Cibola Burn

The Expanse, Book 4

By: James S. A. Corey

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

With over 10 million copies sold, The Expanse has become one of the biggest science fiction phenomenons of the decade. The fourth book in the NYT bestselling Expanse series, Cibola Burn sees the crew of the Rocinante on a new frontier, as the rush to colonize the new planets threatens to outrun law and order and give way to war and chaos.

Now a Prime Original series.

HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SERIES

Enter a new frontier.

"An empty apartment, a missing family, that's creepy. But this is like finding a military base with no one on it. Fighters and tanks idling on the runway with no drivers. This is bad juju. Something wrong happened here. What you should do is tell everyone to leave."

The gates have opened the way to a thousand new worlds and the rush to colonize has begun. Settlers looking for a new life stream out from humanity's home planets. Ilus, the first human colony on this vast new frontier, is being born in blood and fire.

Independent settlers stand against the overwhelming power of a corporate colony ship with only their determination, courage, and the skills learned in the long wars of home. Innocent scientists are slaughtered as they try to survey a new and alien world. The struggle on Ilus threatens to spread all the way back to Earth.

James Holden and the crew of his one small ship are sent to make peace in the midst of war and sense in the midst of chaos. But the more he looks at it, the more Holden thinks the mission was meant to fail.

And the whispers of a dead man remind him that the great galactic civilization that once stood on this land is gone. And that something killed it.

The Expanse

• Leviathan Wakes
• Caliban's War
• Abaddon's Gate
• Cibola Burn
• Nemesis Games
• Babylon's Ashes
• Persepolis Rising
• Tiamat's Wrath
• ​Leviathan Falls
• Memory's Legion
  
  The Expanse Short Fiction
• Drive
• The Butcher of Anderson Station
• Gods of Risk
• The Churn
• The Vital Abyss
• Strange Dogs
• Auberon
• The Sins of Our Fathers

©2014 James S.A. Corey (P)2014 Hachette Audio

A Good Book, Finally a Better Narration

My previous review and all of the reviews for this book were erased when the author finally replaced the narrator with Jefferson Mays (probably because of all of the scathing reviews). Mays has narrated all of the previous books and does a very good job. The narrator for this audiobook when it first came out was absolutely horrible.

Having said that, I had slightly mixed feelings about this book. Corey's Expanse books really are science fiction masterpieces, however, this book had a few elements that irritated me.

Holden and the crew are sent to one of the worlds through the newly opened gates. A habitable world is identified by a corporation and plans are made to send a scientific colony expedition. Before the mission can begin, a group of refugees looking to make a better life beat them there and begin their own colonization efforts. Holden is sent as a mediator to negotiate between the newly arrived colonists and the squatters that arrived first (and now want to start exporting their hard-earned resources).
Holden experiences significant opposition from a narcissistic, dictatorial, and unstable contracted security force chief. Realizing that anyone who could possibly oppose him is literally years away, he essentially takes control of the colony.
Holden must negotiate between the two parties, try to mitigate a would-be despot, attempt to understand the proto-molecule technology and systems left behind, and manage an outbreak of a microbe that is blinding people.

Though this was a good book, I found the constant sparring with the security chief bordering on the absurd. Sometimes, Holden's "good guy" morals and attitude get to be a little ridiculous. While the security chief holds people hostage, kills people, and essentially becomes a tyrannical dictator, Holden's response is to talk...
If a lunatic is holding a gun to a child's head, is lethal force not acceptable when there is no other option? If someone is actively trying to kill you and dozens of other people, do you hold back because you are the "better" person and you want them to get a "fair trial" when you get back home in 2 years? NO!
I found myself getting frustrated and literally angry with the author for the absurdity of much of this aspect of the book.
Although his writing is very good and other books in this series are excellent, this one just irked me a little too much than to give the story anything more than 3 stars, though I'm STILL giving a 4 overall...

Narration was excellent as usual from Mays. Good to have him back over the narrator on the previous release.

As always

Great addition to a fantastic story. Can't wait to start the next one and see what kind of misadventures await Holden and crew.

gooder

great story telling! I loved this book. good performance, good story line, couldn't stop listening

awesomeness

Really dig the series. sets up book 5 very nicely. Ready to start book 5

The story continues

The fourth book in an amazing series by the authors. Taking us through the gates to one of the thousand new systems beyond. Great story, great narration a must read for fans of the series.

Love the Series

This series has a fair amount of drama, will make you laugh, isn't too romantic or violent (though a little bit of both and can be graphic in the few violence parts), and overall is pretty believable. There's not a lot of scenes where you completely disbelief things could play out this way. I am really enjoying the series and would recommend to any sci fi fan or someone new to sci fi as this doesn't go off the deep end compared to others...

Jefferson Mays is my fave

Jefferson could read me the most boring book and I would just enjoy hearing him read. He is the unspoken hero of the expanse.

Great book and great Narration

As of 5/18/2019, I have finally surpassed the events of the show. This made the book much more intense for me. I will admit that it was frustrating to listen to at times because it seemed the characters were never gonna over come all these obstacles. I enjoyed the new POV characters, especially sense they were pretty different from the Rossi crew. I also love the deep familial connections the crew now have. It’s fun seeing how they interact with each other. This book is just as good as the first three!

Another Amazing Book!

I am sure if you are looking at this review you are already hooked on the Expanse series like me. Well this book is just another amazing peace to this epic story. I have to force myself to listen to a book in-between each book of to the series to stop myself from burning through it. It is so exciting and the character development is awesome.

If you haven't started The Expanse series, stop and go back to book one. You will need to know everything from the previous books to really enjoy the story.

As always this book was made even better by the Narrator, Jefferson Mays. He adds so much to the experience!

Awesome experience

My third time through and I pick up new details each time. On to the games!