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Babylon's Ashes

Book Six of the Expanse

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Babylon's Ashes

By: James S. A. Corey
Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
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About this listen

A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.

The Free Navy - a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships - has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets.

The colony ships heading for the 1,000 new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them. James Holden and his crew know the strengths and weaknesses of this new force better than anyone.

Outnumbered and outgunned, the embattled remnants of the old political powers call on the Rocinante for a desperate mission to reach Medina Station at the heart of the gate network. But the new alliances are as flawed as the old, and the struggle for power has only just begun.

As the chaos grows, an alien mystery deepens. Pirate fleets, mutiny and betrayal may be the least of the Rocinante's problems. And in the uncanny spaces past the ring gates, the choices of a few damaged and desperate people may determine the fate of more than just humanity.

©2016 James S. A. Corey (P)2016 Little Brown Book Group Adventure Fantasy Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Space Transportation Pirate

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All stars
Most relevant  
Just a fantastic continuation of The Expanse series and a complex yet gripping story. The narrator is just brilliant and makes other audio books sound lacklustre. Hope there's another.

Excellent story, brilliant narrator.

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Truly love this series and the performance is outstanding. Straight onto book seven. Cant wait to see where we go..!

Just can't stop listening..!

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Full on Rocinante and crew goodness. Dealing with Ring politics, Marco as Earth's number 1 enemy on the hunt, but also being hunted. Naomi getting to come to terms with her past, Avaserela pulling no punches but still surprising, some new characters to see through the eyes of, and even Prax.

This one went fast and was enjoyable all the way. I can't stop myself from going right into the next one. I've become obsessed and probably need some help.

Still amazed and builds on its sci-fi perfection!!

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I really enjoyed this one.
Much stronger writing of character but It still comes to a powerful climax.

Excellent

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The books just provide a far more detailed description of the universe and characters in it. I have now completed the book series and I am sad to say the TV series really ended too soon and misrepresented many strong female characters within the book to end it so quickly.

Converted TV viewer

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The Expanse is one of my go-to series. I was introduced via the TV series, but enjoy the books so much better. The world-building in this series is phenomenal and the characters are so distinct and complex. Jefferson Mays is an amazing narrator, which really amps up the experience. While I blasted through the first 4, I'm now pacing myself to draw it out longer.

I really just dig this world

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Where does Babylon's Ashes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's in the top 5, along with four other James S A Corey books.
Above Paul Hoffman, Robert Harris, Frank Herbert, James Clavell, Steven King... you get the idea.

What did you like best about this story?

Okay, maybe I was waxing a tad lyrical, after all it's the sixth book in the series. But much like the Rocenante's Epstein drive, this series seems to run on a different sort of gas.

What is notable in this book is that it concerns a real, human nemesis worthy of Holden - Marco Innaros. He is a fantastic villain; perpetrator of deeds that would make Atilla the Hun cough, yet with a warped moral framework that masterfully justifies everything he does. James SA Corey is a genius at shifting the narrative voice to describe though process, without changing the overall feel and pace of the book.

This book also has the best space battles out of the series; I would go as far as to say the most exciting ever written. Wait till the rail gun comes out... You'll understand what I mean.

Have you listened to any of Jefferson Mays’s other performances? How does this one compare?

His voice is now part of my head and I'm going to struggle going to sleep tonight without him.
Hence the lengthy review.

Mays has the rare gift of being able to capture the essence of characters with only the slightest changes of intonation. In a book of this scale, subtlety of delivery is key, and I was really awed by his control of the human voice.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

With Earth in ruins, the only thing standing between humanity and a new dark age, is a Martian frigate, its crew... and a rail gun.

Any additional comments?

Good hunting!

Make this one last

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Another great book in the Expanse series. references past books a fair amount, so helps to have read / listened to them.
A couple of the story lines seem to be the to give more depth but don't add to the plot exactly, hence a 4 out of 5

Great continuation of the series

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I've devoured the entire series. Amazing storytelling, engaging characters, beautifully written and all wrapped up in simply brilliant narration. I felt like I should stand up and clap at the end of this one it was just such an incredible performance.

Best reading ever

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The book itself is and I'll listen to it again any day, for some reason the narrator decided to start mis-pronouncing some words despite being fine in all previous The Expanse series books.

Great book!

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