Abbadon's Gate
By James S.A. Corey
Now I did review the first two books but that was eons ago (I reviewed the first book in 2016!). So let's go from the top. In the 2300s Humanity has spread out across most of the solar system, with the great powers being Earth ruled by the UN and the Independent Martian Congressional Republic. Both of these powers are locked into a cold war and threatened by the new power, the rising Outer Planet Alliance (My sympathies should be very clear to you, because the OPA is largely anarchist, and I’m all about the left-unity). As humanity has not figured out how to generate gravity, except by rotation and acceleration, the OPA mostly represents the new ethnic group of the Belters. Belters are people who were born in the outer system and have lived their whole lives in very low gravity or zero gravity. They've existed long enough to create their own vibrant and a rather impenetrable culture and create an identity for themselves as a people separate from the planet-dwelling peoples of the solar system. The Belters were widely treated as an underclass, as most of the outer planet stations were owned by inner system corporations or colonial outposts for the UN or the MCR. However, fueled by their resentment and a desire to be treated as people worth consideration, they've managed to rise up and are a newly independent power. Humanity's squabbles aren't the only thing endangering the solar system, however. The discovery of an alien artifact that is over 2 billion years old kick-starts a series of events, with an entire city station of over a million people being turned into a horror;, broken down into their component parts and rearranged by an alien infectious agent called the protomolecule. This is no accident but was a remorseless and reckless science experiment by a mega-corporation who believed that they had something that would revolutionize human technology. James Holden, our protagonist managed to reveal the plot to humanity but too late to stop it. The remade station fires itself at earth but a last-ditch effort by a burnt-out cop named Miller (Fuckin’ class traitor…{He saved humanity, so be respectful}) managed to crash it on Venus. Only for the protomolecule to use Venus to build a giant ring that flies out into the outer system. The fleets of humanity begin a blockade of the ring, meaning for once to take things slowly and carefully before anyone does anything stupid and irreversible. They might as well try to hold back the tide with their teeth. A single belter kid, fueled by a desire to impress his crush, builds a slingshot ship - which builds up speed by using gravity assists from planets and moons - flies his ship into the ring and the ring takes that ship... Somewhere else (He also gets hilariously pulverized in the process. Of course, teenagers, no matter where they are from, are idiots.). Which is where our story begins.
Ever since the ring went up, Captain James Holden has been haunted. Literally. When he is alone he sees an apparition of Miller telling him that they need to talk. However, nothing Miller says makes any sense in context. Declaring a need to secure the crime scene and telling Holden he needs to clear the corners and the doors of a room before entering. As an aside, that is good advice but you also check the ceiling and floor as well as a general policy. Thankfully Holden has learned a few things since book one and isn't screaming this to everyone who can hear him. Nor is he keeping this a total secret, which would also be stupid. Just so I'm clear by what I mean here, if you have a brush with something beyond the understanding of man and start hearing and seeing shit that shouldn't be there, tell someone! Especially if it's a phantom of someone who died during that brush trying to tell you something! Don't tell everyone though. In this case, Holden tells the smartest person he can trust: his girlfriend and chief engineer Naomi Nagata. As Captain of the Rocinante, the salvaged or stolen (Legit salvage {I don’t know if it counts if the Martian Marines throws you onto the ship to save your life as the battleship explodes}) Martian multi-role frigate turned gun-ship/fast cargo mover for hire he has options. His first choice? Run as far away from the Ring as he possibly can and stay the hell away from it. Captain Holden never gets his first choice though, when legal difficulties over the ownership of the Rocinante trap the ship and it's crew in the dock (the physical and legal kind) his only chance to get into the black (physically and financially) is to take a job shuttling a documentary crew... Towards the ring.
Holden isn't the only one heading to the newly active Ring, the UN and the MCR are sending fleets of their own to investigate. Both fleets are heavily armed, the Martians are sending a good number of science ships and the UN is bringing a ship full of artistic and religious leaders to see it first hand (Which should tell you everything you need to know about both powers). Among them is Reverend Doctor Anna Volovodov, a Methodist Pastor who was asked to come because she was on Europa ministering to a flock of about 100 people and therefore not that far away (Prior comment aside, she’s pretty cool by the standards of clergy.). She leaves behind her wife and young daughter to witness history being made and it's an open question whether she'll survive history.
Dr. Volovodov is an intelligent woman who honestly believes in compassion, forgiveness, and doing the best she can for everyone (She’s clergy I would get along with, they exist but they’re not common.). She's going to be stressed to the limit here, as she is finding herself in a volatile situation full of people who don't believe in such things. Also on the Earth fleet is a girl with a secret, Melba Koh. Melba is a girl with a grudge against Holden and she has spent years shaping herself into the kind of weapon that can destroy him. It's not enough to kill him though, she needs to humiliate him and tear him down completely (Yeah, she’s crazy.). To do that she is going to turn herself into a one-woman conspiracy and wrecking crew and maybe end up dooming everyone in all the fleets being sent to the ring. Possibly everyone in the solar system if things get out of control enough. Anna and Melba, while not being the protagonists (Given they are both viewpoint characters and they have a lot of plot-agency… I’d argue that this story has multiple protagonists) of the story are the two main moral voices competing to drive the story. Anna advocates for forgiveness, justice, and compassion. She pushes for people to grow past fear and violence and to see that people from other planets are fellow human beings that we can work together with. Melba on the other hand is all about loyalty to your tribe over everything else and blood for blood. She is willing to reap vengeance at all costs, even if other people are the ones paying the price at the beginning of this story. As you might guess she is all about violence as a solution to life's problems. It’s how the other characters react to the two of them that drive a good part of the plot forward and their own meetings are rather pivotal as well.
Refusing to be left out the OPA is sending a single ship, the Behemoth, which started it's life being built as a generation ship for Mormons determined to leave the system (I have so many reasons to snicker, here. Incidentally, the Mormons sued the OPA over their using this ship to stop Eros from slamming into Earth). Well now it's the bootstrapped battleship of the OPA fleet, hastily retrofitted to try and look like a combat ship, while crewed by barely trained volunteers (Barely militarily trained. These people know how to fly ships {Yeah but flying the ship is only step one of the process, being able to fight it is an entirely different skill set that they lack. Of course they might not need it as the ship might just fly to pieces if its weapons are fired…}). Of course, it's an open question as to whether it can even survive firing its own weapons, never mind survive being shot at. But hopefully, it's size and the sheer amount of weapons welded to the hull will make enough of a statement that Earth and Mars won't try to cut the OPA out of any deals. Of course, to compound this, the captain's chair of the Behemoth is given to a Belter with little to no combat training or experience but good political connections and a degree in mathematics from Boston. To balance this out the XO slot is given to a Belter who... Has little combat training or experience. The man with the most experience but unfortunately loathed for being an Earthborn defector, is Carlos C. de Baca, aka Bull. Having been with the OPA since its beginnings as a ragged rebel group after defecting from the UN Marines. However thanks to prejudice and politics he's stuck as Chief of Security but he's committed to making it work and making sure this doesn't turn into a mess (Excuse me as I sigh mournfully. I love the OPA but god damn.).
As everyone realizes just what's on the other side of the ring and what the new stakes are, the odds of avoiding this turning into a steaming mess with consequences that could include the extinction of all life in the Solar System start dropping like a bomb. As the different agendas of not just the nations but also the individuals caught up in the situation collide, the question of just what does that ghost Holden keeps seeing, wants hangs over everything like a blade on a fraying rope. It's gonna take everything Bull, Anna, and the crew of the Rocinante can do to keep everyone alive but if they pull it off, they might just hand humanity a new lease on the future. Abaddon's Gate gives us a look at the best and worst in human nature and interestingly enough presents us a number of debates over the power of forgiveness and redemption over vengeance and fear. The ability of humanity to come together in the face of a common threat and people's ability to turn on each other at the worst possible moments. The strength of this novel is that both sides of these coins are allowed to be equally powerful and it's an open question what was the more powerful factor in this story. The fear and the rage that leads to violence and the quest for vengeance no matter the cost? The love and hope that allows for compassion and the forgiveness that allows us to make peace and move on to better futures? I find myself thinking that a reader could argue that this story supports either side based on their own point of view; at the same time the novel as a definite stance that fear, rage, love, and hope are all fundamentally part of human nature and will drive our future as long as we are recognizably human no matter how far we go or how long it takes to get there. Whether that's an optimistic or pessimistic message I'll leave to the reader to decide. One thing I did find optimistic however was the novel's stance that just because you did give into rage and fear, doesn't mean that forgiveness and compassion are lost to you, even if redemption is a long hard road to follow. If you haven't read the Expanse yet, be prepared for novels that will give you plenty of thrills and something to think about afterward and my recommendation is to get started. Abbadon's Gate by James S.A Corey gets an A.
So this novel was chosen by our ever-wise Patrons, who even as we speak are voting for the books to be reviewed in June and discuss a possible theme for the month of October. If you would like a voice, all it takes is a dollar a month and you get a vote in incoming reviews, theme months and more. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/frigidreads to share your thoughts and make your views known. So this week there is going to be a special bonus review! Join us tomorrow for Gold Magic by Dr. Bruce Davis! Until then stay safe and keep reading!
red text is your editor Dr. Ben Allen
normal text is your reviewer Garvin Anders
Ever since the ring went up, Captain James Holden has been haunted. Literally. When he is alone he sees an apparition of Miller telling him that they need to talk. However, nothing Miller says makes any sense in context. Declaring a need to secure the crime scene and telling Holden he needs to clear the corners and the doors of a room before entering. As an aside, that is good advice but you also check the ceiling and floor as well as a general policy. Thankfully Holden has learned a few things since book one and isn't screaming this to everyone who can hear him. Nor is he keeping this a total secret, which would also be stupid. Just so I'm clear by what I mean here, if you have a brush with something beyond the understanding of man and start hearing and seeing shit that shouldn't be there, tell someone! Especially if it's a phantom of someone who died during that brush trying to tell you something! Don't tell everyone though. In this case, Holden tells the smartest person he can trust: his girlfriend and chief engineer Naomi Nagata. As Captain of the Rocinante, the salvaged or stolen (Legit salvage {I don’t know if it counts if the Martian Marines throws you onto the ship to save your life as the battleship explodes}) Martian multi-role frigate turned gun-ship/fast cargo mover for hire he has options. His first choice? Run as far away from the Ring as he possibly can and stay the hell away from it. Captain Holden never gets his first choice though, when legal difficulties over the ownership of the Rocinante trap the ship and it's crew in the dock (the physical and legal kind) his only chance to get into the black (physically and financially) is to take a job shuttling a documentary crew... Towards the ring.
Holden isn't the only one heading to the newly active Ring, the UN and the MCR are sending fleets of their own to investigate. Both fleets are heavily armed, the Martians are sending a good number of science ships and the UN is bringing a ship full of artistic and religious leaders to see it first hand (Which should tell you everything you need to know about both powers). Among them is Reverend Doctor Anna Volovodov, a Methodist Pastor who was asked to come because she was on Europa ministering to a flock of about 100 people and therefore not that far away (Prior comment aside, she’s pretty cool by the standards of clergy.). She leaves behind her wife and young daughter to witness history being made and it's an open question whether she'll survive history.
Dr. Volovodov is an intelligent woman who honestly believes in compassion, forgiveness, and doing the best she can for everyone (She’s clergy I would get along with, they exist but they’re not common.). She's going to be stressed to the limit here, as she is finding herself in a volatile situation full of people who don't believe in such things. Also on the Earth fleet is a girl with a secret, Melba Koh. Melba is a girl with a grudge against Holden and she has spent years shaping herself into the kind of weapon that can destroy him. It's not enough to kill him though, she needs to humiliate him and tear him down completely (Yeah, she’s crazy.). To do that she is going to turn herself into a one-woman conspiracy and wrecking crew and maybe end up dooming everyone in all the fleets being sent to the ring. Possibly everyone in the solar system if things get out of control enough. Anna and Melba, while not being the protagonists (Given they are both viewpoint characters and they have a lot of plot-agency… I’d argue that this story has multiple protagonists) of the story are the two main moral voices competing to drive the story. Anna advocates for forgiveness, justice, and compassion. She pushes for people to grow past fear and violence and to see that people from other planets are fellow human beings that we can work together with. Melba on the other hand is all about loyalty to your tribe over everything else and blood for blood. She is willing to reap vengeance at all costs, even if other people are the ones paying the price at the beginning of this story. As you might guess she is all about violence as a solution to life's problems. It’s how the other characters react to the two of them that drive a good part of the plot forward and their own meetings are rather pivotal as well.
Refusing to be left out the OPA is sending a single ship, the Behemoth, which started it's life being built as a generation ship for Mormons determined to leave the system (I have so many reasons to snicker, here. Incidentally, the Mormons sued the OPA over their using this ship to stop Eros from slamming into Earth). Well now it's the bootstrapped battleship of the OPA fleet, hastily retrofitted to try and look like a combat ship, while crewed by barely trained volunteers (Barely militarily trained. These people know how to fly ships {Yeah but flying the ship is only step one of the process, being able to fight it is an entirely different skill set that they lack. Of course they might not need it as the ship might just fly to pieces if its weapons are fired…}). Of course, it's an open question as to whether it can even survive firing its own weapons, never mind survive being shot at. But hopefully, it's size and the sheer amount of weapons welded to the hull will make enough of a statement that Earth and Mars won't try to cut the OPA out of any deals. Of course, to compound this, the captain's chair of the Behemoth is given to a Belter with little to no combat training or experience but good political connections and a degree in mathematics from Boston. To balance this out the XO slot is given to a Belter who... Has little combat training or experience. The man with the most experience but unfortunately loathed for being an Earthborn defector, is Carlos C. de Baca, aka Bull. Having been with the OPA since its beginnings as a ragged rebel group after defecting from the UN Marines. However thanks to prejudice and politics he's stuck as Chief of Security but he's committed to making it work and making sure this doesn't turn into a mess (Excuse me as I sigh mournfully. I love the OPA but god damn.).
As everyone realizes just what's on the other side of the ring and what the new stakes are, the odds of avoiding this turning into a steaming mess with consequences that could include the extinction of all life in the Solar System start dropping like a bomb. As the different agendas of not just the nations but also the individuals caught up in the situation collide, the question of just what does that ghost Holden keeps seeing, wants hangs over everything like a blade on a fraying rope. It's gonna take everything Bull, Anna, and the crew of the Rocinante can do to keep everyone alive but if they pull it off, they might just hand humanity a new lease on the future. Abaddon's Gate gives us a look at the best and worst in human nature and interestingly enough presents us a number of debates over the power of forgiveness and redemption over vengeance and fear. The ability of humanity to come together in the face of a common threat and people's ability to turn on each other at the worst possible moments. The strength of this novel is that both sides of these coins are allowed to be equally powerful and it's an open question what was the more powerful factor in this story. The fear and the rage that leads to violence and the quest for vengeance no matter the cost? The love and hope that allows for compassion and the forgiveness that allows us to make peace and move on to better futures? I find myself thinking that a reader could argue that this story supports either side based on their own point of view; at the same time the novel as a definite stance that fear, rage, love, and hope are all fundamentally part of human nature and will drive our future as long as we are recognizably human no matter how far we go or how long it takes to get there. Whether that's an optimistic or pessimistic message I'll leave to the reader to decide. One thing I did find optimistic however was the novel's stance that just because you did give into rage and fear, doesn't mean that forgiveness and compassion are lost to you, even if redemption is a long hard road to follow. If you haven't read the Expanse yet, be prepared for novels that will give you plenty of thrills and something to think about afterward and my recommendation is to get started. Abbadon's Gate by James S.A Corey gets an A.
So this novel was chosen by our ever-wise Patrons, who even as we speak are voting for the books to be reviewed in June and discuss a possible theme for the month of October. If you would like a voice, all it takes is a dollar a month and you get a vote in incoming reviews, theme months and more. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/frigidreads to share your thoughts and make your views known. So this week there is going to be a special bonus review! Join us tomorrow for Gold Magic by Dr. Bruce Davis! Until then stay safe and keep reading!
red text is your editor Dr. Ben Allen
normal text is your reviewer Garvin Anders
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