Imagine you're the writer of an extremely successful six-volume sci-fi series. Do you end there, rake in the profits from your very good television spinoff, and move on to something else? Or do you fast-forward thirty years in the story, have your lovable crew of misfits and their friends invaded by the space-faring equivalent of the Roman Empire, and then write a book about how that empire kicks their collective asses? The authors of The Expanse chose the latter, and I'm thankful to them for it.

The thirty-year time jump between the end of Book 6 and the beginning of this book allows the series to make the effortless leap from hard sci-fi to borderline science-fantasy with grace, and the story benefits from this decision in many ways. The most impressive part of this book is the fact that it manages to maintain the connections to the earlier books while pushing the overall story forward leaps and bounds-- story threads and characters set up as far back as Book One become important here, and the effects of the previous six books set the stage for the action in unexpected ways.

Beyond the time jump and plot, this book measures up to the standard of the series overall, with great character work, compelling action, and top-tier writing. While it's not my favorite of the series, it definitely has inspired me to read through the two remaining books back-to-back.