Once again, I find myself rushing to complete this review before I can allow myself to start my re-read of book six. This book was just as good as I remembered, and in fact, I actually think it was better. I noticed so many things this time around that I didn’t before, when I was just focused on, basically, OMG WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
(Something you can only notice on a series re-read: SPOILERS They really hit it hard that Amos would be the “Last Man Standing,” didn’t they? I wonder how many people noticed that before Leviathan Falls. The Corey duo has been dropping clues for that since book two. Also, I picked up at least three offhand comments by several characters about “dropping rocks” on Earth in previous books . . . . END SPOILERS
Nemesis Games is the one with THE VERY BIG ENORMOUS THING that happens, which acts as a pivot point for the series, and for humanity as a whole. I just picture the authors sort of laughing evilly with each other while writing this book, like, you think we fucked shit up the last four books? Well, here you go. (It’s a dark, gallows humor, of course, because this book is chock full of humanitarian compassion, and THE VERY BIG ENORMOUS THING is treated with the appropriate gravitas by the narrative and by all the characters.)
Everything I said in my first review still stands, but this is a full five stars now.
“There aren’t any new starts,” Bobbie said. “All the new ones pack the old ones along with them. If we ever really started fresh, it’d mean not having a history anymore. I don’t know how to do that.”
– – –
“There’s a thing that happens,” Avasarala said, “when unthinkable things become thinkable. We’re in a moment of chaos. Everything’s up for grabs. Legitimacy itself is up for grabs. That’s where we are now.”
– – –
“There are two sides in this, but they aren’t inner planets and outer ones. Belters and everyone else. It’s not like that. It’s the people who want more violence and the ones who want less. And no matter what other variable you sample out of, you’ll find some of both.”