, where
even the graffiti is appropriated and artificial, trying to create a cultural
cloak of authenticity over some good old autocratic authoritarianism. Each of
the places we see feels different, from gritty mining tunnels to the scientific
sanctums and marble halls of the Laconians. That’s the thing. They’re all
different, and all real. You can feel the lush alien grass, beneath a widening
gyre of a sky, one that seems familiar but also strange – and walk beneath the
cool shadows metaphorically cast by the alien orbital construction platforms
overhead.
This is the world. The universe It rumbles along whether we
want it to or not. And there are stranger things in heaven and earth, to be
sure. The series has always been good at reframing its struggles into new
contexts – and there are tremors here that suggest more is coming down the
pipe.
Alright, you say, but what about the people?
Worry not. They’re still thee, and as complicated, fiery,
awkward, monstrous, heroic, beautiful, terrible and wonderful as ever.
I’d like to take a special moment to talk about the
antagonist. The dictator of Laconia is an erudite, charming, thoughtful man. He
has set out to construct an interstellar empire, not out of greed or ambition
(or at least so he tells himself), but out of necessity. Only a unified
humanity can survive, he reasoned – and then set out to create one. In other
contexts, we might see them as a hero, a figure tying together the expansion of
humanity to the stars. And that’s certainly how the Laconians paint him. As a man
who was willing to do what needed to be done. A man who loves his only daughter
dearly, and who will shepherd humanity into a bright future. But under the
surface, there are contradictions, questions. Acts of monstrous ruthlessness. Experiments.
Supression of opposition Diplomacy at gunpoint. A need for control which does
not react well to challenges to that control.
It would have been easy to give us a cackling villain to
face. This is something else. Someone who is the hero of their own story. Someone
who others might reasonably follow. No less appalling for that, but more
understandable, more human, even as their humanity slips away. There’s always a
frisson, a chill in their scenes, and that makes them delightfully terrifying
and a compelling read.
Of course, a lot of our old favourites are back to fight the
good fight. Because not everyone is thrilled about the Laconians being the
authoritarian power in their lives. Naomi is trying to become someone different.
Separated from Holden, she’s finding her centre in isolation andanalysis,
working through pain in an attempt to survive. That’s not all she is – the fire
and the passion are there, and the ability to act – and watching her grow through
this story is an absolute joy.
Holden is mostly seen through others eyes this time around.
A Laconian prisoner, a dangerous terrorist (again!). He’s a man on house
arrest, trying to hold himself together, and do what he can to avert
catastrophe. Always the idealist, his attempts not to fall into the warm but
bloody bath of Laconian benevolence are fraught, and each moment of that
struggle carries a tension wrapped around it, as much as it’s wrapped around
the quiet core of Holden himself.
Bobby and Alex…ah, I love those two. In different spaces,
they still manage to connect, to have moments of intimacy and understanding.
And Bobby is still an absolute arse-kicker, and Alex is still a conflicted,
complicated person, trying to make the best of himself. They’re a wonderful
pair, and seeing them struggle with themselves as much as the Laconians, well,
it has a raw strength and believability to it. They’re a delight to see on the
page, and wonderfully well realised.
Amos…well, Amos is Amos. Enough said.
Anyway.
You’ve got your struggle on a grand scale, as the Laconians
attempt to stamp out resistance to their rule – and also figure out what
murdered the people who left behind all the kit they appropriated for their
conquests. And you’ve got the personal impact, in characters we can empathise
with, sympathise with, laugh with, cry with.
Either would probably be enough to make a decent book.
Together, they make for a great one.
And then there’s the story.
I won’t spoil it. But, wow.
This one pulls out all the stops. Again.
It’s snappy. It’s fast paced. It has the sort of personal
stakes that leave you with your heart in our mouth, waiting to see who lives
and who dies. It has the twists, the betrayals, the heroic reversals that seize
the soul and keep you turning pages until three in the morning. It has the Big
Ideas to make you think, and the down and dirty heroism to take hold of you and
not let go. It has blood in the streets, soaring rhetoric, and some damn cool
space battles.
If you’ve come this far, you’re going to want to read this.
You need to read this.
So yeah, like I said at the start, put this down, and go get
yourself a copy now. You won’t regret it.
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