From the invention of the Epstein drive, to Amos' backstory, to the fate of Naomi's son, these eight stories and novellas fill in details of the world of the Expanse (beginning with Leviathan Wakes, 2011), telling tales that didn't fit into the main novels but which deepen readers' relationship to this world and its characters. Much like the longer books, each story has its own tone, atmosphere, and pace, and Corey uses the freedom of the short form to experiment with different narrative styles. The stories are creative and inventive, packing the same character-driven emotional power of the novels. It's remarkable how well Corey adapts their writing style to craft short-form tales that are the equal of the lauded long-form works. Each story is accompanied by an author's note explaining how it came to be, along with nuggets of trivia about the writing and publishing process. These pieces were written over the course of the series and originally published in a variety of sources, so they weren't always easy for fans to track down. This collection is a welcome capstone to mark the conclusion of arguably the best space-opera series written in the past few decades.

Bestsellers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, writing as Corey, give Expanse fans a last gift after wrapping up the epic space opera series with 2021's Leviathan Falls. The eight stories collected here, including the original novella "The Sins of Our Fathers," add depth to main and supporting characters, and provide both prologues and epilogues to the events of the series. Every entry also succeeds as a standalone; while followers will know the significance of a passing reference in "Gods of Risk" to an interview of an "old, dark-skinned woman in an orange sari," those who don't will still be able to appreciate the gripping narrative of crime and family loyalty. Authors' notes further enrich the experience for fans, as when they share that an actor from the TV adaptation plausibly suggested to them the identity of a background figure in "The Butcher of Anderson Station." The new novella combines efforts to survive on a world populated by monsters with depictions of two people working to overcome the burdens of growing up with two very different larger-than-life parents. This volume is a perfect lagniappe. (Mar.)