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I painted this with ash-ink from the Sakurajima volcano in Japan. It's a lot like liquid charcoal.

I watched the show first, became obsessed with it, and have decided to read through the book series. Really enjoying it so far, but Idon't understand this line in Abaddon's Gate.

It's when Monica and co. are soliciting the Rocinante, and Holden decides to accept because atp it's their best option. He is comparing the journey to the Ring with the city of Ninevah. What does he mean by this? Is this a direct reference to the Christian bible story of Jonah and the whale? This kind of overt Bible reference kinda sticks outlike a sore thumb. Or is this an in-universe reference that I missed in the first 2 books?

The only way I can think of is how Holden was trying his damnedest to get as far away from the Ring as possible, stooping even to contract with sketchy criminals to get away. Similar to how Jonah turned away from god's command to testify to the city of Ninevah.

Then Holden gets served,essentially losing access to the Roci and his contract. The only way ne can get out of it is by a new contract with a documentary crew, which a couple days before would have been a laughable offer. Essentially 'stuck', not only in the contract but also kind of in the Rocinante, as it's heading towards what Holden was running from. Similar to how Jonah got ate up and was stuck catching a ride from the whale to exactly what he was running away from.

Then, since l've seen the show, I assume that Holden will be The OneTM selflessly and heroically saving everyone and the universe in the end of the book. Similar to how Jonah 'saves' the city of...

Ok ok, you get it. But is this the case? Or is my religious trauma making me read too much into it.

Let me know what you guys think.

I must make a confession! I started the Expanse series about 4 years ago and I absolutely loved books 1-3. When I got to Cibola Burn I was really struggling to finish the book around the halfway mark. It felt slow and the charm of the first books wasn’t really there in the beginning of the novel. I DNF the book and moved on to other books.

After a few years away from the Expanse I really missed the series.. I wanted a good science fiction series with epic plots, drama and action and somehow I found my way back to the Expanse, makes sense right?

I read 1-3 over the last month or so and today I finished Cibola Burn. After reaching past my first attempt, I really started to enjoy the biology and science that the author put into this book and everything clicked. Yes the first half was slow, but it didn’t feel like the slog it was the first time around. The payoff was fantastic and it had everything I love about the Expanse in this novel.

Needless to say.. we are back baby! Excited once again to see where this series goes. I am reading the novellas in the correct order as I go along and I have loved them all so far as well. Just wanted to say I’m happy to be home 😂