Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
This series is stupendously fun.
New York: Orbit, 2015. Originally published in June 2014.
Cibola Burn is the fourth book in The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, the pen name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. After reading Cibola Burn, it’s official: The Expanse is the most fun reading I’ve ever done — including Harry Potter.
The Expanse tells the story of humanity 200 years in the future. We’ve colonized the solar system, and we’re just starting to reach beyond it. It’s a space opera that wraps action, adventure, mystery, horror, and political intrigue all around great human characters.
Cibola Burn wasn’t my favorite book in the series, but I still greatly enjoyed it. I enjoyed all the point-of-view characters, I found the character’s problems to be interesting, and the pacing felt just right. It had smaller stakes than the first three books in the series, but since I loved all the characters, I didn’t mind; I was sufficiently invested. In contrast, while I loved the drama and conflict of the previous book, Abaddon’s Gate, I didn’t care for one of the POV characters and the last fourth of the book felt overly grueling.
This series is stupendously fun. I highly recommend to all. Go start with the first book in the series: Leviathan Wakes. You’re in for a treat. Also, check out the TV series adaptation; season one of The Expanse premiered on Syfy this last December. It was awesome.
Oh, and be warned: these books are binge reads. They will demand it.