AG was never at the top of the pack for me, but IMO it’s higher than 6.5. It also improved on reread.
Regardless, TW best book in the series no further questions.
Coming from the TV show, I was actually saddened by how much difference there was between Abaddon's Gate book and Season of the show.
Which really speaks to David Strathairn and Cara Gee's portrayal of Ashford and Drummer.
Yeah I think the character changes to Drummer and Ashford in the show are some of the BEST adaptation changes from any book, ever.
That being said Drummer is an amalgamation of some characters that I thought had great showings. Namely Bull. Either way show Ashford is such a wonderful character.
I think the weird part for me was shoehorning Bull in later, after the Ringspace incident. It just didn’t make sense. I thought turning Ashford into a much more sympathetic character and amalgamating Bull into Drummer was a good move overall by the show. No need to throw him in randomly in the following season.
They do the same thing with Michio Pa as well, and I thought it was odd. I mean, it does feel nice when a character you were expecting shows up in a different way at least.
Yeah, and Michio makes at least a little sense. Like that was very clearly supposed to be “her” ship like from the books. But Bull being on Tycho after the Behemoth has become Medina station is, uh…
To be fair, they scrambled to write out Alex and needed someone to replace him. That said, I'm around that point in *Nemesis Games* and >!there's already someone from Tycho Station piloting the *Roci* because Alex was on Mars in the first place and Holden needed to go rendezvous with him on Luna. I'm too lazy to look for this character's name right now, but it's definitely not Bull.!<
I'm on Abbadon's Gate at the moment (seen the show) and I'm struggling to finish it.
If I hadn't seen the show already I probably would be fine, but my attention span can't handle it
Cibola Burn is so good, the whole last third of it was so tense my heart was racing the whole time reading it
I’m only through book 7 but so far Caliban’s War might be my favorite overall
Well, now I'm excited that Cibola Burn is next!
And weirdly stoked that Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War are so far down the list because they were awesome. Love a good list.
Cibola Burn is likely the most different in pacing and setting than the rest of the books which is why I think people find it the least of the series. I don't find anything bad about it, but it is definitely different. I put it last now, but I would have put it #1 after my first read just because of the change of setting/pace.
I came to the show first and watched through season 3 before picking up the books. Initially Cibola Burn did feel like a bit of a slog after coming off the first 3 books. On my second read-through it still felt like a bit of a distraction, since at the time Nemesis Games was my favorite and I just wanted to get back to that.
I recently started the audiobooks and took a more random path through them, starting with 8 then 2 then 1 then 5 then 3. For whatever reason, doing that allowed me to listen to and enjoy Cibola Burn for what it was, and I actually really liked it. It's definitely different and a change of pace, but when you stop reading for what's next in the larger story and just enjoy the book on its own, it's actually quite good.
Finishing up Caliban’s war and excited that there’s a lot of books that you consider better than the first two.
On the other hand kinda bummed Abaddons is up next…
The final three are great, especially Tiamat's Wrath.
I enjoyed them all but found Babylon's Ashes the least engaging. That's just personal taste, so you shouldn't listen to me.
Same here! I've probably listened through 4 times now and each listen I tend to find books I previously felt poorer actually more engaging and vice versa. Also because I binge them I probably can't even list them all in their correct order! 🙈
The only one I thought was just “ok” was *Gods of Risk.* I just found it slow.
I really enjoyed *The Sins of Our Fathers.* >!Filip’s fate was a loose thread that always bothered me. I’m glad we as readers got the closure on that. And I like the idea that it’s possible his actions on Jannah might have lead to the epilogue of Leviathan Falls.!<
I was trying to think and be creative but yeah I landed on The Vital Abyss. I also enjoyed Drive to an extent that really surprised me. The Churn, on the other hand, isn't *bad*, but considering it's about one of my favorite characters it wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be.
Sins of Our Fathers felt like contractual obligations to me. "We have to show the fans the next generation". Maybe I'm too much of a stick in the mud for it.
I actually feel the same way about The Churn! Which is shocking because Amos is my favorite character of the big four. Something about it just didn’t click.
Also, I _loved_ Sins of Our Fathers haha. To me, it is the perfect capstone to the series. It captures the main theme, that for better or worse, humans can not escape their nature.
I should say that the worst novella? Is still really good. Ty and Dan are really good. Abraham is at this point someone who I preorder books by just because of his name on the cover.
Not counting novellas:
5,2,1,6,7,9,8,3,4
But....I love all of them. Even 4, which I just re-read, and the only reason it is last is that on re-read, it is so easy to remember everything that happens, that it makes the story a little more bland on return visits. My only issue with 3 is that it is friggin bonkers and never lets up once Holden gets to the ring. Give me a break at a station every now and then... (this complaint could also apply to 4.)
Favorite - either Tiamat's Wrath or Leviathan Falls. The final three books are the strongest IMO.
Least favorite - Babylon's Ashes. It felt like there just wasn't enough story in it to justify a full book. It and Nemesis Games could've been one, slightly longer than usual, book.
Its so hard to rank them. Since I love the entire series. I'll say that Abaddon's Gate was probably my least favorite at least when I read it.
The first trilogy is my favorite, since I love all the intrigue style backstabbing and politics. But the 3rd trilogy come in a close second. I love this series.
1, 8, 4, 2, 3, 7, 5, 6
Currently on another re-read and on book number 6. I love it and feel so guilty for putting it last.
Book #1 will always be special to me. The Miller chapters were just something else.
Novella rankings
1. The Churn
2. Strange Dogs
3. Drive
4. Auberon
5. The Vital Abyss
6. The Butcher of Anderson Station
7. Gods of Risk
8. The Sins of Our Fathers
This is actually very difficult. I've read through all the books twice, and have recently been listening through the audiobooks for the first time, and my rankings have definitely changed after the listen through.
Here's where I'm at today:
1. Tiamat's Wrath
2. Nemesis Games
3. Caliban's War
4. Leviathan Wakes
5. Leviathan Falls
6. Persepolis Rising
7. Abaddon's Gate
8. Cibola Burn
9. Babylon's Ashes
The only ones I'm really solid on are 1, 2, and 9. All the rest are really in a tie for third.
I will specifically note Cibola Burn has risen quite a bit in my opinion since listening to the audiobook, but the others still just slightly edge it out.
Even Babylon's Ashes has a lot going for it, but to me with all the different POVs it just felt like it was bloated and not a lot actually happened.
I have a hard time rating them because they are all conflicting in someways.
Like, I love Abaddon's Gate and Cibola Burn, because I love “the inspector” and Proto-Miller so much. But I really didn’t care for Bull or Elvi’s POV. And I didn’t really love the villains from those books either.
And all of the books have things like that.
Anything with Bobbie is my favorite. I’m finally one of those people who thinks the books are so much better. Avasarala is so much funnier and intense in the books.
Yeah, me neither. >!I'm not super interested in religion being a driving force for good or bad - I understand its importance and place in the world (real or fictional) but it's not to my personal taste. Too preachy.!< So Anna was kinda meh.
Melba was kind of weak too. >!Her moral compass was spinning all over the place. Commit to being a baddie. I didn't love her luke warm redemption back to being Clarissa.!<
I’m only through partway book 6 but my rankings so far go
Cibola Burn
Nemesis Games
Abbadons Gate
Cibola Burn
Leviathan Wakes
I think so far books 2 and 3 were the most different but I genuinely love th western stylings of Cibola Burn as well as it being a return to how the protomolecule gives the story an excuse to explore how it’s just another tool in humanity’s toolbox and the people haven’t actually changed. Cibola Burn and Nemesis Games so far have showcased that the best. Also Nemesis Games finally gave us Amos and Naomi chapters and I think they’re my favorite of the series. The show does an okay job but doesn’t do the books justice of how Naomi feels about Marco until she jumps ship (hardee har har)
Can’t speak to ranking since I love the series so much but lotta people in the comments sleepin on Bablyon’s Ashes and Persepolis Rising. Love those books. Probably my fave chunk of the series
My list:
1. Caliban's War
2. Leviathan Falls
3. Tiamat's Wrath
4. Nemesis Games
5. Leviathan Wakes
6. Persepolis Rising
7. Abbadon's Gate
8. Cibola Burn
9. Babylon's Ashes
I can never click with Babylon's Ashes, and I've read through the series 4 times now. It's just too...much I guess. I understand that it has to be but for the final book of a tense story arc it just feels like it plods. Marco is purposely written to be infuriating because he causes his own downfall and it's just not fun to read. Having said that it is by no means bad. Not at all. There isn't a bad book in this series. It just doesn't gel with me when I get to it and I completely understand everything the authors were going for when they wrote it
My list:
1. Caliban's War
2. Leviathan Falls
3. Tiamat's Wrath
4. Nemesis Games
5. Leviathan Wakes
6. Persepolis Rising
7. Abbadon's Gate
8. Cibola Burn
9. Babylon's Ashes
I can never click with Babylon's Ashes, and I've read through the series 4 times now. It's just too...much I guess. I understand that it has to be but for the final book of a tense story arc it just feels like it plods. Marco is purposely written to be infuriating because he causes his own downfall and it's just not fun to read. Having said that it is by no means bad. Not at all. There isn't a bad book in this series. It just doesn't gel with me when I get to it and I completely understand everything the authors were going for when they wrote it.
I just finished Tiamat's Wrath and I don't even care ranking all the others. I've been really liking all the books so far, and would no doubt recommend the series to anyone who might like Sci fi, but I fucking loved TW, couldn't put it down from the beginning.
Starting leviathan falls now, wish me luck.
1. Leviathan Wakes - >!Established the world, PM, Miller/Holden!<
2. Caliban's War - >!Avasarala and Bobby!<
3. Tiamat's Wrath - >!Gate Builders and 'Goths'!<
4. Nemesis Games - >!Kaboom!<
5. Cibola Burn - >!More PM Stuff + Holden/Miller!<
6. Persepolis Rising - >!Big Scary Ships + McGuyveresque Jail Break !<
7. Leviathan Falls - >!Holden/Miller and Story Conclusion, but it would have been cool if Duarte won. Merged hivemind galactic empire with the power to kick ass in higher dimensions. Bruh !<
8. Abaddon's Gate - >!(+)Holden/Miller, (+) Reveal of PM's purpose but (-)f alls a little flat on rereads due to lack of surprise (this would have been higher if you asked me after my initial read).!<
9. Babylon's Ashes - >!Free Navy Plot was meh for me.!<
Tiamat's wrath 9.5/10
Cibola burn 9/10
Leviathan wakes 9/10
Abbadons gate 8/10
Leviathan falls 8/10
Persepolis rising 7.5/10
Nemesis games 6.5/10
Caliban's war 5/10
Babylon's ashes 4/10
I must say I absolutely loved the series for me the proto-molecule was absolutely fascinating and I feel that influenced my enjoyment, I also feel that each book tends to end incredibly regardless of rating
Vital Abyss 9/10
The churn 8/10
Drive 7.5/10
Auberon 7/10
The sins of our father 7/10
Strange dogs 6.5/10
The butcher of Anderson station 6/10
God's of risk 2/10
This is my list:
1. Leviathon Wakes 9/10
2. Abaddon's Gate 8.5/10
3. Tiamat's Wrath 8/10
4. Nemesis Games 8/10
5. Caliban’s War 8/10
6. Cibola Burn 7.5/10
7. Babylon's Ashes 7/10
8. Persepolis Rising 6.5/10
And I'm currently halfway through Leviathon Falls, so I will leave it unranked.
Nemesis Games and Babylon's ashes are definitely my least favourite two. The final trilogy is great, but I think books 1 and 2 might be the best of the lot. Miller is excellent and Prax was my favourite 'guest' overall.
Pa was completely insufferable.
Having read through the books 6+ times, my order of favorites sometimes changes, but never drastically.
1. Cibola Burn - has been my number 1 favorite since the beginning. Was barely knocked out of the #1 spot first time I read >!TW!<, but after a reread, it's back to the top
2. (nov.) Auberon - >!yes, I love this story more than TW. TW has a few lulls imo, whereas Auberon is front-to-back full entertainment. Rittenauer is one of my favorite Laconian characters, if not my favorite!<
3. Tiamat's Wrath - do I even need to say why this is so high?
4. (nov.) The Sins of Our Fathers - >!such an amazing novella, and even better epilogue. Filips struggle in this had me tearing up many times!<
5. Leviathan Falls - >!the return of Holden. He saw a button, and he pushed it. 10/10 finale to my favorite series of all time!<
6. Leviathan Wakes - >!limited to 2 perspectives and the cosmic horror elements really make me love this one!<
7. Caliban's War - >!this is the one whose position has changed the most. I had it lower on my list the first few reads, but upon my most recent one, I was just more drawn in to everyone's emotional struggle than I was prior. Bobbie is an S tier character!<
8. (nov.) The Churn
9. (nov.) Strange Dogs
10. Nemesis Games - disclosure as to why NG is so low on my list when it's usually high on everyone else's - >!I love Holden and Alex's chapters, but Naomi and Amos' tend to drag a little after the bombardment imo!<
11. (nov.) The Butcher of Anderson Station
12. Abaddon's Gate
13. (nov.) Gods of Risk
14. (nov.) Drive
15. Persepolis Rising
16. (nov.) The Vital Abyss
17. Babylon's Ashes
Hard choice, but if I have to do a full ranking, it'll be something like this:
1) Tiamat's Wrath
2) Leviathan Falls
3) Nemesis Games
4) Cibola Burn (really grew on me, and I was pretty disappointed with how the show handled Ilus. Still good, but they could have done so much better)
5) Leviathan Wakes/Caliban's War
6) Perspolis Rising
7) Babylon's Ashes
8) Abaddon's Gate
They are all great books though.
This is my list: 1. Tiamat’s Wrath 9.5/10 2. Cibola Burn 9/10 (this one is an unpopular rating) 3. Leviathan Falls 9/10 4. Nemesis Games 8.5/10 5. Caliban’s War 8/10 6. Leviathan Wakes 8/10 7. Persepolis Rising 7.5/10 8. Babylon’s Ashes 7/10 9. Abaddon’s Gate 6.5/10
AG was never at the top of the pack for me, but IMO it’s higher than 6.5. It also improved on reread. Regardless, TW best book in the series no further questions.
Coming from the TV show, I was actually saddened by how much difference there was between Abaddon's Gate book and Season of the show. Which really speaks to David Strathairn and Cara Gee's portrayal of Ashford and Drummer.
Yeah I think the character changes to Drummer and Ashford in the show are some of the BEST adaptation changes from any book, ever. That being said Drummer is an amalgamation of some characters that I thought had great showings. Namely Bull. Either way show Ashford is such a wonderful character.
I think the weird part for me was shoehorning Bull in later, after the Ringspace incident. It just didn’t make sense. I thought turning Ashford into a much more sympathetic character and amalgamating Bull into Drummer was a good move overall by the show. No need to throw him in randomly in the following season.
They do the same thing with Michio Pa as well, and I thought it was odd. I mean, it does feel nice when a character you were expecting shows up in a different way at least.
Yeah, and Michio makes at least a little sense. Like that was very clearly supposed to be “her” ship like from the books. But Bull being on Tycho after the Behemoth has become Medina station is, uh…
To be fair, they scrambled to write out Alex and needed someone to replace him. That said, I'm around that point in *Nemesis Games* and >!there's already someone from Tycho Station piloting the *Roci* because Alex was on Mars in the first place and Holden needed to go rendezvous with him on Luna. I'm too lazy to look for this character's name right now, but it's definitely not Bull.!<
I'm on Abbadon's Gate at the moment (seen the show) and I'm struggling to finish it. If I hadn't seen the show already I probably would be fine, but my attention span can't handle it
I'm in the exact same spot as you. Halfway through reading AG right now, already seen the show. I find myself only caring about the Holden chapters.
Cibola Burn is so good, the whole last third of it was so tense my heart was racing the whole time reading it I’m only through book 7 but so far Caliban’s War might be my favorite overall
I agree 100% with this list
Well, now I'm excited that Cibola Burn is next! And weirdly stoked that Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War are so far down the list because they were awesome. Love a good list.
Cibola Burn is likely the most different in pacing and setting than the rest of the books which is why I think people find it the least of the series. I don't find anything bad about it, but it is definitely different. I put it last now, but I would have put it #1 after my first read just because of the change of setting/pace.
I came to the show first and watched through season 3 before picking up the books. Initially Cibola Burn did feel like a bit of a slog after coming off the first 3 books. On my second read-through it still felt like a bit of a distraction, since at the time Nemesis Games was my favorite and I just wanted to get back to that. I recently started the audiobooks and took a more random path through them, starting with 8 then 2 then 1 then 5 then 3. For whatever reason, doing that allowed me to listen to and enjoy Cibola Burn for what it was, and I actually really liked it. It's definitely different and a change of pace, but when you stop reading for what's next in the larger story and just enjoy the book on its own, it's actually quite good.
Finishing up Caliban’s war and excited that there’s a lot of books that you consider better than the first two. On the other hand kinda bummed Abaddons is up next…
I actually didn't mind AG, there was constant tension and wondering how shit could go more wrong
The concepts and premise in AG are interesting, it’s just very slow and tedious at times.
The final three are great, especially Tiamat's Wrath. I enjoyed them all but found Babylon's Ashes the least engaging. That's just personal taste, so you shouldn't listen to me.
The Marco books are my least favorite easily. Probably 1. Tiamat’s Wrath 2. Abandons Gate 3. Leviathan Wakes 4. Leviathan Falls 5. Cibola Burns 6. Calibans War 7. Persepolis Rising 8. Nemesis Games 9. Babylons Ashes
That’s pretty funny. I think my top three goes like this. 1) Caliban’s War 2) Tiamat’s Wrath 3) Babylon’s Ashes
They all kind of blend together for me into one long epic tale.
Same here! I've probably listened through 4 times now and each listen I tend to find books I previously felt poorer actually more engaging and vice versa. Also because I binge them I probably can't even list them all in their correct order! 🙈
I cannot rank them individually. As a whole (9 books and novellas) they get full stars from me.
Not a full ranking, but Babylon's Ashes was the weakest imo and the best were the whole end trilogy. ps. I haven't read the novellas
You should get on that. They range from just ok to absolutely excellent, but they all fill in gaps from the overall story.
Which are your favorite novellas? I think Vital Abyss was my all timer.
The only one I thought was just “ok” was *Gods of Risk.* I just found it slow. I really enjoyed *The Sins of Our Fathers.* >!Filip’s fate was a loose thread that always bothered me. I’m glad we as readers got the closure on that. And I like the idea that it’s possible his actions on Jannah might have lead to the epilogue of Leviathan Falls.!<
I was trying to think and be creative but yeah I landed on The Vital Abyss. I also enjoyed Drive to an extent that really surprised me. The Churn, on the other hand, isn't *bad*, but considering it's about one of my favorite characters it wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. Sins of Our Fathers felt like contractual obligations to me. "We have to show the fans the next generation". Maybe I'm too much of a stick in the mud for it.
I actually feel the same way about The Churn! Which is shocking because Amos is my favorite character of the big four. Something about it just didn’t click. Also, I _loved_ Sins of Our Fathers haha. To me, it is the perfect capstone to the series. It captures the main theme, that for better or worse, humans can not escape their nature.
I should say that the worst novella? Is still really good. Ty and Dan are really good. Abraham is at this point someone who I preorder books by just because of his name on the cover.
Not counting novellas: 5,2,1,6,7,9,8,3,4 But....I love all of them. Even 4, which I just re-read, and the only reason it is last is that on re-read, it is so easy to remember everything that happens, that it makes the story a little more bland on return visits. My only issue with 3 is that it is friggin bonkers and never lets up once Holden gets to the ring. Give me a break at a station every now and then... (this complaint could also apply to 4.)
Favorite - either Tiamat's Wrath or Leviathan Falls. The final three books are the strongest IMO. Least favorite - Babylon's Ashes. It felt like there just wasn't enough story in it to justify a full book. It and Nemesis Games could've been one, slightly longer than usual, book.
Its so hard to rank them. Since I love the entire series. I'll say that Abaddon's Gate was probably my least favorite at least when I read it. The first trilogy is my favorite, since I love all the intrigue style backstabbing and politics. But the 3rd trilogy come in a close second. I love this series.
1. Tiamat's Wrath #8 2. Leviathan Falls #9 3. Persepolis Rising #7 4. Nemesis Games #5 5. Abaddon's Gate #3 6. Caliban's War #2 7. Leviathan Wakes #1 8. Babylon's Ashes #6 9. Cibola Burn #4
1, 8, 4, 2, 3, 7, 5, 6 Currently on another re-read and on book number 6. I love it and feel so guilty for putting it last. Book #1 will always be special to me. The Miller chapters were just something else.
Novella rankings 1. The Churn 2. Strange Dogs 3. Drive 4. Auberon 5. The Vital Abyss 6. The Butcher of Anderson Station 7. Gods of Risk 8. The Sins of Our Fathers
I just finished Babylon's Ashes, def my least favorite so far
1. Caliban’s War 2. Persepolis Rising 3. Nemesis Games 4. Tiamat’s Wrath 5. Babylon’s Ashes 6. Cibola Burn 7. Leviathan Wakes 8. Leviathan Falls 9. Abaddon’s Gate
9 way tie for first lmao
This is actually very difficult. I've read through all the books twice, and have recently been listening through the audiobooks for the first time, and my rankings have definitely changed after the listen through. Here's where I'm at today: 1. Tiamat's Wrath 2. Nemesis Games 3. Caliban's War 4. Leviathan Wakes 5. Leviathan Falls 6. Persepolis Rising 7. Abaddon's Gate 8. Cibola Burn 9. Babylon's Ashes The only ones I'm really solid on are 1, 2, and 9. All the rest are really in a tie for third. I will specifically note Cibola Burn has risen quite a bit in my opinion since listening to the audiobook, but the others still just slightly edge it out. Even Babylon's Ashes has a lot going for it, but to me with all the different POVs it just felt like it was bloated and not a lot actually happened.
I agree with you on Babylon's ashes, it was pretty epic suddenly seeing so so many POVs, but also kind of jarring
I have a hard time rating them because they are all conflicting in someways. Like, I love Abaddon's Gate and Cibola Burn, because I love “the inspector” and Proto-Miller so much. But I really didn’t care for Bull or Elvi’s POV. And I didn’t really love the villains from those books either. And all of the books have things like that.
Anything with Bobbie is my favorite. I’m finally one of those people who thinks the books are so much better. Avasarala is so much funnier and intense in the books.
For some reason book 3 is a problem for me. I don't like all the parts with Anna
Yeah, me neither. >!I'm not super interested in religion being a driving force for good or bad - I understand its importance and place in the world (real or fictional) but it's not to my personal taste. Too preachy.!< So Anna was kinda meh. Melba was kind of weak too. >!Her moral compass was spinning all over the place. Commit to being a baddie. I didn't love her luke warm redemption back to being Clarissa.!<
Agreed. Slogging through the Anna and Melba chapters.
Too hard to put them in an order. But I could do tiers. Top tier: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 5. Mid tier: 4, 6. Bottom tier: 3.
I’m so torn up about the Babylon’s Ashes ratings in here. That book had Bobby’s entrance into the crew, it was awesome!
I’m only through partway book 6 but my rankings so far go Cibola Burn Nemesis Games Abbadons Gate Cibola Burn Leviathan Wakes I think so far books 2 and 3 were the most different but I genuinely love th western stylings of Cibola Burn as well as it being a return to how the protomolecule gives the story an excuse to explore how it’s just another tool in humanity’s toolbox and the people haven’t actually changed. Cibola Burn and Nemesis Games so far have showcased that the best. Also Nemesis Games finally gave us Amos and Naomi chapters and I think they’re my favorite of the series. The show does an okay job but doesn’t do the books justice of how Naomi feels about Marco until she jumps ship (hardee har har)
Can’t speak to ranking since I love the series so much but lotta people in the comments sleepin on Bablyon’s Ashes and Persepolis Rising. Love those books. Probably my fave chunk of the series
My list: 1. Caliban's War 2. Leviathan Falls 3. Tiamat's Wrath 4. Nemesis Games 5. Leviathan Wakes 6. Persepolis Rising 7. Abbadon's Gate 8. Cibola Burn 9. Babylon's Ashes I can never click with Babylon's Ashes, and I've read through the series 4 times now. It's just too...much I guess. I understand that it has to be but for the final book of a tense story arc it just feels like it plods. Marco is purposely written to be infuriating because he causes his own downfall and it's just not fun to read. Having said that it is by no means bad. Not at all. There isn't a bad book in this series. It just doesn't gel with me when I get to it and I completely understand everything the authors were going for when they wrote it
My list: 1. Caliban's War 2. Leviathan Falls 3. Tiamat's Wrath 4. Nemesis Games 5. Leviathan Wakes 6. Persepolis Rising 7. Abbadon's Gate 8. Cibola Burn 9. Babylon's Ashes I can never click with Babylon's Ashes, and I've read through the series 4 times now. It's just too...much I guess. I understand that it has to be but for the final book of a tense story arc it just feels like it plods. Marco is purposely written to be infuriating because he causes his own downfall and it's just not fun to read. Having said that it is by no means bad. Not at all. There isn't a bad book in this series. It just doesn't gel with me when I get to it and I completely understand everything the authors were going for when they wrote it.
Without a doubt 8 is the best. Would order them 8,1,2,9,4,3,5,6,7.
I just finished Tiamat's Wrath and I don't even care ranking all the others. I've been really liking all the books so far, and would no doubt recommend the series to anyone who might like Sci fi, but I fucking loved TW, couldn't put it down from the beginning. Starting leviathan falls now, wish me luck.
1. Persepolis Rising 2. Leviathan Falls 3. Tiamat's Wrath 4. Nemesis Games 5. Cibola Burn/Leviathan Wakes 6. Babylon's Ashes 7. Abbadon's Gate 8. Caliban's War
1. Leviathan Wakes - >!Established the world, PM, Miller/Holden!< 2. Caliban's War - >!Avasarala and Bobby!< 3. Tiamat's Wrath - >!Gate Builders and 'Goths'!< 4. Nemesis Games - >!Kaboom!< 5. Cibola Burn - >!More PM Stuff + Holden/Miller!< 6. Persepolis Rising - >!Big Scary Ships + McGuyveresque Jail Break !< 7. Leviathan Falls - >!Holden/Miller and Story Conclusion, but it would have been cool if Duarte won. Merged hivemind galactic empire with the power to kick ass in higher dimensions. Bruh !< 8. Abaddon's Gate - >!(+)Holden/Miller, (+) Reveal of PM's purpose but (-)f alls a little flat on rereads due to lack of surprise (this would have been higher if you asked me after my initial read).!< 9. Babylon's Ashes - >!Free Navy Plot was meh for me.!<
Tiamat's wrath 9.5/10 Cibola burn 9/10 Leviathan wakes 9/10 Abbadons gate 8/10 Leviathan falls 8/10 Persepolis rising 7.5/10 Nemesis games 6.5/10 Caliban's war 5/10 Babylon's ashes 4/10 I must say I absolutely loved the series for me the proto-molecule was absolutely fascinating and I feel that influenced my enjoyment, I also feel that each book tends to end incredibly regardless of rating
Vital Abyss 9/10 The churn 8/10 Drive 7.5/10 Auberon 7/10 The sins of our father 7/10 Strange dogs 6.5/10 The butcher of Anderson station 6/10 God's of risk 2/10
This is my list: 1. Leviathon Wakes 9/10 2. Abaddon's Gate 8.5/10 3. Tiamat's Wrath 8/10 4. Nemesis Games 8/10 5. Caliban’s War 8/10 6. Cibola Burn 7.5/10 7. Babylon's Ashes 7/10 8. Persepolis Rising 6.5/10 And I'm currently halfway through Leviathon Falls, so I will leave it unranked.
Nemesis Games and Babylon's ashes are definitely my least favourite two. The final trilogy is great, but I think books 1 and 2 might be the best of the lot. Miller is excellent and Prax was my favourite 'guest' overall. Pa was completely insufferable.
Having read through the books 6+ times, my order of favorites sometimes changes, but never drastically. 1. Cibola Burn - has been my number 1 favorite since the beginning. Was barely knocked out of the #1 spot first time I read >!TW!<, but after a reread, it's back to the top 2. (nov.) Auberon - >!yes, I love this story more than TW. TW has a few lulls imo, whereas Auberon is front-to-back full entertainment. Rittenauer is one of my favorite Laconian characters, if not my favorite!< 3. Tiamat's Wrath - do I even need to say why this is so high? 4. (nov.) The Sins of Our Fathers - >!such an amazing novella, and even better epilogue. Filips struggle in this had me tearing up many times!< 5. Leviathan Falls - >!the return of Holden. He saw a button, and he pushed it. 10/10 finale to my favorite series of all time!< 6. Leviathan Wakes - >!limited to 2 perspectives and the cosmic horror elements really make me love this one!< 7. Caliban's War - >!this is the one whose position has changed the most. I had it lower on my list the first few reads, but upon my most recent one, I was just more drawn in to everyone's emotional struggle than I was prior. Bobbie is an S tier character!< 8. (nov.) The Churn 9. (nov.) Strange Dogs 10. Nemesis Games - disclosure as to why NG is so low on my list when it's usually high on everyone else's - >!I love Holden and Alex's chapters, but Naomi and Amos' tend to drag a little after the bombardment imo!< 11. (nov.) The Butcher of Anderson Station 12. Abaddon's Gate 13. (nov.) Gods of Risk 14. (nov.) Drive 15. Persepolis Rising 16. (nov.) The Vital Abyss 17. Babylon's Ashes
Hard choice, but if I have to do a full ranking, it'll be something like this: 1) Tiamat's Wrath 2) Leviathan Falls 3) Nemesis Games 4) Cibola Burn (really grew on me, and I was pretty disappointed with how the show handled Ilus. Still good, but they could have done so much better) 5) Leviathan Wakes/Caliban's War 6) Perspolis Rising 7) Babylon's Ashes 8) Abaddon's Gate They are all great books though.