At first when I started Persepolis Rising I could see why some fans felt it was ok to end the TV series before this part of the story. It's a bit slow to get going and felt like it was retreading some too-familiar plot ground. However, this ended up being my favourite book in the series so far. For one, it finally seems like the authors learned their lesson about having male characters objectify women, and just let everyone regardless of gender kick ass. There was also less repetition of the same events from different character perspectives, though the first 1/3 of the book still could've been tighter.

I really liked how this book pushed a few characters like Drummer and gave them new dimensionality. The latter half of the book is also a real barn burner. It's tense and tight and you care about everything happening minute-to-minute to the main characters.

There are some particularly satisfying and still complex moments like

Spoiler

Clarissa's final fight, and Major Overstreet's final confrontation with Singh

and there are some compelling observations from characters like an aged Avasarala that feel particularly resonant in our world today. Overall this made me very excited for book 8.