Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey (Review)

Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey

Blurb

An old enemy returns.

In the thousand-sun network of humanity’s expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way. Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace.

In the vast space between Earth and Jupiter, the inner planets and belt have formed a tentative and uncertain alliance still haunted by a history of wars and prejudices. On the lost colony world of Laconia, a hidden enemy has a new vision for all of humanity and the power to enforce it.

New technologies clash with old as the history of human conflict returns to its ancient patterns of war and subjugation. But human nature is not the only enemy, and the forces being unleashed have their own price. A price that will change the shape of humanity — and of the Rocinante — unexpectedly and forever…

Review

I had a bit of break from The Expanse series but I was so happy to return to this amazing series. I really enjoyed seeing my favourite characters years after the last book and where they now are in their lives.

The previous books build up the tension and information regarding the protomolecule and this book starts to give us some serious answers. The Laconian’s reappear and make themselves known to the inner planets and the belt and we see what technology the Laconian’s bring with them. Whilst all this is going on the crew of the Rocinante are trying to keep the peace and make a difference.

The thing that got me about this book was that the bad guys don’t actually act like villains. They don’t want to resort to violence, they want order and peace and progress. However, they don’t want to negotiate or hear any other people’s opinions, it is their way or nobody’s way.

It soon becomes clear in this book that absolutely nobody is safe and perhaps some of our favourite characters that we have known all the way through the series might not make it or make it unchanged. As happy as I was to see my favourite characters again I really feared for them.

It is really hard to say much more without giving the story away so I will stop here. I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Every time I read one of these books I say it is my new favourite and this is definitely my current favourite. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

About the author

James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin’s assistant. They both live Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Starshine by G. S. Jennsen (Review)

Starshine by G. S. Jennsen

Blurb

The year is 2322. Humanity has expanded into the stars, inhabiting over 100 worlds across a third of the galaxy. Though thriving as never before, they have discovered neither alien life nor the key to utopia. Earth struggles to retain authority over far-flung planets and free-wheeling corporations while an uneasy armistice with a breakaway federation hangs by a thread as the former rebels rise in wealth and power.

Alexis Solovy is Earth Alliance royalty, her father a fallen war hero and her mother an influential military leader. But she seeks only the freedom of space and has made a fortune by reading the patterns in the chaos to discover the hidden wonders of the stars.

Nothing about her latest objective suggests the secret it conceals will turn her life– not to mention the entire galaxy–upside down. But a chance encounter with a mysterious spy leads to a discovery which will thrust Alex into the middle of a galactic power struggle and a sinister conspiracy, whether she likes it or not.

Review

I am ashamed to say that I bought this book when I first bought my Kindle in 2018 and it has sat on there ever since. However, this year I rediscovered it and decided I would read it. I am now very annoyed that I hadn’t read this book earlier and got stuck into the series.

The story follows two main characters; Alexis Solovy who comes from the Earth Alliance and owns and captains her own starship and Caleb Marano who is from the Senecan Federation and is a special intelligence agent. However, the story also flashes to other characters in other parts of the galaxy to reveal more of how events unfold. As the story unfolds we begin to see how all these characters are subtly connected.

The story involves key people in military, politics, and the criminal underworld who are all pulling strings to manipulate the Earth Alliance and Senecan Federation into a war. While all this is happening Alexis and Caleb get thrown together in an unexpected turn of events which leads them to exploring a previously uninhabited region of the galaxy.

I loved the world building in this book and the detail it went into. Sometimes in science fiction books the author glosses over the more science based things but Jennsen goes into the detail and I found that really interesting. Some people might feel the beginning of the book is a little slow but I was glad of the details and background it gave as it helped me then enjoy the action more. The book is full of all these fab achievements and advancements of humanity but humanity is still plagued by people wanting more money and power.

Alexis and Caleb were both fascinating characters although Alexis did get on my nerves slightly at times. They both have their own issues but as the book goes on we learn more about their histories and how it has shaped their characters. I can’t wait to see how their characters develop in the next book.

I absolutely loved this book and bought the next one in the series straight away. This is definitely one of my top books of 2025 so far and I highly recommend it to all sci-fi fans. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones

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About the author

G. S. Jennsen is a speculative and science fiction author, as well as a futurist, geek, gamer, programmer and editor. She has become an internationally bestselling author since her first novel, Starshine, was published in March 2014. She has chosen to continue writing under an independent publishing model to ensure the integrity of her series and her ability to execute on the vision she’s had for it since its genesis.

While she has been a lawyer, a software engineer and an editor, she’s found the life of a full-time author preferable by several orders of magnitude.

When she isn’t writing, she’s gaming or working out or getting lost in the mountains that loom large outside the windows in her home. Or she’s dealing with a flooded basement, or standing in a line at Walmart reading the tabloid headlines and wondering who all of those people are. Or sitting on her back porch with a glass of wine, looking up at the stars, trying to figure out what could be up there.

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Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Review)

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Blurb

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Review

Murderbot needs answers, it knows it has a dark past and wants to know why the horrors happened. More importantly Murderbot wants to know whether the deaths were its fault or because of another reason. To find the answers, Murderbot needs to get to the place where the massacre happened and this is why Murderbot is on a ship travelling through space.

The spaceship transport that Murderbot is on, is an artificial intelligence that Murderbot nicknames ART, which is short for something far ruder. Murderbot does not trust ART straightaway and they definitely have a few issues when they first really meet but gradually you can see how their friendship develops and they start to trust each other. This leads to ART helping Murderbot to act and behave more human and less like a sec unit.

Once they get to their destination ART suggests that Murderbot takes a job as a security consultant for a group of humans. This way Murderbot has the perfect excuse to investigate from his past which has been hidden from the public. But as we discovered in All Systems Red, when humans need help Murderbot can’t help but help.

I really enjoyed following Murderbot’s investigation and found it rather sad at times. Murderbot clearly has feelings even though it tries to hide the fact and it is because of these feelings it wants to find out about its past. I also loved the interaction between Murderbot and ART. They don’t realise it and would both deny it if somebody pointed it out but they learn from each other and have a really good friendship.

For such a short read this book really packs a punch and I read it in one sitting. I am absolutely loving this series so far and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

Purchase Links

Book Depository

About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, The Death of the Necromancer, the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, The Murderbot Diaries series, media tie-ins for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won a Nebula Award, two Hugo Awards, two Locus Awards, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the BSFA Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. Her books have been published in eighteen languages.

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Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey (Review)

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey

Blurb

A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.

Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed. The sole remaining protomolecule sample is stolen. Terrorist attacks previously considered impossible bring the inner planets to their knees. The sins of the past are returning to exact a terrible price.

And as a new human order is struggling to be born in blood and fire, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante must struggle to survive and get back to the only home they have left.

Review

Well each time I read an Expanse novel I keep saying I have a new favourite and yet again I have a new favourite. I loved this book!

This book is very different from the previous books because the crew of the Roci are split up and living their own storylines instead of all being on the Roci sharing a storyline. I really found this interesting because you see the four main characters in a different light when they are on their own.

Naomi leaves Holden and goes off to try and correct the things she sees as sins in her past. Whilst she is on this mission we learn about Naomi’s past and how she ended up on the Canterbury. I really felt for Naomi in this book, she has real horrors in her past and she was sorely wronged and now she is having to go through them all again. We also learn in this book that Naomi has struggled with her mental health in the past and now has a battle to make sure these mental health problems do not return.

Amos goes off to Earth for personal reasons and this also shows another side of Amos. We have learnt that Amos is clearly a dangerous character from the previous books but what we really see in this book is just how dangerous he is and what he has to do to make sure his violent side does not take over. Amos comes across as a character without feeling who doesn’t really understand human emotions, such as someone wanting to hold his hand. But what we also see is that in his own way he does care and will try and protect people even ones he has only just met. Amos still remains my favourite character who always makes me laugh and in this book I particularly liked his relationship with Avasarala.

Alex is on Mars where he ends up helping out an old friend in the form of Bobbie. Bobbie and Alex end up on the Razorback trying to find missing ships, avoiding terrorists and helping in the odd rescue mission. I love the relationship between Alex and Bobbie, they are true friends and I don’t think Bobbie had realised this until this book when Alex refuses to leave her behind. Alex treats Bobbie like family and it is wonderful to see.

Holden finds himself left behind in this book, his crew have all gone off on their own missions and you can tell he feels left out and lonely. But this doesn’t mean he doesn’t see his own share of the action. Monica comes along and asks for his help and against his better judgement he can’t help but be interested and to try to solve the problem of these missing ships.

I really enjoyed seeing these different sides of the Roci crew and it really gave a different feel to the book from the previous books. I found myself desperately wanting to know what would happen next for each character. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Product Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

About the author

James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin’s assistant. They both live Albuquerque, New Mexico.

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you