Part of The Expanse, book 2
First published 2012
On Ganymede, humanity's agricultural hub, Martian marine sergeant Bobbie Draper witnesses a supernatural monster tear through her entire platoon. The attack pushes Earth and Mars toward interplanetary war while an alien protomolecule transforms Venus, threatening to consume the solar system. James Holden and his Rocinante crew work to preserve the fragile peace between worlds. When they join a scientist's desperate search for his missing daughter on battle-scarred Ganymede, Holden discovers the crisis runs deeper than political tensions. The protomolecule has evolved, creating weapons that could end human civilization. As Earth politicians scramble to prevent total war and the alien threat spreads beyond Venus, one ship's crew races against time to stop an invasion that may have already begun. The fate of humanity depends on whether they can uncover the truth behind the monsters before the solar system tears itself apart.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, action, aliens
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, high-stakes
Setting: Ganymede, Venus
Period: future
624 pages · Paperback · Orbit/Little, Brown Book Group
Content warnings: violence