I really appreciate that the authors had enough respect for the readers not to try to change the ending or "subvert expectations". They foreshadowed and built up to it and then delivered on it, predictable or not. Lesser authors would have tried to throw everyone for a loop and sacrifice the integrity of their story as a result.
I really liked it for the same reason. Also I liked the epilogue, because the one thing that did nag me when the gates were closes was that it felt like everything that happened was kinda for nothing then. But it was the humans on one of the colony worlds that discovered a new method of FTL travel and went back to earth.
@@leandervr Yeah it wasn't all for nothing. Humanity bieng scattered all across the Galaxy gave it a chance to survive and evolve in independent groups. Thus having more chance of succeeding. Rather than all of humanity bieng stuck in one single dying system fighting over resources. In the end the whole ring gate fiasco allowed humanity to survive for another Thousand years.
I'd say the series dipped its toes into cosmic horror in the first 2 books, then dove in headfirst in the 3rd, then things progressively got more pants-shittingly terrifying until the end.
My read was that there were two reasons the Entities couldn't just steamroll Humanity like they did the Builders. The first is that Humans aren't a hivemind like the Builders were, like you said. The second is that the Builders, and probably the Entities, don't have physical forms in the same way we do. All it took was a single pebble in the Builder's stream to cause serious damage. That strategy didn't work with us. It's like a boxer knocking out a little kid, only to get swarmed with flies. The flies can't really hurt the boxer, but he's not gonna kill them all by throwing punches.
The Entities didn't seem to mind people just using the ring gates. Ships Dutchmaning seemed to be an aspect of the system itself, not a deliberate act. Right up to the end whether or not a ship Dutchmaned was a function of how much traffic was going through the rings. The Entities did seem to actively object to the Laconian's magnetic weapon being used, but they didn't really start an active campaign against humanity until Duarte lobbed an anti-matter bomb at them.
Also the Entities had no way to confirm their kills. Remember- they can only feel the advanced technology of the builders, that is sucking up energy from their universe. The builders were an easy target because they did not continue traffic to killed systems. Humans go all over the place to investigate even after catastrophies hit. Thats why we are almost invisible to them. (I thinK Elfie has this theorie at one point and it seems to be pretty spot on)
I don't think there's any indication of the actual neture of the unknown aggressors, aside from what you all said about feeling the advanced technology capable of interfering with their own universe. It makes sense. And anyway the epilogue hit me harder than the actual ending
This is basically correct. They go through that thought process at some point in the books, explaining how the Entities see humans don’t behave like the ring builders and don’t understand it enough to act on it
I think it was implied that the entities were throwing shots in the dark and probably didn't even know why what they did worked just that it had a desired effect on the builders and that the only feedback they got was continued or stopped use of that ring gate. In one of the books it talks about a colony all dying because of a random attack of the entities messing with a necessary biological function. They didn't catch on that it was a very successful attack because humans still used the gate after the attack to investigate. Had they know that particular attack was so devastating it would have been game over for the humans just like the builders. Who knows for how long they threw random shots at the builders until they figured it out.
Tanaka is actually not that New to the expanse, she was a minor character back in boon 7, and at least left enough of an impression for me to remember her
The thing is that the Tanaka in Book 9 doesn’t seem like the type to resign over killing civilians, she’d do that with glee. That’s why it doesn’t seem like they are the same character.
The thing about the ring entities is that they seemed to be fine with the gates being used, up to a point. As long as people kept the ring traffic below the critical threshold, they didn't do anything to stop it. They didn't take any action against systems until the Laconians started blasting away with their magnetic disrupter, and they didn't really turn up the pressure until Duarte started throwing antimatter bombs at them. They always seemed willing to let people revert to the status quo. They never started Dutchmaning every ship through the gates. It's just that Duarte kept upping the ante until there was no choice but for both sides to go all in.
I would argue that they simply didnt feel low traffic to be more painful than the ringstation existing. and they probably just accepted the ringstation- they were entirely unable to damage it. So as long as the ringstation didnt start to draw out more energy from their dimension than usual they were ok with it, because its just the way it has been forever. However the Tempests weapon was new ( a new source that drew power from their dimension)- so they counterattacked in order to quench the pain (most likely using the same method that helped to silence those pesky ringbuilders that kept intruding into their dimension over and over again). And it worked. (Because the Magnetar- Weapon was not used again- it might have looked like a success to them) The bomb was most likely also "new" to the entities and they realized that whoever it was that was bugging them did not seem to die from their mindsnapping. So they started to test new methods. But they were unable to confirm their effects- since humans didnt stop using gates even after all their experiments.
@@trevorhunton7526 That is actually implied at the end; Naomi briefly reflects on the fact that if humanity was more levelheaded, they could have worked out a system. But, alas, Duarte and other bad apples ruined it
Yeah, Duarte's assessment of the situation became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Well, that's the risk when you are a narcissistic politician with God complex, who is way out of his depth. Even though I must say, he was quite a brilliant strategist otherwise.
I am happy with Holden's decision not to connect all humans into a neural network. Reading about all the intrusive thoughts and loss of individual identity filled me with dread. It reminded me of Childhood's End, which made me shiver. The moment Naomi told him not to wake her up, when he leaves this time (to do his suicidal heroic thing yet again) and everything that followed broke my heart. Well played, writers!
I think it was implied that the entities were throwing shots in the dark and probably didn't even know why what they did worked just that it had a desired effect on the builders and that the only feedback they got was continued or stopped use of that ring gate. In one of the books it talks about a colony all dying because of a random attack of the entities messing with a necessary biological function. They didn't catch on that it was a very successful attack because humans still used the gate after the attack to investigate. Had they know that particular attack was so devastating it would have been game over for the humans just like the builders. Who knows for how long they threw random shots at the builders until they figured it out
I thought the ending was sad. Holden dies, some worlds will die off without trade, and Alex leaves the group too. All the gates close, so no hope for future habitable planets.
I would say yes, but would have preferred two part ending , book 9 and 10 - Leviathan fall PART 1 and PART 2. We needed more insight into Laconia, more insight into Anton Trejo, Tanaka and Laconia Arc overall. Then part 2 more focus on dark entity and their fight against human
My thoughts on Leviathan falls The ninth and final book of the Expense series I poured the thoughts I had while listening to the book. Sorry it's all jumbled up. *Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers* Bottom line, i thought this was the best book of the series. I was captured by it. First half of the book i felt it was moving to fast, but it still totally delivered. The premise of the ring space is highly influenced, i think, by Frederik Pohl's Heechee saga, specifically "Gateway" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_(novel) So i was kinda thinking that it will end similarly: *spoilers to "gatway"* the humans meat the ancient aliens, and they work together to defeat the enemy. So the conclusion that "we can't win, and need to shut this down" was kinda surprising and refreshing. And also i guess sort of "realistic". Duarte's path of enforcing his will on everybody else is very consistent with his personality and methods. He knew better for everyone as a state leader, so he knows better than everybody as a hive minded god. He can never give up the mobility the rings provide, so he must resist and fight the dark enemy. I did think that the consensus in witch everybody excepted that Duarte's plan needs to be stopped, was a little rushed. There was room for discussion there. Minor issues I have with the mechanics of the hive mind: if Holden could withdraw and annex other human minds at will, why not Duarte? Maybe Duarte just doesn't see any value in free will? That's consistent with his tyrannical personality. But Holden could have put in place a sistem where volunteers rotate to the ring space to willingly joine the hive mind, reinforce the effort to fight the dark enemy, and then be replaced, I guess... Just saying. Naomi could have calculated the amount of "mindpower" needed for sufficient resistance. At one point I thought maybe Holden will switch places with Amos, because he is so OP that maybe he can defeat the dark enemy. But actually the resolution of closing up the gap in space, and stop "cheating" at the game of physics and evolution, is appropriate. I also thought that a major advantage that the hive mind presented was the ability to share all the knowledge of humanity with everyone instantaneously, kind of like downloading using a vehicle or doing martial arts from the matrix. And that reminded me also of the Weirwood net in ASOIAF. So seeing Duarte in the middle of the "net" reminded me a great deal of Bloodraven. Very similar iconography of a formerly great and powerful man, now atrophied and semi conscious in a mesh of external "tissue" inhabiting his body and expanding his consciousness. Also I thought that the hive mind might enable a sort of cognitive immortality, that someone who's consciousness is inserted into the hive mind, keeps on "existing" even if his body is destroyed. In that way there is an additive value of each new member, and the sum of "human" knowledge keeps on growing, and nothing is lost. That is the mechanism in the fourth book *spoilers* of the Heechee saga, where everyone that is about to die uploads their consciousness to a digital plane, where they continue to exist individually in a digital reality that can interact with the physical realm. This was written before the Internet... A well established assumption is that the Werywood net (ASOIAF) operates similarly. Moving on Naomi is completely unprepared and incompatible for the role of the leader of the resistance. She has an excellent technical mind, but she is not an administrator. When the gang decides to drop Teresa at New Egypt, I was like "what!? Your dumping your most valuable bargaining chip? Have you never seen Game of Thrones?!!!" I also thought Naomi would become aware of Philip, if the hive mind kept spreading. Tanaka is a very engaging character. In the beginning of the book, she is in "hunter mode" and reminded me very much of Frederick Forsyth's "Avenger", preparing and learning her pray. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenger_(Forsyth_novel) Side note, if the Laconian's knew about that magic healing pool the drones use, that she finds, maybe they could try dipping Duarte in it when he was incapacitated? Worth a shot. After the defeat at New Egypt, she shifts in to something a little (or a lot) psychotic, and later i thought of the implication of introducing a diseased mind to the hive mind. And again that reminded me of Frederik Pohl's Heechee saga, where *spoilers* in the second book a terrorist group is using alien technology to transmit a psychotic mind to all the minds in the world, to overwhelm them. Tanaka becomes a little (or a lot) obsessed on her 'pray', the chase, and vengeance. At that part she reminded me a lot of the main villain in the movie "No Country for Old Men" by the Coen brothers, where a *spoilers* hit man is on a trail to recover a misplaced treasure of cash, and starts rampaging and killing everyone involved. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men_(film) Tanaka has the best line in the book: "...a small, round-faced man with an unfortunate beard..." (Chapter 34) Made me laugh out loud. When Tanaka starts hording all the medicine to resist being annexed by the hive mind, i thought she wanted it for herself. Later, when she distributes it to other people, even her enemies, she comes off as a competent and fast thinking tactician. Throughout the book I felt Holden was useless. He didn't do anything (except shooting Tanaka in the face). The first time he does something is when he injected the Protomolecule. His ending was fitting and sort of Jesusy: Sacrificing himself for the greater good. When Alex wakes up to the sound of violence (chapter 35), i thought Teresa was shooting everyone for wanting to kill her father, but then, when it was made appernt that it was Cara going through withdrawal, I was completely side blinded, and thought that was a very clever conclusion of her story. When Alex makes his way to the Nieuwestad system ring, I feared for his life, I was listening on edge, cuz I was like: if GRRM was writing this, he would have killed Alex for sure... During the book they give call backs to all the characters that have past our path during the series, but no mention of Shed?! ( expanse.fandom.com/wiki/Shed_Garvey_(Books) )
SPOILERS BELOW ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' I love how the series ended with Amos thousands of years later bullying the first guy to land on Earth from another planet.
I never thought I'd read a series of book that had a perfect ending but yeah, Leviathan Falls is exactly that. It sucks because I'll never read a better scifi books series... So I guess I'll just re-read these books over and over again until the day I die.
“Villain wants to turn humanity into a single hive mind” Literally the main plot point of the original Evangelion series. Edit: Also System Shock 1 and 2.
And Black Cat. And the Gundam 00 movie. And The Matrix Revolutions. And Guardians of the Galaxy 2. And Detective Pikachu. And season 3 of The 100. And Dead Space. And Halo. And Prototype 2. Other than that, though, I've never seen it.
@@JamesTullos Ngl I forgot about most of these. Also, I think in the original ending of the original Evangelion (trust me, I know how dumb it sounds), humanity actually finishes the process of complementation and we all become a happy unified living soup. This actually reminds me of Stanislav Lem’s “Solaris” a bit - a great sci-fi story, I suggest you read it. The movie adaptation is fine, but it misses many plot and philosophical points of the book.
@@JamesTullos Alive, the final evolution has that too, through its not really a villain but related to it, but there. The aliens in childhoods end The master in the end of davies dr who run. the mastr kinda does that. Magi in the end , great manga but the end is a bit weird. Fate acrypha its making them not humans but its similar. Magic magisterMagi and UQ holder i think a matrix aproach to that is similar enough.
I think what made this more interesting is that the Ring entitys were a legitimate threat that were building up to killing humanity. And the real choice that Duarte and Holden disagreed on once they were in big chair is if they had enough belief in humanity that going backwards technologically to all but square one still left a future for the species that wasn't simply the ennui filled future that the books started at. Duarte took a very conservative position and holden took a liberal one.
I like to think of the entities beyond the ring gate as just regular dudes minding their own businesses and the use of protomolecule technology causes catastrophes in their universe, and they're jist protecting themselves
I think at one point there was two scientists talking about the builders and saying that their team calls them the Roman's and the things on the otherside of the gates are the Goths
Tanaka was introduced in Persepolis Rising, but not as a POV. She was Governor Singh's Security Officer before being replaced by Overstreet. I wouldn't say she resents Laconia totalitarian miliitary dictatorship, she actually enjoys it a lot, because finding ways to defy it turns on her, literally. She's a thrill seeker. It would have be interesting to see Holden try to tell everyone the true about the ring gates while he's inside the station. The hive mind concept was explored only from the forceful mind r@pe angle, it would have been interesting to see how many people would willingly to join into one of their own free will, with Holden at the center as a mediator. A mental network you can connect to and leave at will. Granted, the Ring Builder plan to take over humanity would need to be dealt with, but it still a what if scenario I would have liked explored.
I like that it has a definitive ending. I’m a big fan of enders game but I can’t imagine the people reading it in the 80s when it came out still waiting in 2022 that universe will go on until Orson Scott card has died and maybe further with his co-author now.
Minor tangent: Have you ever played DEFCON? It's a nuclear war sim, inspired by the movie War Games. The trick to successfully landing nukes on your enemy in DEFCON is to perfectly time your launches so that the silo farthest from the target fires first, then a few seconds delay, then launch from the next-farthest silo, then delay, then launch from the next-farthest silo, and so on. If perfectly timed, all of the missile trajectories converge on the target at the same time and overwhelm the missile defenses. The converging swarm of missile trails is slow, horrific, and beautiful -- and nearly impossible for a human to time perfectly. SPOILERS: The scene in Leviathan Falls where Duarte's human hive perfectly times and staggers its torpedo attacks was visceral and chilling. I'd love to see that scene visually told, as it is in DEFCON and War Games. In that moment, the heroes are basically battling a computer with unimaginable processing power, microsecond-perfect timing, and perfect knowledge of the battlefield, but with the guile and creativity of a human. The hive willingly, dispassionately crushes its own members in high-G burns, without hesitation, the way we crush the skin cells of our knuckles when we punch something. And the book invites the question: Is this Duarte's will? Or is it the will of the Ring Station? Great sci-fi, and those scenes are not even about the extra-dimensional aggressors.
I'm just at the beginning of the video, but wanted to point out something: Tanaka wasn't a new character, she was Gov. Singh's first security officer he reassigned to Trejo in book 7.
But her Character is completely different then what she was in Book 7. She was sent off by Singh because she refused to surpress the underground with an iron fist and now in Book 9 she is the complete opposite and wants to straight up murder every single person she comes across. It makes zero sense
Yesterday evening I finished the last book (Audio books). All in all a really solid ending. Unfortunately, at least on Audible, there is a audio-book The Expanse 10 which made me believe, the 9th book is not the last. Sure I read some month, when I bought it, that it is a bunch of side stories, but I totally forgot about that. So when I heard Amos last lines I was kind of, wtf, thats it and I was surprised and sad about it. It would be much better, if the 10th book had just a different name. 😀 But still, one thing I was always sure, that Amos will be the last of them 😀 On the one end the ending is really good, on the other I wish there was more coming. 🙂
Totally agree with all your comments. One thing I would add though is that the novellas really were an important part of the overall experience for me. I think I caught all 5 audiobooks of those, and then read the mini-novella Drive. Especially for Amos' early days backstory, it really rounded out some of the characters for me.
The Expanse is really fun to read, has an interesting online fandom, and is solid science fiction. I've kinda cooled on its hype though-- there are other novels that tackle the same concepts in more unique, interesting ways (Revelation Space, cough cough)
Having finished it last night, the ending itself feels a lot like someone intentionally tried to make a more 'fitting' version of the Mass Effect 3 ending. It works a bit better here, for various reasons. I will say that the epilogue could've probably been a bit meatier. It's like, five pages, closing the book on a series of several thousand pages. I guess the idea is to let readers make their own conclusions, but maybe it's the Fallout fan in me but I kinda prefer longer, more comprehensive epilogues describing the exact fates of all the major characters. Beyond that, we did get answers on what the ring builders were, what the entities that killed the ring builders were, and what the ring nexus zone was. One thing we didn't get? More Drummer! She kind of disappears beyond some bit parts in the penultimate book, unless I missed something.
I knew that Amos would end up being special in some way. I'd like to see a series centred on Amos and the two kids who were also reconstructed and are immortal.
SPOILER IN COMMENT WARNING The felt a little like Dr Strange, the gates were like the ancient one taking energy from the dark dimension to stay alive. It would have been better if they left the reason why these void beings were angry a mystery. I still think the story was five stars though.
For me I enjoyed the final book very very much. The End was foreseeable long before this but that is not bad thing either. Originally I was afraid the authors could make some cheesy ending but fortunately that did not happen and they keeped the quality of the series very high. I really, REALLY, wish the new book series Ty and Daniel announced to write, the one which should be more Dune-like, would be set in the future started in the epiloque of the ninth book. To be similar to Mr. Asimov's Robot, Empire and Foundation series taking place in the same universe. It would be beyond awesome! By the way, do you think that other builder technology ceased to work after destruction of central station? If powered by other universe energy like it was stated by Miller and the station that allows it goes bye bye the protomolecule may not work anymore? Amos survived yes (for a loooong time....) but he was subjected to anatomy changes not neccesarilly protomolecule itself. Thanks for your review.
I think anything goes with Builder technology. Given that a lot of it, like the dogs, were still active without a proto molecule signal, its probable that at least some of their tech would live.
Well one thing I would say is that humans would definitely come up with their own name for the alien beings even if it’s unofficial. Maybe the different cultures will call it different things.
I was confused about what’s keeping Amos alive for a thousand years and how using the same basic concept of FTL wouldn’t eventually bring back the same problem, even if they’re not going with the instantaneous reincorporation of wormholing.
Hey James maybe it’s time to review the dagger and the coin series written by Daniel Abraham (co author of the expanse) it’s a really good fantasy series and has all the politics you’d except from an expanse writer.
Just finished it this morning. I love The Expanse: the world they've created, the characters, settings, ideas they explore, etc. but I feel like this series tried to be more things than it should have been, mainly the last 3 books. I went into this last "trilogy" thinking that we would FINALLY be exploring all these "hard sci-fi" parts of the world. While we did get some insight into these things (Builders, Dark Gods, etc.) it just felt like more of the same types of stuff we had gotten from the previous 6 books with some of these ideas sprinkled on top. I guess maybe my disappointment is in part my own fault, expecting a more "hard sci-fi" approach from a space opera, but it just seemed like the authors were pointing us in that direction.
I like that show Alex and book Alex had different arcs. He chose space over his family. That choice had consequences. In the show he died doing what he loved and with unresolved family issues. In the book he got to fully reconnect with his son and his son's family. But as show Alex demonstrates that's not a given.
They had to get rid of the actor so they killed the character. It was really too bad and will ruin future movies or TV seasons if the series continues in the future.
@@Pammellam Maybe, though Alex is the most "expendable" main character. It would have been much worse if they had killed of Amos or Naomi. Alex does not do much in book 6-9 except being the pilot. The only problem could be the storyline with his son in book 9. They would probably just replace Alex with an other character (like how they replaced different characters from the books by Drummer).
@@Marcel-yu2fw Yes, but it was nice how his story arc was tied together at the end of the series. It seems like he was in position to go on in a sequel to all 9 books (if they ever make one) with the Rocinante connection as a starting point. I want to read all 9 books again.
Sounds to me like progress at the cost of mass suffering and death isn't really worth it, and that maybe the issue is that humanity and life as a process are just inherently awful.
Spoilers below From the beginning, I thought the mysteries of the builders and their killers were the most interesting thing about this series, and all of the “answers” to the questions posed by the other books were dumb. I was very unsatisfied with the ending. I guess I wanted to learn more about the things beyond the ring space and was excited to see how humanity would defeat them, and for the answer to just be, the only reason they can affect our universe is the gates so just turn off the gates was so anticlimactic to me.
Humanity can barely beat themselves in war much less unknowable extradimensional entities that unravel matter into clouds of nothingness and can change the speed of light at will. There is no winning move but not to play.
Haven't read final book yet as it is not translated in my language at the moment. However, if someone can, I wouldn't mind a small general spoiler: Does humanity get to keep the gates or any other means of FTL travel in the end? Or do they go with the trope "we are not worthy/mature enough as a civilization yet" and shut everyone in the solar system again? I don't need details, just a general idea of where the plot heads in would be fine. Cause if it is the latter case, that would be quite unsatisfying for me personally, as I hate this kind of trope, actually remember having bad taste in my mouth after finishing Dan Simmons "Hyperion" because of the simular things... Hope this series does not follow the same path
It's a bad book. It feels like they ran out of ideas some time ago. The series ends with a resounding plop. We never learn about the big bad guys. Not even a name or a nickname. The end. The only people who will like this book haven't read much good SF from the past. I pity you.
The Expanse has got to be one of the biggest wastes of potential that I've ever read. The series has so much research and genuine thought put into realising this world and wants to explore so many different way that society and technology influence people and get deep into the heads of all its characters. And all this effort is completely kneecapped but James S.A. Corey's absolutely bizarre decision to make all nine books follow the same core cast over 40 years, instead of borrowing from some of the greats and letting this epic scale story of humanity branching out to the stars over hundreds of years like would more naturally happen (especially considering how long it takes to get anywhere) they have everything hyper condensed down to only a few decades so that the guys can still save the day as pensioners. And these weird choices would have made sense if they had robust characters that could stay interesting for a nine book series but they really didn't, James S.A. Corey has about two and a half books worth of making a character develop before they just run out of ideas and keep them completely stagnant for the rest of the story, and this goes on to the completely ridiculous extent to where between books six and seven the entire crew of the roci is just static and frozen in time for 30 years straight, like it would have been less dumb if they had just fallen through a hole in time. And what is even more infuriating about such a terrible decision is that the writers are actually great at creating new characters, every new POV character in each of the books always feels like they are talking a new lens to the world and getting to a different way of seeing or feeling about the situations, so it just flat out hurts to see them continue to puppet out the main cast that they have absolutely run out of interesting things to do with. And this weird devotion to the core cast only makes the sci-fi ideas less interesting and actively harms the kinds of stories they could have told with the great world they had at play. Like all the way back to the free navy existing because the belters feared that maybe in 60 to 90 years their economic utility might be starting to become useless, like what if that actually just happened and we saw the effects of the colonial economy displace and start to slowly kill off the belters instead of a bunch of the charters fight an entire war over the possibility of trouble. And the same goes for mars, a planet with the population of billions starting to completely die in a few years? Modern countries with collapsing economies don't even move that fast and that's in out time where to can get to anywhere on the planet in under a day, not needing upwards of half a year of space flight. For all the well researched and attention to real political and socioeconomic factors that they poured into the series it seems like they were willing to throw so much of that out the window just for the to be 86 more chapters of Holden wondering if he really did the right thing. And especially with Laconia we see the worst of it were they tease at so many interesting ideas for how this society would develop isolated from the rest of humanity and all hopped up alien juice. They even gave themselves a great idea and then threw it away, why didn't they leave a time gap of about Hundred years instead of Thirty but still have Duarte as the god emperor actually made immortal by the protoslime, he could have been an antagonist over generations of characters and we could see what a truly lead by this one voice over generations of servitude would act like. He they even could have had one of the undead repaired characters who are also immortal stay around over the centuries and have their POV, instead of just teasing it with Amos in the very last chapter. But ultimately the ending was so straight forward I pretty much saw exactly what they were doing from the moment the had Duarte roid himself up, everything from Holden staying behind to close the gates once and for all was the kind of bog standard finale that I knew the series was doomed to since they started talking the story this way. I just wanted more from a series that had such great ideas.
@@SpaceCaptnFace Yeah you're right, I am asking for a better book series. Also Bobbie only is a main POV character for like 2 books, so they don't run out of ideas for her.
After finishing Leviathan Falls this morning I really do feel similar. This series had so many interesting ideas, characters, places, settings, etc. but it just felt like they didn't know how to properly utilize them or focus on them. It felt like the authors tried to do too many things with the series instead of honing in one a few ideas and really focusing on them, and it got noticeable worse as the series progressed. The overall story of these last 3 books really felt like it could've been condensed down into one book. The overall plotline moved so slowly, and was filled with so much excess. We got hardly ANY "hard sci-fi" that they really pointed us to thinking we were going to get with this last trilogy. On top of that, I feel like the space opera part wasn't that great either. The character interactions felt so strange. For example, at the end when Holden & Naomi are saying goodbye for the last time, it just felt so awkward and disingenuous. like these people are lovers and have known each other for DECADES. And the fact that we got so little of that side of the characters just made it hard for me to even connect with them. I'm still glad I went along for this ride and finished the series, but coming out on the other end wasn't what I expected it to be like.
@@TheDrewbe3 they pointed out that their goodbyes had become normal. youre not going to have "this is it, our LAST goodbye" moment when theyve done that multiple times and know it doesnt explicitly have to be stated
