Nearly three years have passed since Book 4, CIBOLA BURN, and the crew of the Rocinante needs a break. For that matter, so does their ship, a former Mars corvette which was either salvaged or stolen, depending on which government you believe. Docked at Tycho Station, the crew learns that their ship needs serious repairs, which will keep her at the station for at least half a year.

Having spent the last four books and six years together, the crew takes the downtime as a moment to reflect on how their lives have changed and what that means going forward. Their past, too, has unfinished business calling them back with the hope of reconnecting lost love, saying goodbye, or repairing old sins. As each falls deeper into their past, the solar system moves from a shared optimism of the thousands of new worlds the protomolecule's wormhole gates have opened to a terrifying fear that humanity may destroy itself before setting foot on those worlds.

NEMESIS GAMES is told through the perspectives of the Rocinante crew where each chapter leads the reader through the story. It is this mechanism and pacing that has kept me hooked since I started the series four months ago. The writing duo that is James S.A. Corey crafted a story where most everyone we meet and the political structures that make up their world are savagely torn down. NEMESIS GAMES is different from other space operas in that I've never enjoyed the subject more than I have in the Expanse series.

Corey's great challenge is a story where the past is opened up and explored for characters that have been built over four books. I still think that a new reader can start with this book and not be far out of the loop. NEMESIS GAMES pulls you in and keeps you riveted by making you laugh and being afraid that this may be the time a character won't survive.