When an author (or in this case author team) is three books into a series, they can easily fall into the trap of going through the motions with the fourth book. Nothing could be further from the case with Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. Though to be fair, the seeds for this stellar novel were planted in previous volumes, truly expanding what they are attempting with The Expanse. What we have here is a novel with some first contact / planet colonization elements, some ancient alien archaeology/ruins, and political thriller elements, among many other things. Howsoever you cut up the pieces of the whole, all of it makes for a damned fine and fun read.
Returning as one of the primary viewpoint characters is James Holden, captain of the Rocinate. Holden is one of the most famous men in the solar system, thanks to the events detailed in the previous three novels of The Expanse (Leviathan Wakes, Caliban’s War, and Abaddon’s Gate). As in those novels, Corey tells the story through multiple Points of View: Elvi Okoye, one of the scientists on New Terra charged with cataloguing the various life forms and the environment; Havelock, a security officer aboard one of ships orbiting New Terra; and Basia Merton, one of the first colonists who arrived (squatters, one might say) on New Terra and part of a group unhappy with the RCE.
Design by Lauren Panepinto
New Terra is not just a potentially inhabitable planet, it is the first inhabitable planet around a distant star (named Ilus) which also has rich deposits of minerals rare and useful. Chrisjen Avasarala, a very high official of the Earth government and a fan-favorite viewpoint character from Caliban’s War, appoints Holden as a mediator with the task of settling the tensions between the people who have made the pilgrimage to New Terra as colonists and Royal Charter Energy (RCE), the company trying to stake a claim for the planet as their own. A group of terrorists have detonated a bomb on the planet’s main Launchpad, destroying an RCE ship and killing the half the people aboard.
The conflict between the colonists and RCE is not the only problem on this new world, even if it is the primary “human-level” problem, so to speak. Globally, New Terra is not a completely lifeless world. An ancient civilization, the one thought to be responsible for the protomolecule has left ancient remnants of itself scattered around the planet. These things are hybrids between machines and organic life and some of them are waking up.
Holden is still haunted by the ghost or borrowed personality of Miller, the investigator from Leviathan Wakes who has been prodding and guiding Holden in all things related to the protomolecule. Though Holden is perturbed by this continued haunting, Miller’s voice is absolutely essential to the novel.
Corey has always populated these novels with strong characters. We’ve come to know Holden fairly well over the course of these four novels, and while it is great to see returning characters (Bobbie Draper was a POV character and she returns as a POV character in the prologue here), meeting new people is always a feature. The standout here was Elvi, a determined scientist who fits the mold of ‘scientist hero’ in the same vein as many protagonists from the Golden Age aside from her gender. One of the most telling things we learn through her is how the “life” on New Terra cannot be really measured by any known means.
One narrative trick Corey pulled off very well was showing the same conversation from the sides of both participants. For example, an Elvi chapter may end with a conversation between her and Holden. The next chapter featuring Holden as the POV character will show his side of the conversation early in the chapter. It may seem a simple thing, but it comes across very fluid and gives a natural feel to the narrative.
Basia was perhaps the most conflicted character in the novel. He was part of the group of people who took part of the terrorist act. Even if he was the man who pushed the button, he was at odds with many in the group. His guilt informs his entire plot thread and Corey gives Basia a very honest edge. I even appreciated a nagging element of the character being addressed at one point in the novel by the character himself.
The character of Havelock; though vital to the events of the novel especially towards the conclusion, felt like he was treading a bit of water for parts of his plot. What he did throughout the novel was important and critical to the end’s events.
The non-POV characters were just as strong and well-developed as those through which we saw the story. Murtry, the Security Chief of RCE, is a single-minded corporate Nazi; almost like an amalgamation of Paul Reiser’s character Carter Burke from Aliens and Michael Biehn’s Hiram Coffey from The Abyss except more single-minded and not quite as nice. He’s got an overbearing Alpha-male swagger that is off-putting to many of the characters. Holden’s interaction with him was filled with tension. The comic relief came from Amos, the Holden’s mechanic and #2 guy; some of his lines in response to Holden had me laughing out loud.
While Cibola Burn is the fourth book of an ongoing series, it is really can also work as an entry point for new readers; perhaps the best example of a series novel that can work as such. In other words, the book is set on a new world, with new characters and starting with a relatively new status quo from the previous novels. Not bad timing considering The Expanse is quickly going to be a television show.
With each book in this series James S.A. Corey continues to prove why The Expanse is the best (or at least my favorite) space-based Science Fiction series currently being published.
Highly Recommended
© 2014 Rob H. Bedford
Book Four of The Expanse
http://www.the-expanse.com
Published by Orbit Books
Hardcover ISBN13: 978-0-316-21762-0/ eBook 978-0-316-21760-0-6
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
Review of Abaddon’s Gate
Review of Caliban’s War
Review of Leviathan Wakes
Sounds like a great book. I’m not always into space operas but this sounds like worthy of the investment.