Review--Cibola Burn (Expanse, #4)

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Cibola Burn (Expanse, #4)Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent entry in the Expanse series, with an ending I totally did not see coming (but should have). Corey takes to heart Mark Twain's advice about chasing your characters up trees and throwing stones at them. The crew of the Roci are in it again, this time when they're sent to be mediators in a conflict between squatters and corporations on a newly uncovered habitable planet.

The analogies to the Wild West and the American Frontier are drawn in broad strokes. It's the farmers vs. the ranchers, the settlers vs. the railroads and banks, pick your favorite and it's worked in there.

The only thing that kept this uber space opera from five stars was the feeling that it could have been trimmed. After a while, you can get burned out on all the danger and violence and favorite characters in jeopardy. But it's still one of the best science fiction epics available today and I highly recommend this series.


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