[Book 5 Partial Spoilers] Nemisis Games is SO fucking good so far.
I've just finished the Holden chapter where we find out the insurgents/ultra-OPA have just stolen Fred's safe that was holding the protomolecule.
I just have to say how much I'm loving this book so far. I really didn't enjoy Abbadon's Gate and, although Cibola Burn was better, it felt like it could have been about a 1/3 shorter than it actually was. Like it was nice having a more self contained story that had a unique setting compared to the other books, but I felt like some of the Elvi/Basia chapters could have been cut or condensed. I almost didn't start Nemesis Games because I was a bit burnt out but my god I'm glad I did.
Not only do we get POV chapters from the whole team, but every single plot (so far) is really interesting and tense. Like I'm annoyed every time a chapter ends because I want to find out what happens next but then immediately hooked on the next one.
I also want to take a moment to appreciate how far the quality of the writing has come along. With the first three books the world building and plot were great but the prose was a little bit lacking. It improved quite a lot in Cibola Burn and I've noticed another level up in Nemisis Games. Particuarly the Naomi chapters are hitting really hard.
My only real complaint was going to be that, although we spent a lot of time with the protomolecule in Cibola Burn and learnt a bit about it, it didn't feel like what we learned had much of an impact on the wider story coming into Nemesis Games however having just learnt that this faction has stolen it... well, I'm pretty excited to see where this goes.
Out of interest, where would you guys rank Nemesis Games compared to all the books in the series, or at least the ones you've read so far?