Nemesis Games is the fifth in The Expanse series of books, following Cibola Burn.  In a trilogy the second book is usually a bit of filler, between the first where an idea was born, and the third were something serious is at stake.  Nemesis Games is kind of that book.  Sure, a lot of things happen.  A lot of bad things.  But the story basically follows the form: “the band separates, everything goes to heck, everyone struggles to get back together, everyone does”.

The one Sci-Fi concept the book grapples with is the effect of opening Ring Gates (portals to thousands of other planets) on Belters, the people who made a living on Jovian moons and large asteroids.  Generations living in fractions of earths gravity.  Humans who could physically not survive long term exposure to 1.0 G.  While Belters considered themselves exploited, they worked extracting resources for Mars and Earth.  With the opening of the Ring Gates there were thousands of planets more suitable to humans than Mars, less crowded than Earth.  Everyone wants to move to the new worlds.  Support for terraforming Mars drops as there are ready-to-go planets available.  The Belters perceived themselves as going obsolete, perhaps justifiably.

This attitude allowed our Nemesis, Marco Inaros, to form a radical wing of the Outer Planets Alliance (the Belter independence movement).  They launch a devastating series of attacks against Earth, Mars, and even OPA facilities, declaring themselves the Free Navy, ruler of humanity.  Our heroes rightly consider him a madman.  Eventually they start to think that too many things have gone the right way for Marco for him to be the driving force.

This book catches me up to the latest season of the TV show.  Definitely starting to see more variation.  Fewer significant characters die in the book.  [One of the TV actors got into legal trouble and their character was killed off].  The TV show sets up who might be manipulating Marco much easier, while the book just has a confusing Epilogue that introduces a bunch of new characters.  But it does tease the idea that the material that constructed the Ring Gates was just part of a larger pallet of tools developed by an ancient race.  I am definitely looking for some serious Expanse-style twists and turns in the next book.