Tiamat’s Wrath is the eighth book in The Expanse series, following Persepolis Rising . Leading up to this point breakaway Martians fled through the recently opened Ring Gates to a planetary system called Laconia.  They chose it because it had a bunch of usable alien technology, unique in the expanded universe.  After working quietly for several decades they advanced into our solar system with overwhelming military force.  Our main characters are trying to resist in a world where any direct military engagement will be a defeat.  I make analogies to how the Native Americans must have felt with the arrive of Christians.  How do you fight against a society whose obsession with weapons makes them overwhelming?

In Tiamat’s Wrath our fractured group of heroes tries to continue on, carving out a space of “not defeat”.  They do find ways to push back, by playing a different game than confrontation.  No spoilers though.  The Laconians are very efficient at R&D and manufacturing, but they have created a society dictated by one man.  And like such societies, people live in fear of acting in any way inconsistent with the leader.  This leads to some opportunities to change the playing field.

But the best part is we once again have some weird alien stuff.  The early books focused around discovery of the ProtoMolecule which changes people into other things and seemed to communicate with itself.  Here we encounter something different.  Something that seems to be fighting against travel through the gates.  Nearly every story in human history revolves around one group treating another group badly.  But here we have solid Sci-Fi with things outside our normal understanding.  I very much enjoyed this book and feel The Expanse series is once again on a strong footing.