624 pages
English language
Published Feb. 16, 2015 by Little, Brown Book Group Limited.
The fourth novel in James S.A. Corey’s New York Times bestselling Expanse series
The gates have opened the way to thousands of habitable planets, and the land rush has begun. Settlers stream out from humanity's home planets in a vast, poorly controlled flood, landing on a new world. Among them, the Rocinante, haunted by the vast, posthuman network of the protomolecule as they investigate what destroyed the great intergalactic society that built the gates and the protomolecule.
But Holden and his crew must also contend with the growing tensions between the settlers and the company which owns the official claim to the planet. Both sides will stop at nothing to defend what's theirs, but soon a terrible disease strikes and only Holden - with help from the ghostly Detective Miller - can find the cure.
They pretty much just recycled the plot from Abaddon's Gate but put it on a remote alien planet instead.
This book is much more of a slow burn than the previous books. The series, while solid throughout, has not yet reached the same heights as the first book. The characterization and arcs of the main quad were really well done there but were mostly wrapped up by the end of the second book. The continued focus on them wears somewhat as time goes on, they are no doubt enjoyable to read but feel somewhat stagnant in these and the following books. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the different style of this book as it scoped down the issues that were faced to a single planet and a smaller cast of supporting characters for the most part.
