The Churn: An Expanse Novella (Expanse, #3.5)

by James S. A. Corey

The Churn is a novella that expands the world of James S. A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series - now a Prime Original TV series.

Before his trip to the stars, before the Rocinante, Amos Burton was confined to a Baltimore where crime paid you or killed you. Unless the authorities got to you first.

The Expanse series:
Leviathan Wakes
Caliban's War
Abaddon's Gate
Cibola Burn
Nemesis Games
Babylon's Ashes
Persepolis Rising
Tiamat's Wrath

Praise for the Expanse:

'The science fictional equivalent of A Song of Ice and Fire' NPR Books

'As close as you'll get to a Hollywood blockbuster in book form' io9.com

'Great characters, excellent dialogue, memorable fights' wired.com

'High adventure equalling the best space opera has to offer, cutting-edge technology and a group of unforgettable characters . . . Perhaps one of the best tales the genre has yet to produce' Library Journal

'This is the future the way it's supposed to be' Wall Street Journal

'Tense and thrilling' SciFiNow

• ISBN10: 0316217662
• ISBN13: 9780316217668
• Publish Date: 29 April 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 75
• Language: English

Reviews

[clq]

The Churn (a short novella set in the Expanse universe) is the kind of story where you won't realise why you like the start until you've read the end, and where the story as a whole really ends up being more than the sum of its parts.

A good chunk of this story is spent establishing the very dark and very gritty nature of the environment, the people, and the events that take place. It does this beyond the point of trying too hard, back around to the point at which it's just feels very thoroughly and well done. The downside of this is that, in a story consisting of 77 pages, there isn't that much space left for much to actually happen. This felt annoying at the time, but as it turns out, the actual plot of this novella is pretty much an excuse for presenting the surroundings. That's as much as I feel can be said without spoiling anything, but, suffice to say, I'm satisfied with how this story ended up.

Of all the Expanse novellas I've read so far in going through the books and novellas in published order, I'd say that The Churn is the most important one. The other short stories have been fun additions to the universe, but this one is pretty much be required reading for anyone who has read to, or beyond, Abaddon's Gate.

[adastra]

Very nice backstory of one of the Rocinante's core characters, but I had a bit of a hard time getting into it (maybe because my mind was already set for book 4?). The end was pretty cool though.

[remo]

Novela corta que narra los orígenes de Amos Burton, el mecánido de a bordo del Rocinante, en la saga The Expanse, a la que ya estoy irremediablemente enganchado. Amos nace y se cría en el Baltimore del S. XXIII (tal vez XXII), que tanto se parece al de nuestros días en cuanto a la degeneración humana y a la economía sumergida. The Churn es "la redada", en la que las vidas de los protagonistas cambian para siempre y Amos se convierte en quien es en la saga principal. Un relato muy interesante, para leer cuando uno ya cree que conoce a Amos, y que explica su viaje a la tierra en el tomo 5 de la saga. Recomendable.