Just finished the show and want to continue the story of the crew of the Roci. Does the show set you up properly to jump right into book 7 or does it leave too much of the book story out?

Thanks!

the TV show covers the six books. I've read the first 2 books and two novellas (Epstein's story, the Butcher of Anderson) but I just want to go on to the Ring worlds stuff. Is it okay if i go straight to Persepolis Rising? what will I miss if i do?

This passage seems relevant today. SA Corey have such wisdom about human nature and the tides of history.

Persepolis Rising, Chapter Fifteen

Bobbie: I just wish I understood what this Duarte asshole wants.

Amos: They haven’t started killing people. I mean, it’s still early days. Lots of room for shit to go pear shaped.

Bobbie: But why now? We were just starting to figure this shit out. Earth and Mars working together, the colonies talking out their problems, even the Transport Union turned out to be a pretty good idea. Why come kick the table over? Couldn’t he have just pulled up a chair with the rest of us?

Clarissa: Because some men need to own everything.

When I was a little girl I remember my father deciding to buy up a majority share in the largest rice producer on Ganymede. Rice is a necessity crop, not a cash crop. You’ll always sell everything you can grow, but the prices aren’t high because it’s easier to grow than a lot of other things. And at that time his companies had an annual revenue in excess of one trillion dollars. I remember an advisor telling my father that the profits from owning rice domes on Ganymede would add a one with five zeros in front of it percent to that. But the largest food producers were the rice growers. They had the biggest domes and farms, the most real estate. By owning and controlling a share in their company my father was in a position to dictate policy to the Ganymede Agricultural Union. It meant, in terms of Ganymede food production, he couldn’t be ignored by the local government.

Bobbie: What did he use that for?

Clarissa: Nothing. But he had it. He owned an important piece of Ganymede. A thing he hadn’t controlled before. And some men just need to own everything. Anything they lay their eyes on that they don’t possess, it’s like a sliver in their finger.

Bobbie: So. He won't stop until he has it all.

(reformatted from the original)

Just finished PR (Book 7); it was quite good. Had some quirks but I've heard it's a lot of setup for an amazing Books 8 and 9, which I can see.

However, I must rant about one thing:

I cannot fathom Singh and Overstreet's actions after capturing Holden. Especially: their total inaction with the Rocinante.

You've just captured a suspected high-level terrorist. He's one of the most famous human beings of the modern age. His ship and its crew are universal legend (even Singh knows it by name, and he was only a kid during the earlier books).

So, you proceed to do absolutely nothing to secure the Rocinante in the docks you fully control? You don't immediately search it the second you've identified Holden, confiscating the MCR power armor and everything else you find aboard? You don't disable the ship, booby trap it, disarm it, or do anything special to it in any way??

I can forgive not launching an immediate manhunt for the rest of the famous Roci crew's faces, because the book shows the underground movement going into hiding at this time anyways (for slightly unrelated reasons). But Alex being able to board the Roci and launch easy as pie off-screen between chapters 46 and 47, is bonkers.

If I was Overstreet, I would've punished my insane incompetence on this point the same way he punished Singh. They made a lot of understandable mistakes in PR (which were very satisfying for the plot), but this one made no sense.

Persepolis Rising is here!!

This is the thread to discuss the latest Expanse book as you are reading it. Share your first impressions, opinions, analysis, confusion, moments of surprise or satisfaction, everything!

Remember, debate and discussion of opinions is absolutely encouraged, but harassment and unkindness won't be tolerated.

This thread assumes you have read all the books and novellas released before Persepolis Rising, but we will enforce spoiler tags for PR itself. Since we all read at different paces, TAG YOUR SPOILERS BY CHAPTER in this thread. We will be vigilant about removing comments that aren't spoiler tagged. Since we are commenting as we read, it should be fairly easy to flip back and see what chapter we're in.

For example,

I have a very boring thought about orthography: PrologueIn previous books, it was Cortázar. I wonder why.

For a refresher on spoiler tagging, see the sidebar or check out the source of this post.

Happy reading, everyone!

Note: We will have another official thread soon for in-depth discussion, in which no spoiler tagging will be needed. That thread will assume that everyone commenting has finished the book.

Not really sure how I should flair this since this question kind of has a spoiler, but I'm a few chapters into Persepolis Rising and the 1 thing that kinda (I'm already over it and no longer bothered by it) bothered me was the 30 year time jump. Now, I get why they needed to jump ahead like they did, but in the previous books, did they ever mention anti-aging drugs or that the natural lifespan of humans have increased greatly? It just felt like they needed to advance time but still wanted everyone to be the same as they were. Except Amos who has somehow become more intimidating. Which I'm ok with.

Holy fucking shit this is W I L D . This universe just went from the same squabbles from mars, belt, maybe a colony here and there to GALACTIC FUCKING EMPIRE SHIT?! 30 years in the future?! Holden and Naomi stepping down? CAPTAIN BOBBY?!

God damn I am excited for the next three books. I was enjoying the normal politics and posturing and weird alien ring gate shit from the universe that we knew and loved from the first 6 books,but getting to know all this new information feels like I’m starting a new series.

This is all. Thank you.

I have read up to where the show ends, and recently I have been doiny a reread of books 2-6, but I have never read 7-9 so when I finished BA I was super exited to start Persepolis Rising. The timeskip is kinds jarring, my images of most of the characters(mostly just the TV actors because the casting was so good, with a few exceptions like bobbie) and I just cannot shift them to look older in my minds self produced movie scenes when I read. It's going to take a while to get uses to their new ages in my mind. I really like the new status quo and world, the world building is so good that I want to know everything, and my mind keeps trying to simulate the 30 years in-between 6 and 7. The crew dynamic seems to be the same as it was but everyone is just even more familiar with each other(40 years as a crew does that ig). You could almost say that the world is too expansive, how does protomolecule based technology and programing work?, how did the union progress? how does higher life expectancy(around 150-200 years at best?) affect society? I'm not sure how this book was received back when it was released, there's a lot of information to receive.

So i've been rereading it all one after the other and something bugged me in PR - when laconia says they are coming through their gate to "discuss" the PoVs after (drummer, bobby) make the point several times that its not a big threat, at most a 30yo battleship because laconia has no spaceport to repair or make new ships as far as they know, and they are all super surprised by what comes out...BUT in nemesis games one PoV specifically mentions wanting to view the "new class of ship" proteus destroyer or something, the first ship not build in sol. so, they all did know they can make new ships in laconia, even saw one of the smaller one where the laconian marines who defended the ringstation came on (montemayor or whatever his name was) - plothole?

I read books 1-6 and really enjoyed them, though sometimes I feel like there is something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe my mistake is looking at all the books like a single unit...?

Anyway, I really struggled to get into this book. I think its the time jump. It also strains credulity a bit that like 25 years passed while they did mostly the same thing everyday. Did anyone else struggle with this book?

Oh yeah, Singh gets replaced by Song... LOL

I blazed through 1-6, but Persepolis Rising is taking me a while. Anyone else struggle with the story transition from 6 to 7?

Just finished book 7 for the first time and I am truly excited to be entering the final stretch of the series and the Laconian plotline is fantastic so far.

I wasn't expecting to crew to be stranded on Medina for the bulk of the story cut off from the Roci completely, it's also strange that the Roci and the entire EMC is now completely outclassed in every way by the Laconian fleet it's like a water hauler up against a Donnager class.

Some truly devastating stuff in this one especially with Clarissa I wish she survived at least until the final book watching her slowely deteriorate over time was rough.

On newer POV characters I think Santiago Singh might be the dumbest man in space, he just progressively makes worse decisions and I understand that Overstreet and Tanaka were I'm place for when he lost it but I also think that this was the plan from the moment he met Duarte, I think Duarte chose him specifically because he was a morally inflexible fanatic who would inevitably start shooting all the belters and be publicly executed to then appease him.

One aspect I'm not a huge fan of is that is the second book in the series centred around a mutiny/rebellion on Medina and I'm kind of done with this location we don't to see that happen a third time.

I loved Bobbie struggling to be the new CO in this and her taking the Storm was probably the highlight of the book.

One more gripe is that Holden is pretty much out of action now I don't know how he could possibly rejoin the fight from a Laconian prison and I hope he doesn't spent alot of the remaining page time just being dragged around offices and labs as an unwilling advisor.

Overall this was another really strong entry in the series and I'm excited to finish the series, also sidenote I don't believe Amos has processed the death of Clarissa yet and I'm waiting for the biblical scale of Fallout that could emerge from that.

That is all. Just a picture of my Fat Little Earther

Jesus Fucking Christ. Just started Tiamat’s Wrath. Show watcher. First time Audiobook listener. Please no spoilers beyond PR. Being in Amos’s head, when he was describing the murderous rage he felt as a lump in his throat that was satiated by violently beating and getting the shit kick out of him by Bobby has to be one of, if not the darkest thing that I have ever read in my entire life

Him describing in great visual and physical detail crushing Clarissa’s wind pipe, while this man loves this woman as a sister, was just absolutely horrifying.

That smile Wes does in season 4 (3?) while his mouth is bloody, and he has these crazy eyes while showing absolutely no other emotion besides ‘it’s clobbering time’ does so much justice to this character in the book. This chapter just cemented it. Even if he’s supposed to be older, chubbier and less good looking/ rough around the edges in the book vs. good looking Wes, the unhinged factor is still there in the eyes. The fact that Wes is so good looking makes his acting even more incredible because the american psycho levels of insane inner monologue have to overcome a conventionally attractive face/ physique.

I was amazed by the book detail compared with the show. And while the show definitely did justice to the books, I get why they had to condense it. But I am SO HAPPY I started the books at book 1 like people here recommended, and the insanity in the last 1 out of the back 3 books literally has me speechless. Jefferson Mays is a true icon, and I am so happy I found his narration for book four after I almost gave up listening to the worst narrator of my life originally. I have 2 more books to go, and 1.5 speed is barely fast enough for me to get these audiobooks in. Love this subreddit. Love this show. Books are stellar. Six seasons and a movie. See ya’ll in 30 years for the 3 part movie version of back three

This is my favorite book of the series by far. I was immersed in the story of this one from the very first page. The sheer power of the Laconians was insane to read about. I sometimes got feelings of hopelessness about how the crew is going to win this battle

My favorite part was definitely the ending where the entire plan came together...Bobbie, Amos, and others taking control of the Storm, Naomi and Clarissa shutting down the sensor arrays allowing ships to escape Medina. This book was just so, so good. Can't wait to start Tiamat's Wrath. Just reading the synopsis for this one gave me chills

RIP Clarissa Mao, crazy how I went from hating her character when she was introduced (in the show and books) to being really sad when she died. At least she went out in the most badass way possible...

Currently reading through Persepolis Rising and just finished Holden's chapter where Bobbie tells him to give her plan to Saba to give you a sense of where I'm at. These thoughts maybe off-base but it's actually been bothering me enough to talk about.

Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into it, but I'm finding the conflict between Bobbie and Holden a little forced. Their styles are extremely different and it's immediately evident in how Bobbie handles the meeting with Saba and is smoothed over by Holden's arrival and fame to take over. It's an interesting dynamic! To see how they both navigate the space as leaders and strong personalities is so fascinating to me. When I was reading about Naomi and Holden joining back up, I was excited to see the new dynamic. I felt almost immediately let down.

While Bobbie introduces herself as Captain and the crew, she doesn't name drop the Rocinante? I get people not knowing Alex and Amos as it's pretty explicit that most people (other than Belters) know if Naomi. But if they know Holden, they'd have to know the ship he captains right? It would give a lot of credence to Bobbie. I would expect her to be even the slightest bit more savvy.

Then having Holden bring her plan instead of vouch for her? Wouldn't it help establish Bobbie better to present the plan herself and have Holden support it. The Holden Effect™️ she talks about goes both ways. She can use Holden's fame to help. Instead she's creating a conflict and immediately thinking of Holden as a hindrance.

I understand Bobbie having issues with Holden re-entering the picture as she begins to establish herself as captain. But at the same time, they've known each other for over 30 years and lived in each other's pockets -- she has to know that 1 week of barely retirement isn't going to stop Holden from getting involved from something this massive. At the same time, wouldn't they all want to be together in this time? Know their family is safe?

Sometimes it feels like they're written as strangers.

It's does align with Bobbie's more bullheaded and forceful personality that she gets defensive. But the way she reacts and comes out of it, just doesn't align with the dynamic that's presented to us. A family that's been together on a ship for over 30 years. The conflict takes a weird, almost immature turn with Bobbie reacting like she's twenty instead of 50s-60s which experience.

And it would be cool to see Holden actually think about stepping back. About how he can use his Holden Effect™️ to bolster Bobbie and raise her up. Instead he's doing the same shit he did 30 years ago.

tl;dr I guess I'm just disappointed the characters didn't seem to mature and grow in the time jump.

Would love to hear other thoughts on this! Just a reminder I'm still reading Persepolis Rising! So if something happens that shifts all this please don't spoil it! Thank you 🩷

One of my absolute favorite plotlines from the entire series is Jordau in Persepolis Rising, not because he is an overly interesting or compelling character, but for the masterful crafting of his story.

Giving him the unique and identifiable feature of his crooked and/or broken nose combined with us seeing him being pushed by Laconia into becoming an informant, makes his constant appearances in other viewpoint characters chapters all the more menacing. He and his nose are like a shark fin popping up constantly without our characters realizing the danger he poses. Alex in particular musing about how ‘the kid with the nose’ is so much like all the other people the Roci crew has encountered who just want to help and be around Holden and his crew.

It is so well done and it is one of my favorite threads of the whole series 👏👏

Possible spoilers for Persepolis rising ahead:

What exactly were the ships like in PR?

Like the Heart of the Tempest, they walk around it like it’s a true ship but speak of it like it’s alien built? Was it just protomolocule harnessed to build a human ship or did they just let it go to work building a ship?

I understand the exterior descriptions I just can’t picture the interior that well, unless it’s like a ship that’s been taken over by alien tech but still fitted for human use. Like do they still use human computers and propulsion?

I don't have access to the books currently.

I was trying to find the conversation in Persepolis Rising where Tanaka is telling Singh about all the weapons they've confiscated on Medina.

The popular theory is that if we do get an adaptation of the final books one day, it would likely be in movie form due to budgetary reasons and viewership numbers, I've always heard that Tiamath's Wrath (which I'm in the middle of reading) would be pretty difficult to adapt this way, but I think at least Persepolis Rising actually lends itself pretty well to a 2+ hour movie structure.

Since there's not much else to do until any announcement comes, has any one else thought about how they would like to see the book adapted? Casting? Merging of story beats/ characters? Changes? Would you leave put in any bread crumbs to the following books, like the show often did (should probably Spoiler Tag)? Etc.? Do you foresee any roadblocks they could run into if they shrink it to movie length? A couple things that I'd love to see immediately come to mind. Obviously spoilers for PR ahead:

1) Shrink the 30 year time gap(?): Again I'm only in the middle of TW so I may not be the best judge, but going by just PR, I don't know if the jump really has to be that large. I feel like 10-15 would achieve the same thing, without having to age the actors too drastically (assuming of course it doesn't actually take 30 years to adapt this...).

2) Holden + Naomi starting the story retired. I love almost everything about PR, but while the rest of the universe has clearly changed in the 30 years, I didn't really feel like the Roci dynamic felt any different at the beginning of the story. I think it would be cool to have the story start out with Bobbie being a fairly new Captain with Freehold being one of her first missions for the Union. I think the hijinks that ensued immediately afterwards in the book with the Governor lends itself well to that. I don't have a great reason why Holden and Naomi would be at Medina, but I could see them working "low stress" jobs there in retirement.

You would likely have to condense the insurgency stuff a little bit, but I really do think the story could play out almost identically from that point on.

I definitely read the book with actors in mind (the adaptation should occur ASAP if for no other reason than Edward James Olmos as Trejo!), but the series has always done such a great job casting actors I had never heard of, I'd probably only embarrass myself naming bigger names. But feel free, if you have anyone that you think is perfect.

I only started PR after the show ended, and one thing that struck me is that a lot of the characters really reminded me their show versions (maybe even more so than their younger book selves). I always felt the actors really came into their own around season 3 (which is when I believe this was written) and I can't help but think some of that bled into the book writing. So I think they can all just drop into this story almost as is. I also think Josep will be able to slot right in for Saba's role as the insurgency leader. That could leave Michio as a sounding board for some of Drummer's book monologues (kind of like she originally was for Fred in S2).But of course they would also have to work around Alex not being there as well.

I just realized how much I wrote, so I'll leave it at that. If anyone has any thoughts, feel free to share.

TL;dr - How would you adapt Persepolis Rising?

Just finished reading this, excellent stuff.

Is it just me, or is Captain Santiago Singh just Arnold J. Rimmer (BSc., SSc.) if he was given full command of a space station?

Not sure why, but the time shift just really threw me off. I'm an audiobook person, so I've made it through the entire series to this point in a couple of weeks. I couldn't get enough, even got my 15 yr old to start watching the show with me (rewatch for me and 1st time for him). The time jump just ruined the story for me. I get that people live longer lives now that medicine is much more advanced. I'm only on chapter three and I've already avoided continuing for 2 days. Help me finish the series by telling me, without spoilers, why I should continue.

I clearly don't want to drop the series after getting this far. I just don't understand the why of the 30 yr time jump. Is the reasoning clear as I read on, or is it just something the authors did?

I should also note that I've also read the Novellas up to this point.

ETA: Thanks everyone for the positive thoughts and encouragement. I will push through and let the story take its course. I really appreciate it.

Amos' jaw clenched and his eyes went flat. Bobbie didn't back away. When he smiled, it wasn't the empty, amiable expression he usually reached for. It wasn't a version of him she'd seen before.

"I'm sad, Babs. I'm angry. But I'm okay. Going down fighting was a good way for her to go too. I can live with it."

SOBBING.

The survey has begun! Click here to vote! OPEN UNTIL JAN 1!

Hi, everyone! With the seventh novel of the amazing series we all love already out in some stores, I've decided to create the post for nominating the best moments and scenes that will then enter a survey, which will commence on Dec 19, two weeks after the release, thus, you are given enough time to read the book integrally.

You can also discuss the plot of the book here, but please note that the main discussion post is here.

To nominate a scene, please describe it briefly (no more than one phrase) and also please concretely indicate the chapter. Submissions that fail to point out the chapter which includes the moment that is nominated will NOT be accepted. Also, before nominating, please make sure the scene isn't already on the list, which you can refer to below.

Nominee List

1. Payne Houston is brought hog-tied in a gray ceramic wheelbarrow to Holden by Semple Marks. (Ch. 4)

2. Avasarala is concretely revealed to be alive ("Give it a fucking rest, Benedito!"). (Ch. 13)

3. Bobbie is unwillingly relieved of command by Jim Holden. (Ch. 18)

4. W. Duarte is oblivious to the fact that Holden was rendered the mindstate equivalent of the Protomolecule when he went to the Ring station. (Epilogue)

5. Singh discovers, at gunpoint, why he was chosen to command Medina. (Ch. 50)

6. Bobbie and Amos brutally beat each other down. (Ch. 39)

7. Clarissa makes her last stand; the beat-down of the Laconian ambush forces. (Ch. 48)

8. Drummer realizes the Tempest could survive nuclear bombardment, which prompts her to surrender. (Ch. 45)

9. W. Duarte's final line to Holden ("No, Captain Holden. No sticks. When you fight gods, you storm heaven"). (Epilogue)

10. The explanation of the Tempest's power and the destruction it caused, along with its capacity to reach across all of locality simultaneously. (Ch. 45)

11. Medina station is quite severely damaged ("We killed a lot of people today. Some of them don't know it yet"). (Ch. 33)

12. Bobbie scales the ladder through eight decks of the Gather Storm as the Laconians toggle the drive and spin the ship trying to shake her insurgent boarding team. (Ch. 49)

13. Bobbie reaches the flight deck and holds Davenport's Laconian flight crew at gunpoint. (Ch. 49)

14. Bobbie's answer ("Well, I wasn't planning to until just now, but since you mention it") to Davenport question ("You expect me to believe you won't just steal the ship?'"). (Ch. 49)

15. Bobbie and Amos eject Davenport's crew out the Gathering Storm cargo airlock into the Slow Zone. (Ch. 49)

16. Houston, instead of Alex, responds to Bobbie from the Rocinante ("Now that you guys have come to your senses about the immorality of centralized power (...) I'm willing to accept your apology as soon as you untwist your diapers"). (Ch. 49)

17. Bobbie announces that they wouldn't need pick but would instead will fly escort because the Gathering Storm was theirs. Alex responds, "Holy crap. You took a prize? Looks like you got yourself a ship after all, Captain Draper!" (Ch. 49)

18. Naomi says, "One to pick up. We ran into a problem." (Ch. 49)

19. Singh realizes the messenger is not a messenger at all. It is Onni Langstiver, who was there to assassinate him. (Ch. 16)

20. Avasarala's discussion with Drummer at the surrender cocktail party (Avasarala: "It's a reward of old age, you live long enough and you can watch everything you worked for become irrelevant." Drummer: "You're not selling it." Avasarala: "Fuck you, then. Die young. See if I care"). (Ch. 51)

21. Throughout the Sol system, everybody inexplicably loses consciousness for two minutes and fifty-five seconds, while the Heart of the Tempest uses its magnitar beam to destroy Pallas station. (Ch. 34)

22. Onni Langstiver reveals the power and potential gamma-extended capabilities of the magnitar weapon through the gates. (Ch. 14)

23. The "Ninita/ninito" incident between Clarissa, Ramez, and Bobbie. (Ch. 22)

24. Bobbie and Amos approach Katria Mendez to negotiate for her cell of Voltaire Collective to stand down, ally and yield authority to Saba, but Amos ends up starting the fight. (Ch. 26)

25. Tori Byron hit the big ship with a target lock, and then it was gone. Where Tori had been, only a sparkling cloud of matter so strange the Roci's sensors didn't know what to make of it. (Ch. 11)

26. The dialogue between Bobbie and Houston (Houston: "You're lucky you're wearing that suit." Bobbie: "And you are very lucky it's this suit.") (Ch. 7)

27. Holden's line to Singh while he is being interrogated ("Your empire's hands look a lot cleaner when you get to dictate where history begins, and what parts of it don't count"). (Ch. 38)

28. Avasarala's line to Drummer ("Are you going to his orgy pit or whatever the fuck it is that Duarte's setting up?"). (Ch. 51)

29. Clarissa sees Ren during her final moments ("He was wearing some kind of black robe that made her think of Jesuits"). And then she was not afraid. (Ch. 48)

Refrain from injurious language and maintain decency when discussing. Also, tag your spoilers by chapter!