The title says everything! I settled in to read The Expanse novels, thinking I was set with reading matter for a long time, and now I’ve reached the end of them. I’d gladly read the next novel in the series, but it doesn’t seem to exist yet.
Interestingly, I’m not at all tempted to read any of the novellas. I like a good long book more than I like the Expanse universe. The same thing applied when I reached the end of the Rivers of London series. There were a number of novellas I could have moved on to there, but I chose not to. Something to bear in mind for what I decide to write, myself, though I suppose I should check to see if that’s a universal thing before I make the decision not to write any more novellas at all.
At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed the series. As you can tell from my Cygnus Five novels, people creating new civilizations in the ruins left behind by ancient aliens is absolutely my thing. I wonder if the author got a course, along the way, in inclusivity, because I think it’s admirable that while the books started off with Holden as the classic sci-fi ‘man stands alone against the universe’ kind of hero, and Naomi was there more or less entirely as a love interest, they gradually evolved into something much more interesting and varied. You’ve got to admire it when you can feel the author going on a hero’s journey as you read along! At the end of book one I would have had some unflattering things to say about Miller’s creepy stalkerish behaviour toward Julie, and Holden’s white-man’s-burden tendencies. But at the end of book seven I can thoroughly recommend the series to everyone, women and queer readers too.
I’m enjoying the TV series as well, to the extent that I’m wondering about buying the box set. Have you heard the theme tune? It’s gorgeous! Sadly UK Netflix only carries series one and two, and that’s just not enough now that I’ve finished reading book 7. The dissociation between who the characters are on TV and who the characters in my head are by now is just too great.
I’ve been on a real hard SF/military SF streak recently, so I think it’s time to read some fantasy now. Anyone got any recommendations?