Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey

Another great book, fourth in the Expanse series. The ring opened a portal to a thousand worlds, and the first world humans land on is called Illus. Or New Terra, depending on who you ask. The “squatters”, people who went to the planet to start a new civilization and RCE, a research corporation who got legal charter rights from the UN, whatever that means, are fighting for the land. When the landing pad explodes, taking the RCE landing shuttle with it, a spiral of escalation and death begins. Holden and his team on the Rocinante are asked to mediate, but on arrival are presented with a complicated situation, which is only getting worse.

It’s a good book, and it fits well into the series. I kind of missed the action scenes—they’re one of the best things about the espanse books, and this book was all about deescalation. Still, interesting dynamics at play and the multi-perspective storytelling continues to add variety to the story.