Tiamat’s Wrath

The eighth of the nine Expanse novels, and the one that sets up the finale. What makes the series unusual is how close to home it stays: a crowded Earth, colonies on Mars and in the outer system, ships that move on conventional propulsion, and conflict that comes out of recognisable planetary and asteroid-belt politics rather than out of far-future technology. Kyle read the first volume, Leviathan Wakes, in 2019 as the opening book of a science-fiction reading group; the last volume, Leviathan Falls, is already an anti-library card, so this is one of the volumes in between.

Context: the a16z infra team’s highest non-S ranking, in the A-tier “very good books” section, where they describe the series as taking “the opposite approach” to most science fiction — near-future rather than far, with the interest in believable conflict and individual stories rather than in advanced technology.

Connections

• a16z Infra Reading List — the list this came from.
• James S.A. Corey — the pen name of the two-author writing team.
• Leviathan Wakes — volume one, which Kyle read in 2019.
• Leviathan Falls — volume nine, already carded.
• Science Fiction — the genre page.