Krazykiwi @ Kiwitopia

Audiobook narrated by Jefferson Mays

Plot summary: James Holden is the young XO of bottom of the barrel water hauler working the asteroid belt when his ship inadvertently springs a trap and is destroyed, leaving Holden and four crewmembers stranded on a shuttle, and no idea who did it or why. Josephus Miller is a worn out cop on Ceres Station, tasked with a "favour for a shareholder" case meant to keep him busy and out of the way, that turns out to be much, much bigger than that. And eventually the two cases turn out to be just one, throwing the two of them into a spiral of events that put them centre of a solar system wide conspiracy that could be the end of humanity itself.

I've read this before and liked it pretty well, but listening to the audiobook was quite a different experience. First time around, Holden came off to me as unlikeable, self-righteous and arrogant, and Miller was my hero - in love with a girl he'd never met, but had come to know while researching and tracking her all across space. Listening to the audiobook I had almost the opposite reaction. Holden is in way over his head, and while he's still self-righteous and a bit arrogant, he seemed much more likeable, and I got more of a sense of a guy just trying to keep his crew alive and do his best. A lot of his more stupid actions (like you know, starting an interplanetary war by accident) make much more sense seen through that lens. Holden believes in people, and humanity, and thinks everyone will eventually do the right thing - he's an idealist.

Meanwhile Miller is clearly increasingly unhinged, but still much better at seeing the big picture and much more of a cynic, not willing to believe humanity will do the right thing without some incentive, which might be by necessity a gun to the head. Yet he's still the hero in the end, the one who finally figures out how all the puzzle pieces and puts himself on the line to try to save a species (his own) that he's long since given up hope on, when even Holden the idealist isn't willing to sacrifice himself.

On the TV Show, which inspired me to re-read (or listen) to the book: It's very well done. It changes the plot substantially, and covers only the first half of this book in season one, but it's well worth sticking with. I love the use of the belters patois (also done very well in the audiobook), and the whole class/power dynamic is great. The show is a little more brutal than the book actually is, so if that put you off, the book might work better.

Overall, having read/listened to both, I can highly recommend the audiobook.