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TIAMAT'S WRATH - Book 8 of Expanse (SPOILERS)


Kalbear

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Really enjoying the book although it's feeling a bit like "storm of swords" in the sense i want to throw the book down in disgust with how Amos then Bobbie dies. Amos i figure may return as a zombie but Bobbie seems done. 

Should have known it was going to be bleak when opening sentence killed iff avasararala 

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9 minutes ago, red snow said:

Really enjoying the book although it's feeling a bit like "storm of swords" in the sense i want to throw the book down in disgust with how Amos then Bobbie dies. Amos i figure may return as a zombie but Bobbie seems done. 

Should have known it was going to be bleak when opening sentence killed iff avasararala 

I wavered between it feeling like the "Storm of Swords" and the penultimate episode of any season of The Wire (i.e. the ones with a screenplay by George Pelecanos where a bunch of shit goes down and someone usually dies).

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On 4/5/2019 at 12:10 AM, Jaxom 1974 said:

Well damn.

Finished tonight. Very very good.  

In the next book we'll get another Miller apperance, right? And somehow, I predict Teresa ends up with a resurfaced Filip...

Got the book yesterday.  Just finished.  Wow, did not see the “Zombie Amos” coming.

If Teresa ends up with Filip that will be quite the age gap between the characters.  Filip would be in his 50s while Teresa isn’t even 20.

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8 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Got the book yesterday.  Just finished.  Wow, did not see the “Zombie Amos” coming.

If Teresa ends up with Filip that will be quite the age gap between the characters.  Filip would be in his 50s while Teresa isn’t even 20.

There’s that time skip again!

Speaking of, do we have any idea how long it was between PR and TW?  Year?  Two years?

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40 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

I'd say roughly 4 years. Elsa Singh turned two in PR and Teresa descibed her as being about six years old in TW. 

Ah.  Good catch.

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9 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

 

If Teresa ends up with Filip that will be quite the age gap between the characters.  Filip would be in his 50s while Teresa isn’t even 20.

Don't be ageist... :p

Was it ever explained what Amos was doing by taking the mission to Laconia and then sitting in a cave with the pocket nuke for a couple years?  Did I miss that?

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16 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Don't be ageist... :p

Was it ever explained what Amos was doing by taking the mission to Laconia and then sitting in a cave with the pocket nuke for a couple years?  Did I miss that?

He said he was “waiting for his moment” and that once he met the kid it seemed kind of shitty to him to kill her.

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1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

He said he was “waiting for his moment” and that once he met the kid it seemed kind of shitty to him to kill her.

Hmmmm...I kinda recall that.  But it seems as off, as it does on.  I'd gotten the impression, right or wrong, he'd used the mission as an excuse to go in and get Holden...that nuke wasn't ever in his thoughts...

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I’m really curious about the evidence that Duarte is still sentient. Still able to think and act.  

It seems to me that Cortázar was killed because Duarte remembered Teresa’s warning.  Then again it seems Elvi touching Duarte somehow reconnected him to our reality giving the will to act.  I’m not sure Duarte is really down for the count and his new abilities are disturbing.

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41 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I’m really curious about the evidence that Duarte is still sentient. Still able to think and act.  

It seems to me that Cortázar was killed because Duarte remembered Teresa’s warning.  Then again it seems Elvi touching Duarte somehow reconnected him to our reality giving the will to act.  I’m not sure Duarte is really down for the count and his new abilities are disturbing.

I think he absolutely did it because of Teresa’s warning.  I think he’s basically on a bad LSD trip where he’s smelling yellow and seeing sounds and such.  He can’t interact fully, but he can have moments of lucidity.  

I really liked the scene where they suggested killing him and then said “If you are confident a bullet will do it, be my guest.” :lol: 

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16 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I think he absolutely did it because of Teresa’s warning.  I think he’s basically on a bad LSD trip where he’s smelling yellow and seeing sounds and such.  He can’t interact fully, but he can have moments of lucidity.  

I really liked the scene where they suggested killing him and then said “If you are confident a bullet will do it, be my guest.” :lol: 

Actually, what you just said prompts an unrelated question.  Is an acid trip just an intense synesthesia experience? I’ve never used LSD and don’t plan to, but that’s interesting.

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I like how so Duarte is such a wonderful condemnation of the typical Strong ManTM logic that so many dictators have. Not only is he the WORST person to rule the galaxy forever (because even an idiot would probably not have the arrogance to pick a fight with Cthulhu) but his immortality plan fails because he doesn't understand science. I also love how his devoted followers keep assuming their scientist will pull a miracle out of thin air only to have him say, "no, that's not how science works." But only after stringing them along.

It's just a wonderful series of anticlimaxes.

 

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14 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Duarte is actually done, right?  

I don’t see how he can’t have another act to play.  Would they just leave him dangling out there like that?

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7 hours ago, Lord Patrek said:

Just finished it and it was awesome!

Can't wait to see how it all ends! Unless things have changed, the ninth volume is supposed to be the last, right?

That’s my understanding 

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19 hours ago, Rhom said:

I don’t see how he can’t have another act to play.  Would they just leave him dangling out there like that?

Right, I mean, Elvi specifically stayed there to study him and whatever else she could learn from those kids.  So, it would seem implausible to me that he is totally out of the story.  But likely he is no longer a "main" pro/antagonist.

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On 4/20/2019 at 5:13 PM, Rhom said:

I think he absolutely did it because of Teresa’s warning.  I think he’s basically on a bad LSD trip where he’s smelling yellow and seeing sounds and such.  He can’t interact fully, but he can have moments of lucidity.  

I really liked the scene where they suggested killing him and then said “If you are confident a bullet will do it, be my guest.” :lol: 

I agree it was because Teresa warned him of what would happen. Although I also wondered durig the build-up to that scene whether there was the possibility that his condition wasn't entirely due to the protomolecule killers and that Cortasa may have had a direct influence and was doing so under the pretense of the black-out? I think he will play a part again but possibly moreso as a communicative bridge between protomolecule and humanity.

I thought Duarte was an excellent villain. Loved how his weakness was his daughter because trying to set her up as his heir completely undermined his logic for why only he should be an immortal emperor. Even without the blackout he'd pretty much sown his downfall by creating a competitor in his daughter.

I've just finished the book and I think it may well be the best in the series. It managed to progress the overall plot substantially while giving us a really satisfying story in the sense it had a beginning middle and end. Naomi had an excellent arc going from isolation to leader of the whole resistance in a way that felt organic. Holden somehow managed to steal the show for me despite it being the first book where he wasn't a central POV. He's passive planning and resistance showed a different aspect to the character and when it was revealed that he orchestrated Teresa's vivisection just so he could get Elvi in the right place- that was something else. With this more sinister Holden and a far more confident naomi they are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Teresa, I have no idea where she'll wind up - she could end up being the villain in 10 years time but I'm hoping she warms to the crew and benefits from their family.

I almost threw my phone down in disgust when "Timothy" was killed but then I realised the drones were still there but it helped me appreciate just how much the core cast have grown on me. Bobbie was a gut punch put like Alex said she got to go out like a Valkyrie and it was a hell of a way to go.

Hopefully not too long a wait for the final book. I also can't wait for the opportunity of the TV show adapting from book 4 onwards. I still need to start season 3 but I'm going to be keeping an eye out for characters that have bigger roles later.

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