Nemesis Games (The Expanse)

Earlier today I finished reading Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey. Nemesis Games is book five of the Expanse series. It is a space opera set in our solar system a couple hundred years in the future. The Expanse focuses on the adventures of the crew of the Rocinante as they deal with events that change the balance of power between Earth, Mars, and the Outer Planets. The fifth entry mixes up the formula a bit by splitting the party and having them each handle their own affairs dealing with their pasts and what led them together against a backdrop of events that put the past firmly and irretrievably in the past.

Going forward, I will be discussing the events of the book in discussing why I liked it, so be forewarned that there will be spoilers.

Moments I Particularly Enjoyed
Honestly, the first thing that came to mind in thinking about memorable pieces to this story was the entire arc for Naomi Nagata. Naomi has spent the series as the Rocinante's chief engineer with a mysterious past before joining up with the crew. Nemesis Games brings that past right to the forefront, having the hardline Outer Planets separatist father of Naomi's son pull her back into the struggle between the Belt and the Inner Planets. She struggles with the ways in which she has helped Marco to harm people in the past and the ways he continues to use what she did to hurt people in the present. She struggles with the act her son makes dropping meteorites on Earth causing immense ecological damage. Naomi has to use her own wits to escape from becoming trapped by her past, culminating in a leap of faith in herself through the vacuum of space to ensure she protects the crew of the Rocinante from being pulled into a trap by Marco Inarros. Naomi's story is a tense one, waiting to see when the next shoe will drop.

Elsewhere, the stories following Pilot Alex and Engineer Amos give us our first real looks in the series at life on Mars and Earth respectively. Alex travels to check in on family and his ex-wife which eventually leads to him meeting back up with gunnery sergeant Bobbie Draper and finding himself dragged into a mystery she's been looking into involving missing military supplies. Amos travels to Baltimore because an old friend has died and he wants to see what has happened.

Amos's trip has him on Earth when the rocks fall. He must find a way off the planet, travelling across a post-apocalyptic DC metro area on a search for a ride to Luna.

As the book comes to its climax, the stories begin to have moments which cross from one story to the next and bring the crew back together. Honestly, each crew member really does get an interesting story showing off their own way to handle the adversities thrown their way.

Things I Didn't Like
As much as each story was interesting and I did very much enjoy them, one thing I've liked about The Expanse is the ensemble cast. These characters are a found family, each playing off the others, the relationships adding up to more than the sum of their parts. Those relationships were missing here as each character wished they were with the others but the number of chapters where the characters were on the same planet let alone in the same room could be nearly counted on one hand.

But honestly, that was a minor thing. Most of the time so much was going on in each of the stories that there wasn't enough time to worry about when the team would be back together.

Final Thoughts
Overall, this was one I really enjoyed. Of course, I'd enjoyed the other Expanse books, so I went in essentially knowing I would. If you're someone who enjoys science fiction that's mostly grounded in real science, even if there are a few liberties taken. This is a series you'll enjoy. I've heard the political drama between the factions referred to as "Game of Thrones in Space" and I suppose that's not a terrible way to think of the series. So much goes on in these books and so much of the situation changes from book to book.

And honestly, Nemesis Games definitely delivers on the promise of throwing a wrench into things. Rocks falling and causing a near-extinction event is the king of all wrenches, and that's before considering that alien biological weapons go missing. While the major threads are pretty neatly tied up, there are definitely quite a few left to drag you straight into the next book. I'm looking forward to continuing with this series.