A favourite series of mine, and I’m one of the readers who think it pretty much only gets better as the series progresses. I think you’ll like the later books very much once you indeed get there. I am doing a full reread right now before the final book comes out - very excited about that, and looking forward to your videos next winter. The writers envision the series as three duologies and one trilogy that they call their “epic fantasy that’s not LOTR”. You might want to keep that in mind as you progress and decide on a reading schedules as the books really work well regrouped that way, with palate cleansers between each pair.. Don’t forget the novellas, which are best read in publication order as some of them act as bridge and others give you information at times planned by "Corey”. You might get your wish about Prax one day. More scientist characters further down the line too. The Expanse isn’t considered “hard sci fi” by the writers. They proudly call it Space Opera, but it’s a version of the genre where they tried to keep the science realistic and reasonably accurate. The one Expanse book that’s more “hard sf” is Cibola Burn, the fourth book. It’s the storyline of season four, but with a whole lot more science in the book version. Some are very critical of it, but personally it’s one of my top two books. You are making the right decision to wait now that you’re so invested in the show. Wait until s6 and then binge all the rest of the books. Books 7-8-9 will bring you plenty of literary twists and turns and thrills. Some have an issue with the setting of books 7-8-9, but knowing your tastes a bit now I think you’ll be like me one of the readers who aren’t put off at all by this and in fact find it great.
The Expanse is my favorite series. I've reread the series twice now and i'm so excited for Leviathan Falls in November. Honestly I think each book gets better and better than the last.
I've been waiting for the last book in the series from last 2 years when Tiamat's wraith came. So excited! Expanse is my favourite series (not only sci-fi). The politics is the best i've read, the Rocinante crew is like family and people shouldn't ignore the books bcoz of the show. Both are Great! (Rare Case)
Love Calibans War! It's bitter sweet, but I cannot wait for the last installment, book 9, Leviathan Falls! About book 1 and 2 feeling like the beginning of an arc, the series is written as 3 trilogy series. 1-3 4-6 6-9 Since you're a fan of the series, you'll probably recognize that. Making season 6 a natural stopping point for the series, sadly. Yeah, Calibans War has one of my favorite epilogues of all time!
Damn, I'll probably have to come back after I read Leviathan Wakes, but just like the Project Hail Mary video, I've tossed you a 👍' like' and bookmarked to come back. I've had this book for a couple years now, and just haven't yet found the perfect time to read it. But hope to soon
Thanks, Mike! I definitely needed a refresher before Leviathan Falls comes out. My TBR is way to out of control for me to re-read the entire series before November.
I need to read this. Read book one back in June. I just didn't continue cuz I have a book buying problem and refuse to buy more till I cut farther into my stack. Really enjoyed leviathan wakes
While they do give you a lot of info up front on that alien particle, there is much more to that story. It will affect everything, even if they slow-roll it at times--mostly effectively but not always IMO. I caught up with the series in July and now eagerly awake the final book. I have enjoyed the series a lot with its sweeping, ambitious story and interesting characters. Caliban's War was one of my favorites of the series. I haven't always liked the writers' choices on some things, but the overall story and the fates of the Roci's crew keep me coming back every time.
Thanks for these videos Mike! I wish there was more conversation about the books on RU-vid. I haven’t seen the show, keeping it until I’ve finished the books.
I've thoroughly enjoyed the books. I haven't read the last couple of books yet. I want to reread the whole series to refresh my memory so I'll be able to jump into those books (and the final book when it is released) without having to remember who the characters are, what they've done, why I should care about them, etc.
My main complaint with the series (I'm caught up, and very much in love with it) is that later books still introduce new characters each book. Because of that, some characters work and some dont, and it causes the first half of a book to be generally very slow. There are some exceptions to this rule (book 5 and 8 for sure), but every book tends to take a while to get going as a general rule in my opinion. Luckily, this book's new characters are pretty great, so Caliban's War doesnt struggle as much.
I recently finished book 7 aa I try to get caught up before Leviathan Falls. In my opinion gets is really only one true dud in the whole series, and this wasn't it. Really enjoyed this. Great follow up to Leviathan Wakes.
Hi Mike. One of your videos made me interested in the “New Jedi Order” book series, but I saw that it is 19 books long. Do you think that some books would be skippable?
