Podcasts showing the essential humanity of the Belt – and sleeping with a Belter – doesn’t make him a Belter at best, he’s a sympathiser at worst, he’s an Earther leashing the Belt at every step of the way.Īvasarala – in my head – is way too canny to have missed this, and unlike Marco she’s not afraid to confront unpalatable truths. Sure, they followed Fred Johnson sure, Jim worked closely with Fred and has worked with the OPA for years now yes, they accepted him as a go-between – but he’s still the man who destroyed Marco Inaros and brought down the dream that Marco sold. She knows better – way better – and while it was a choice Earth and Mars could live with, I don’t believe for a second that she honestly thought the Belt would swallow it. I must admit, of all the missteps I’ve seen Avasarala make, trying to nominate Jim as the new leader of the OPA struck me as particularly left field. What do you make of Holden’s choice at the end? That’s not to say I’m warming up to him! He’s still an unbearable little shit. I would never have called that – it’s such an anti-climax, and yet that final chapter leaves him open to character progression that I wouldn’t have previously been interested in. So I was delighted to see him simply walk away. And while I am enjoying the Expanse enormously, I wouldn’t call it particularly nuanced or ground breaking – so I was reluctantly expecting some heroic redemption arc for Filip that would really irritate me or for him to stick to his guns so that Jim was forced to decide whether to kill him this time. She annoyed me as a villain, and once it was clear where her arc led it felt forced and clichéd (all of which has subsequently been forgiven, obviously. I found Clarissa’s arc in Abaddon’s Gate horribly clichéd. Well hats off – Filip surprised me, in a good way. Filip completes his arc – were you surprised? How do you feel about him as a character now? Would you be happy to see his POV in the future? …none of which elicits anything other than a burning desire to see him vaporised, so that worked out well.Ģ. He performs for the impact it will have on her as much as on the Belt. He simply can’t let her go, can he? (“taming”?!! ARGH I CAN’T EVEN) It doesn’t fit his internal narrative and while it comes across in part as insane possessiveness (what’s his is his is his), on some level it seems like he still measures himself by how she sees him. His desire to board and claim the Roci smacks of too many nights watching cheap action movies – he’s all posturing and optics, not strategy and true vision.Īnd then there’s the thing about him that makes me the most squeamish – the blind obsession with Naomi. Because he’s not that clever, in the end. I can see why his people follow him – he’s bullish and aggressive and emotionally savvy when it comes to manipulating others (that scene where he humiliates Filip!) – but I don’t actually see how he got half the Martian Navy on side. He simply won’t hear anything that doesn’t match his world view (Sanjrani never stood a chance). That was his victory.Įver heard the phrase Pyrrhic victory, Marco? But it would never take them passively again. As with villains of books past, Marco is utterly self-absorbed and dedicated to his vision, and while he may fool himself that it’s all about the Belt, there’s no hiding that really, it’s all about Marco. I wouldn’t have chosen to spend time in Marco’s company (because he makes me spit chips), but it was interesting to see if he really was what I thought him to be (err, yes). So – we get up close and personal with Marco Inaros. We’ll be back in January to read-along through Book 7 if you’d care to join us.ġ. Persepolis Rising is out next month so this isn’t the end – just a brief hiatus. There has been flailing and ranting, and no end of spoilers. It’s the final week of The Expanse Read-along! We have worked our way through The Expanse from beginning to end, blogging weekly in response to a host’s prompts. Can the alliance find a way to open up the stars – or will Marco Inaros complete his revenge against Earth and bring down the entire solar system? All eyes are on Medina, the Free Navy-held station blocking the way to the gates and the colonies beyond them.
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