It was my understanding that Babylon’s Ashes was going to be the final book in The Expanse series. Six is, after all, a double trilogy and a nice, round, even number at which to call it. And knowing when to end a series? That’s one of the things that makes a good writer and a good publisher. Best to do it with a tight bang rather than a gradual decline (or a sharp tanking). The Expanse, while in no danger of the slow burn or flame out what with generation ships, ring gates, and all of space and humanity to explore was, as far as most of us knew, planning to leave us wanting more. I saw the strategy and respected it but I have to admit to being a bit bummed there’d be no more.
So, imagine my joy when, upon logging into my Facebook feed this morning, I saw some good news: Orbit had dropped the cover for book 7, Persepolis Rising, which I had no idea was going to exist.
Daniel Abraham, one half of the “James S.A. Corey” duo (along with Ty Franck) apparently Tweeted about starting the first draft back in September but I missed it and so did many of the other Expanse fans I know. So, from me and some other very excited geeks, well played, Orbit. We’ll be waiting. Don’t leave us hanging in the void for too long.
According to Wikipedia there are 9 planned novels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expanse_(novel_series)
When they announced BABYLON’S ASHES, they had said it was the last one (I verified that with a couple fellow readers). I’m ecstatic they’re going to nine!
Not sure who those fellow readers are, but they’ve been talking about 9 books for several years now.
Books 7-9 were announced by Orbit back in June 2014 when Cibola Burn was released.