Cibola burn
"The gates have opened the way to a thousand new worlds and the rush to colonize has begun. Settlers looking for a new life stream out from humanity's home planets. Ilus, the first human colony on this vast new frontier, is being born in blood and fire. Independent settlers stand against the overwhelming power of a corporate colony ship with only their determination, courage, and the skills learned in the long wars of home. Innocent scientists are slaughtered as they try to survey a new and alien world. The struggle on Ilus threatens to spread all the way back to Earth. James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are sent to make peace in the midst of war and sense in the heart of chaos. But the more he looks at it, the more Holden thinks the mission was meant to fail. And the whispers of a dead man remind him that the great galactic civilization that once stood on this land is gone. And that something killed it"--Back cover.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
20mentions
17people
2014–2026years
25% recommend70% neutral5% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The Cibola Burn book did a much better job of explaining things on Illus, particularly the alien stuff. And the Investigator POV chapters were wild. You don't get as much of that on the show.
- I don't know. People keep complaining about Cibola Burn (book 4), but I liked it. I genuinely consider it one of the better ones.
That's perhaps because it's the first, and to date the most detailed, exploration of the aliens and their technology, which to me is the most interesting part (after Earth-Mars politics).
But then, I'm the weird guy who thinks character development is overrated, and reads sci-fi for the ideas.
- I've been reading for 30 mins to an hour before going to bed for the past 6 months as part of my "sleep hygiene" routine. Honestly, this has been quite the game changer for me. For one, I'm always looking forward to it, since I really like to immerse myself into my current book's world (I'm reading a really good book right now called "Cibola Burn" by James S. A. Corey, the fourth book in The Expanse Series). Additionally, it helps me to fall asleep much better and my sleep has improved a lot, too.
I can recommend this to almost anyone; IMHO sleep hygiene in general is quite important, and this is one of the approaches that might improve it quite a bit.
- Here is a partial list of the books I read this year. These are all books that stood out to me which I enjoyed:
Fiction Books:
* Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War, Abaddon's Gate, Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey
* Homeworld, Out of the Black (books 3 & 4 in the Odyssey One series) by Evan Currie
* Furies of Calderon, Academ’s Fury (1 & 2 of the Codex Alera series) by Jim Butcher
* The Aeronaut’s Windlass also by Jim Butcher
* The Queen of Zamba by L. Sprague de Camp
* Giant of World's End by Lin Carter
* Batgirl of Burnside (graphic novel)
Non-fiction Books:
* Here is Your War by Ernie Pyle - the 1st of his books chronicling American soldiers in World War 2
* Vagrant Viking by Peter Freuchen - auto-biography of the Danish explorer/Nazi resistance fighter/writer/film-maker
* Voices of 1776 by Richard Wheeler - the Revolutionary war in the words of people who were there.
The non-fiction books surprised me because I really enjoyed all of them and I usually only read fiction or technical books. The Odyssey One books by Evan Currie also stood out to me because I found the first one for a low price on Kindle and I was blown away by the story.
- Currently reading Cibola Burn - the 4th in the Expanse series by James SA Corey. Very good hard-ish SF series.
I also just finished Creativity Inc., Ed Catmull's book about Pixar. Extremely valuable insights about running a creative organization.
- I stick mostly to fiction these days. Best books I've read this year:
- The Women by Kristin Hannah
- Jurassic Park by Micheal Crichton
- Platform Decay by Martha Wells
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the End of the World by Eric Jay Dolin
- All the Sinners Bleed by S A Cosby
- Project Hail Mary and Artemis by Andy Weir
- Cibola Burn and Nemesis Games by James S A Corey (the Expanse series)
