The 3rd and final arc of "The expanse" was easily the best for me. I found the end satisfying both in plot and emotional terms - the end seemed "right" to me.
"I absolutely believe that people are more good on balance than bad.....But for every atrocity, there's a thousand small kindnesses that no one noticed....(Jim) p508 ( )

I've greatly enjoyed the whole Expanse series and am sad that it’s now over. Nine books plus short stories make for a very substantial series, though. The pace and plotting have remained excellent throughout, while the appealing cast of characters tie it all together. [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] concludes the plot and character arcs in a very satisfying fashion. It seems amazing that the whole thing kicked off with a dead woman and detective investigating. From this seemingly unoriginal and unpromising start, a brilliant and distinctive space opera unfolds. As it ends, there is a tangible sense of the main characters handing over to a new generation as well as dramatic events impacting the whole human race.

I think it's interesting that [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] deploys a threat that seems to be increasingly ubiquitous in futuristic fiction: the hive-mind. The frequency of this turning up as the antagonist in the last couple of years (e.g. in [b:The This|58950899|The This|Adam Roberts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639950958l/58950899._SY75_.jpg|92907496], [b:Skyward Inn|52592203|Skyward Inn|Aliya Whiteley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599341450l/52592203._SY75_.jpg|78293563], and [b:Alexandria|52310896|Alexandria|Paul Kingsnorth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583267977l/52310896._SY75_.jpg|73035795]) suggests to me a particular anxiety about technology eroding the boundaries of our minds. Of these recent depictions, [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] seems the most visceral and thus most effective at showing why a hive-mind threatens the sense of self. Tanaka's discussion with the psychiatrist about the intrusion of the hive-mind as 'an intimate assault' is chilling. The scenes of Alex's son and his family experiencing the hive-mind are disorientating and creepy.

It was only when drafting this review that I noticed [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] skips between points of view within chapters, rather than each chapter following only one character as was standard in previous books of the series. In other contexts such skipping around has put me off, but here I barely noticed it as the narrative is so well-controlled. It also helps that the majority of characters and the setting are very familiar to the reader by this point. Perspective-switching keeps the plot moving without creating confusion.

The important new character in [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] is Tanaka, a colonel in Duarte's army who is sent on a top secret tracking mission. It is appropriate that she quotes [b:Moby Dick|2389|Moby Dick|Herman Melville|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391744708l/2389._SX50_.jpg|2409320] (which I only recognised as I've recently read it!), as she is a ruthlessly focused hunter throughout. The ultimate end that her pursuit leads to is very fitting. She finally locates Duarte, who is behind the hive-mind she cannot stand being subsumed into. To stop the hive-mind she kills him, despite that being quite the opposite of her original mission. Meanwhile the Rocinante crew remains central to the narrative, dealing with the trauma of all they've experienced before as well as new space battles, high speed chases, weird alien technology, and keeping a cute dog on a spaceship. All the original crew meditate upon how they've changed over time; this is especially significant for Amos. The absence of Bobbie and Clarissa is remarked upon, while Miller stages a last act return. I really enjoyed this twist, as I like Miller much more as a spooky alien ghost than as a detective with a drinking problem. When Jim takes the place of Duarte and destroys the gates to save humanity, I was glad he had an alien ghost friend to keep him company. It's a suitable finale for Holden, who has been trying to sacrifice himself for a greater cause for decades. Ending interstellar travel in order to avoid the notice of godlike aliens bent on genocide is certainly a suitable cause and a thrilling finale. Readers who have become invested in the plot, characters, and setting of The Expanse will, I think, find [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] an excellent conclusion to this epic series. I couldn't put it down. ( )

And so we reach the final volume of The Expanse. Winston Duarte has undergone a transformation, and is now seeking to fight off the entities that destroyed the gate-builders - but at a terrible cost to humanity. The options are to either be destroyed, or subsumed into a hive-mind of Duarte's making, the perfection of the order imposed by the Laconian Empire across all the human-settled worlds - now back-footed following the events of the previous book, Tiamat's Wrath, but still possessing powerful assets. Against this is pitched the crew of the Rocinante and Dr. Elvi Okoye, who following her experience of the protomolecule on Ilus (as depicted in book four, Cibola Burn), has been put in charge of research for the Empire. But as always with the Laconian Empire, failure is not an option, no matter how high your rank.

The fates of all the characters we have met so far, including Teresa Duarte and a Laconian Marine officer we meet for the first time in this book, are wrapped up, some more neatly than others. By the end, we have said goodbye to everyone, some more finally than others. It is hard to see how this could have ended in any other way.

I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the tv series, in particular the fact that the series ended with the dramatisation of book six, Babylon's Ashes. Many people are holding out hope that the final three novels might be dramatised at some point; and given that there are thirty years between books six and seven, this would not be impossible, if the same cast could be re-assembled some years down the line. The main issue would be accommodating Cas Anvar's absence, as his character - Alex Kamal - was written out of the show in season 5. But as Alex's son and his new family play a fairly direct role in this book, some plot gymnastics would be necessary. It's also interesting to see how some of the short stories - collected in the volume Memory's Legion - are shown in the tv show, to the extent that anyone coming to this book without having either seen the show or read the collected stories will find two quite important characters suddenly appearing and playing a central role apparently out of nowhere. So - on to the short stories! ( )

I just finished like five minutes ago, so no coherent thoughts yet, because I'm still crying, so I'll just say IT'S SO GOOD. ( )

Worthy and powerful finish to a classic series. I’m sad this tale is over, but I’m satisfied with how it ended. ( )