Listen free for 30 days

  • Babylon's Ashes

  • The Expanse, Book 6
  • Written by: James S. A. Corey
  • Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
  • Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,007 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Babylon's Ashes cover art

Babylon's Ashes

Written by: James S. A. Corey
Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $43.41

Buy Now for $43.41

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Hugo Award Winner for Best Series

The sixth book in the NYT best-selling Expanse series, Babylon's Ashes has the galaxy in full revolution, and it's up to the crew of the Rocinante to make a desperate mission to the gate network and thin hope of victory. Now a Prime Original series.

A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.

The Free Navy - a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships - has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets. The colony ships heading for the thousand new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them.

James Holden and his crew know the strengths and weaknesses of this new force better than anyone. Outnumbered and outgunned, the embattled remnants of the old political powers call on the Rocinante for a desperate mission to reach Medina Station at the heart of the gate network.

But the new alliances are as flawed as the old, and the struggle for power has only just begun.

Babylon's Ashes is a breakneck science fiction adventure following the best-selling Nemesis Games.

The Expanse

  • Leviathan Wakes
  • Caliban's War
  • Abaddon's Gate
  • Cibola Burn
  • Nemesis Games
  • Babylon's Ashes
  • Persepolis Rising
  • Tiamat's Wrath
  • ​Leviathan Falls
  • Memory's Legion

The Expanse Short Fiction

  • Drive
  • The Butcher of Anderson Station
  • Gods of Risk
  • The Churn
  • The Vital Abyss
  • Strange Dogs
  • Auberon
  • The Sins of Our Fathers
©2016 James S. A. Corey (P)2016 Hachette Audio

What listeners say about Babylon's Ashes

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    818
  • 4 Stars
    159
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    785
  • 4 Stars
    73
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    671
  • 4 Stars
    137
  • 3 Stars
    42
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • AJ
  • 2021-02-20

Top Shelf Audiobook Content

I've thoroughly enjoyed every installment in this epic saga, but this one and Nemesis Games together form quite the crescendo in the series.

You've really got to hand it to the narrator. Reading aloud scifi adventure books with dozens of distinct characters and packed with dialogue is no small feat, and Jefferson Mays handles dozens of hours of it like a real pro. Granted the writing style of the co-authors lends itself to the audiobook format, but Mr Mays elevates it like I think very few could.

But anybody's who's gotten this far already knows this, so I'm compelled to use this review section to touch on why I think these books/audiobooks are so much better than the TV adaptation (and don't get me wrong, the TV adaptation is fantastic and if it weren't for that fact I never would have discovered these books).

But the further into the book series I get, the less I appreciate the show by comparison.

Particularly in the more recent seasons I agree less and less with some of the creative liberties they take in regards to the source material. I understand the need to compress and streamline the storytelling, but it's a real shame when they cut out storylines and events from the book but add in conventional and tired streaming-service drama tropes that seem totally unnecessary. As so often seems to happen with streaming service shows the later seasons start to cut out some of the elements that make the source material unique and timeless and hamfist-in elements that are more typical and fashionable for that medium. I can't help but feel executives at corporate pressure the writers to smooth away some of the nuance and replace it with moralizing that's way more on-the-nose and black and white, particularly in regards to the nature of human politics and power dynamics.

Part of the reason the Expanse is so compelling and political is the mature and realistic approach the authors take to those themes, such that the reader/listener/audience can derive drastically different and even diametrically opposed messages and morals from the same stories based on their own outlook and experiences as individuals. It's subtle, but the show has more of a tendency to guide the audience towards particular conclusions on these themes, often snipping away elements that introduce nuance and doubt about what is "right" or "moral", and sometimes even adding in events or background that support the screenwriters' particular interpretations of the source material. To my mind, that's often the difference between timeless and realistic political storytelling (the good kind of political), and political pandering / propagandizing (the bad kind of political that is so common these days).

It's a fine line at times, and the writer's views are always going to be at least somewhat reflected in the material, but I think the coauthors of the books respect the audience's intelligence a little more than the show adaptation writers do. They aren't trying to bolster their own ideas on ethics and politics in the work as much as portray the complex realities of those themes as accurately and comprehensively as possible (while still being a very accessible and pop-culture friendly adventure story). I can't help but feel the show sometimes comes off like the screenwriters read the books, had a particular interpretation of the meaning behind some of the events, characters and decisions made by those characters, and then adjusted the stories slightly so that their interpretation has more weight and grounding in the story and background itself. I don't even know if it's intentional, but it's something that sure seems to happen a lot in screen adaptations.

One example of this (that was most egregious IMO) is the way the character and storyline of Anna Volovodov was changed - she went from being one of the most compelling and unique character perspectives to see the world of the Expanse through in the books to being a very typical, superficial and cookie-cutter character we've seen a million times before in a million other shows. It's as though they totally missed what that character's core principles, motivations, guiding philosophy and growth was all about- and I can't come up with a good reason for doing that. It would be one thing if they were sidelining her storyline to make room for focusing on something else, but that wasn't the case at all. In fact she ended up with more relative screentime than she did in the books. They took a unique and complex side character story, one that would be very unlike what we're used to seeing in pop culture, and put particular focus on her, but then made her dramatically more boring and typical... Why? I get that the Hollywood crowd isn't inclined towards religious perspectives, but then why make her storyline such a big part of the show if you don't want to grapple with the themes and ideas that were so important to the book version of the character? The way this is done to other characters is more minor and understandable, but with her it was almost insulting.

Given that the ideas and morals they end up focusing on and supporting are the same ones we see over and over again in pop culture, it does make the saga ever so slightly less realistic and often compromises suspension of disbelief (you can see the show writers' principles and perspectives seeping into the story, particularly if you've already read the original works). It ends up coming off like they're treating the audience like we're not smart enough, or righteous enough, to come to our own conclusions about the nature of humanity, power, government, war, leadership, sovereignty and culture in the context of this fictional galactic expanse (and the real world it draws inspiration from). It's not nearly as bad as many other shows and movies, but it's enough to make the show just a really solid genre series, while the books form an exceptional and timeless epic that transcends the genre IMO. Unfortunately I think this issue will only become more pronounced as the show continues, but it gives folks all the more reason to invest in the books I think.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Finnally over.

Audiobook version. narrator was good. story was a continuation of the book 5 story. Antagonist characters were really lame. I was just kinda waiting for Phillip to finnally die and then in the end the he doesnt and ia given a chance for redemption? Hahaah. That's so lame. What terrible characters. I wouldnt have finished this story in a hard copy book. Just did it because I heard the next book is a really good one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Post-Free Navy Chaos

If you're a fan of The Expanse TV series, this book takes some of what was gone over in the last season with the Free Navy and takes that a lot further. This is likely a lot of what would have happened had the series continued beyond season 6. I won't spoil anything obviously, but quite a bit happens in this, but also, I'm surprised it ended the way it did. Felt like it ended with a whimper rather than a bang, though it's obvious the future books will likely go beyond anything the show covered. There's also a few chapters discussing characters that were in previous books, but in this one, are really just treated as non-sequiters that I found a little bit odd. It was neat to see them come back up, but it felt like not much happened with them.

As usual though, I'm knocking a star off because of the infuriating way the authors write conversation. I've harped on this before and will continue to do so until they learn: You don't have to put "X said" after nearly every line of dialogue in a conversation. Other words exist that can express vocalization and with Jefferson Mays' typically excellent reading where he does give unique vocal traits to each of the major characters, it just isn't necessary to begin with. I don't think I've heard the word "said" in any 5 books as much as I hear it in one book of this series. Other authors don't have this problem or at least, alter the scripts of their audiobooks to account for the fact that someone is acting things out. It's frustrating and makes even the book's engaging conversations frustrating at times.

If you're this far into this book series, you should just grab this one and keep going. It's still a great entry and there's no point in stopping now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Multiple POVs, so many storylines converging!

This was a fun ride. So many moving parts and characters being brought back. Prax! We got Prax chapters! I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to see what's next.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another great book in the series

Another great addition to the story, but not the best book in the series. Still thoroughly enjoyable though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The epilogue left me speechless

The epilogue of this book has to be one of the most insightful bits of fiction writing I have ever heard. If those ideas are of interest to you check out the book The Matter with Things by Dr. Ian Mcgilchrist.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Realistic science, but not people

Having destroyed the Earth, Marco wants to destroy his ex-girlfriend and her lover.

Arch-villains need to get their priorities straight

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another great book for The Expanse

I'm a huge fan of this series and Babylon's Ashes did not disappoint. it does a good job of tying up the nine book serie's "second act" - I think of it more as a set of three trilogies than a single nine book series.

This book features chapters from far more perspectives than past books. At times this became confusing, as a chapter was introduced with a name I didn't recognize. These often served to give an account of events in a location the main characters were not, such as in the "slow zone", or provide a different perspective. Definitely a departure from the series's norm, but I wasn't explicitly bothered by it.

Jefferson Mays is in fine form again. A performance on par with his other readings of the Expanse novels.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Epic and intriguing

Best story I’ve encountered in some time. If it seems interesting, you won’t be disappointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best ScFi series of this millennium

Excellent narration, love the books and TV show equally. Pity about the TV series ending suddenly... can't wait to start audiobook 7!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!