Reviews

The Vital Abyss by James S.A. Corey

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snhendo's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No

4.0

drycleanonly's review

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

ingo_lembcke's review against another edition

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4.0

Bought it a little cheaper not at Amazon, but some other ebook seller (as long as it still sells).
Still more expensive in comparison to other novellas from the Expanse-series.
Reason may be, it is one of the puzzle-pieces, which, while not necessary to understand the big picture, is a worthwhile addition, as is the other required reading: The Butcher of Anderson station.
The Vital Abyss is about one of the scientists who work on the Protomolecule.
This is a rather interesting for background, and can be read after Abbadon's Gate (Expanse #03) or Cibola Burn (Expanse #04).
Goodreads lists it as Expanse #05.5, to be read after Nemesis Games (Expanse #05), which I currently just start and I do not see it. Some of story is how the Scientist came to his job, some is flashback, while the Now in the story is after the discovery of the Gate, placing it somewhere before Abbadon's Gate or during it.

Highly recommended backstory to the main story-lines. Short read, and for that it was even the cheaper EPUB I bought too expensive, imho. And like some other novellas, seems longer, as 15-20% of the pages are filled with the beginning of another book - which in this case is more a "you might also like"-read, not something of the Expanse.