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 (1,008 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 $45.44

Buy Now for $45.44

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
    819
  • 4 Stars
    159
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    786
  • 4 Stars
    73
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    672
  • 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

Another epic adventure!

Jefferson Mays does an excellent job telling this tale. This series just keeps pulling you deeper and deeper

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

Another great adventure

I love this series. I have started the show and its fabulous how they are tying the story together on screen. Another great story as the adventures continue.

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
    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

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 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
    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

Great

Probably my favourite of the series since Leviathan Wakes. 100% recommend to anyone who is a fan of the series.

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

Better every time...

The series (all.of the books) are brilliant. Babylon's Ashes is no exception. More to my point, they get better every listen. Hard to imagine anyone other than Mayes narrating, and his performance is pitch perfect. Every time.

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!