"Cibola Burn" by James S.A. Corey
Review by Borodutch
When reading this book, I realized that I hadn't paid attention to or remembered even two-thirds of the plot of the TV show. This is sad because I didn't get to experience my thoughts from the book, but on the other hand, it's great because I can rewatch the show, too!
I am primarily interested in the aliens in the books (or the lack of them). I thoroughly enjoyed the investigator parts that I completely forgot from the show. Everything makes so much more sense in the books — and I'm excited to keep reading the Expanse series.
Another thing that caught my eye was the notion of the lack of consciousness in the alien technology. It is intelligent and creative but not conscious, which is weird. However, this is one of the most prolific concepts I first encountered in The Blindsight by Peter Wells. It makes sense that consciousness might not have an evolutionary or expansion advantage on the scale of the universe.