The Churn (The Expanse, #3.5) By James S.A. Corey

review The Churn (The Expanse, #3.5)

Claustrophobic and set on a dirty, poor future Earth, we see a nasty Baltimore run by the mob, a populace living on subsistence-level Basic, and a young Amos from the later series living as a thug with a missing sense of right and wrong.

It's classic and awesome SF. It may be a prequel and there's no space stuff, but the atmosphere and the thug life is pretty fantastic. The characterizations are top-notch and it really adds a LOT of dimension to one of my favorite characters from the books.

Totally recommend.
2 A superb back-story for Amos from The Expanse series, perhaps my single favourite of the side-books. Must read.

I really love how the authors have used the side-books format to fill in the back-stories, historical events and technology bits instead of bogging down the main series with this info.

The way they are written as semi-standalones is terrific. I love the Rocinante family, and these side-books have doubled that pleasure. 2 This started out kind of blah, but I end up really loving it by the end. 2 The Churn is an additional book to the Expanse series, set before the series' beginnings and chronicling some events in the life of one of my favorite characters, Amos Burton.

Amos, or Jimmy, is a low level thug with a lot of issues and a broken moral compass. And that is what makes him so compelling. The criminal world of Baltimore is masterfully built - so much so that this can be read as a stand alone, with no prior knowledge of the universe. 2 Another short story is the Expanse universe, this time about Amos' past.

Amos is a very quirky character. He seems to lack empathy on a worrying scale while simultaneously showing the capacity for great loyalty, which is why I like him so much. Those who have read the first novel and/or seen the TV show know that he is from Earth, originally, and has had a dark past. Here, we get to know what this past consists of (to some degree) and it was a delightful look at future Baltimore and its crime syndicates. However, it was also an interesting look at Earth itself, the social structures of the future, how humanity lives - and it's disquieting to say the least.

Thus, this is an action-laden novella about a very enigmatic character and a great addition to the series.

2

*** 4 ***

This novela packs a big punch for its size. Short, violent, gritty and dystopian in a very believable way, this is the story of one of the members of the crew in the Expanse space opera series, only not in space.

Timmy is a young man who is raised in the unregistered slums of Baltimore, where crime is what makes you or breaks you. Born to a prostitute as an unregistered birth, his only reality is the unforgiving underworld. On top of the rough conditions he has to contend with daily, he also happens to be one of those people born with the inability to distinguish between right and wrong, a sociopath who needs those around him to give him cues as to what is appropriate and when. It would be just natural for him to slip into the role of a thug, something his environment is very conducive to, and be just another link in the chain of violence and degradation. Lucky for him, a friend of his mother's, also a prostitute and a part of the raining crime syndicate, cares deeply for him, and wants better for him than what the have head up to now. This relationship was complex, disturbing, devastating in its honesty and so tragic, since he is incapable of true feelings of love, but she is masochistic enough to accept that and still love him, no matter how unhealthy and unhappy it is all the way around... I think this is going to stick with me for a while. It was very uncomfortable, but in that way you know it is real and very memorable!

I understand why we have this story, giving us more background on a secondary character, but I think it could be read on its own as a novela and it would leave just as deep of an impression as if you were more familiar with the series as a whole. I was very impressed!

I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come! 2 Mini-review

3.5/5 stars

The Churn is a great novella. I enjoyed this one more than The Butcher of Anderson Station, Gods of Risk, and Drive.

I’m quite surprised by the official blurb and the huge number of reviews that immediately stated which character’s background is being shed upon here. Whether the reveal is obvious or not, I think it would be better for first-time readers to know nothing about it. I won’t be mentioning anything regarding about this one hour read; consider The Churn an essential reading—even more than the previous three novella/short stories—for fans of the main series who wants to know more about the background of one of the characters. Let’s leave it at that.

You can find the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!

My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas. 2 I thought The Churn was a nice addition to The Expanse series!

The Churn is long enough to give some insight on the world building on Earth and the criminal underground elements that’s found on the planet, especially in Baltimore.

It introduces us to a young man named Timmy.
He's raised in the slums and this short story shows the reader the uncomfortable truth of what it’s like to live there. It’s seedy, corrupt, and deadly to live in this type of area.

After reading this, we can see how this violent environment molds the personality of a main character in the series.

I’m glad I decided to read this one after all! 2 Amos Burton is the resident bad ass among the crew of the Rocinante who often argues that whatever problem they have at the moment could be solved by a judicious use of gunfire and/or tossing someone out the nearest airlock into space. But Amos isn’t a thug, or rather, he’s not just a thug. He’s repeatedly been shown as a loyal friend and soft-hearted protector of the defenseless who would rather die then fail to keep a promise. It's all of these elements of his personality that make him among my favorite characters in the series.

This novella dives into the personal history of Amos that has been teased in the series. Here, we learn that young Amos (Who wasn’t called Amos back then.) grew up on the mean streets of a future Baltimore that’s even worse than David Simon could have imagined. After a childhood spent in sexual slavery, young Amos is trying to move up as an enforcer for a local gangster, but even a murderous band of criminals is a bit put off by the casual way in which Amos can determine that the best way to deal with a troublesome guy is shooting him in the head. When a crackdown by the security forces gets some gang members locked up, a purge of anyone with the potential to rat out the head of the mob commences and young Amos finds himself in a bad position.

Overall, this was a pretty good story that does provide some insight into Amos’ background that explains a lot about his personality and behavior. I also appreciate that the writers who jointly make up the James S.A. Corey name seem to be able to produce some extras like this without getting derailed from the more important task of regularly cranking out Expanse novels.

However, while it’s an interesting story, I’m not sure that its most important aspects couldn’t have been folded into one of the books rather than selling it as it’s own thing. I’m not complaining that it’s a rip-off. It’s bonus material, and it’s produced and sold as such including a reasonable price for the content you get. It just doesn’t feel like it added so much that it rates a whole extra about Amos. Still, like the other writing in the series it’s fast paced and entertaining, and it does add some depth to a popular character so it’s probably worth a look by dedicated fans. 2 Book one of The Expanse buddy read with the amazing and wonderful Kayla, the Graceling Accountant! In honor of our Accountant Buddy Read, I have modified my usual speedy trial review format and present to you my accounting themed...

BALANCING THE BOOKS review

For those of you who are lucky enough not to don't work with numbers all day, here is a quick visual aid to help depict what accountants like Kayla and I have to deal with in our work lives...no wonder we need to escape into books with words instead of numbers as soon as those spreadsheets are closed!



And now, with no further ado, let's get right to this book's balance sheet!

ASSETS

- Excellent prose
Noir can be a tricky beast. A hard-boiled writing style can add give your story some extra grit, but trying too hard at it can turn your story into...well... something that rhymes with grit! I've actually read books with lines like He watched the water go down the drain along with all his hopes and dreams! But here the gritty writing was executed perfectly, giving the story some added atmosphere and weight.

- Morally bankrupt yet still sympathetic characters
This is a world without heroes, where no one is trying to clean up the streets and instead the main players are competing to make them dirtier! (Uh-oh, now I'm guilty of bad hard-boiled writing!) In fact, one of the main characters is someone who proves right in the first couple of pages that he has absolutely no compunction about committing murder even for the flimsiest of reasons. Yet we're given such insight into their external and internal struggles, we can't help but want to see them win even though we know they deserve to lose.

- Exciting climax
In addition to hard-boiled storytelling, action sequences can be very difficult for a writer to pull off. Give too little detail about a fight and it can come off dull, but get too descriptive and it can feel clunky. Yet Corey strikes just the right balance in the climax, describing the action in a very thrilling and fluid manner.

- Brilliant ending
I won't spoil anything here. All I'll say is that I can't wait to dive to see how the events of this prequel tie into the main books now!

LIABILITIES

- Rated R for Really violent!
Sometimes people expect science fiction to be less mature, thanks to cartoons about transforming robots and even more cartoonish live-action movies about transforming robots! But now imagine a Transformers movie with an R rating...

(Whoever is reading this review right now, YOU'RE the one Optimus Prime just said is cool!)
With rather graphic violence, strong language, and a fairly explicit sex scene, this is NOT something to read if you're looking for something more breezy or family-friendly!

- Occasionally vague world-building
In fairness, this is only a 57 page novella, so I understand that the author didn't have a whole lot of space to flesh the world out. Still, there were sporadic moments where I wasn't entirely sure what the concepts entailed. For example, it's repeatedly mentioned that some people live on basic, yet I was uncertain as to exactly how the basic system worked. Still, with so much of those 57 pages giving us a gripping story and enthralling characters forefront, I really can't complain too much if some of the background details were a little unclear.

PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT

This novella did exactly what a prequel is supposed to, it gave me additional insight into the main story and left me even more excited to read Leviathan Wakes now! With powerful narration and fascinating characters, I enjoyed every part of this novella (even the parts I didn't fully understand)! Highly recommended for anyone who wants a hard-boiled science fiction adventure! 2

From New York Times bestselling author James S.A. Corey...
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.

Set in the hard-scrabble solar system of the Expanse, The Churn deepens James S. A. Corey's acclaimed series.

The Expanse (a major SyFy Channel television series)
Leviathan Wakes
Caliban's War
Abaddon's Gate
Cibola Burn
Nemesis Games

The Expanse Short Fiction
The Butcher of Anderson Station
Gods of Risk
The Churn The Churn (The Expanse, #3.5)