Persepolis Rising (The Expanse Book 7) – Beyond the TV Show

1. Introduction: Your Journey Doesn't End with Season Six

For fans of The Expanse television series, the conclusion of its sixth season was a bittersweet moment. It delivered a satisfying, hard-won victory against Marco Inaros, but it also left the future of its beloved characters and intricate universe tantalizingly open-ended. If you've found yourself staring at the rolling credits and wondering, "What happens next?"—the answer is more complex and exciting than you might imagine, spanning across the very media that defines this franchise.

While the seventh novel, Persepolis Rising, is the official literary continuation of the story, your first stop as a TV fan is a different medium entirely. The thirty-year gap between the show's finale and the events of this novel is being officially filled by the BOOM! Studios comic series The Expanse: Dragon Tooth. This is the canonical continuation of the show's timeline and the first place to see the Roci crew after season six. With that crucial context, this review’s thesis is clear: Persepolis Rising is a fantastic and compelling evolution of the saga, masterfully shifting the scale of the universe while maintaining the exceptional quality of character-driven storytelling and political complexity that defines the franchise. For any fan wanting the full story, the comics and this novel are essential.

Prepare yourself for a journey into a familiar universe that feels bigger, older, and far more dangerous than ever before.

For the full roadmap of the saga, check out our Expanse Series Reading Guide.

Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, 7)

The TV show ends, but the story continues. A 30-year time jump. An old crew. A new, invincible enemy. The Laconian Empire has arrived.

2. Setting the Stage: A Bold Leap into the Future

The most significant narrative choice in Persepolis Rising is its thirty-year time jump, a strategic leap that allows the authors to explore the profound, long-term consequences of the Ring Gates opening and the Free Navy conflict. As a transmedia storytelling device, this gap is brilliant, creating a space that other media can—and does—inhabit. For TV fans, this is not empty time; it is the specific setting for the official comic continuations. BOOM! Studios' record-breaking twelve-issue series, The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, is designed explicitly to fill "the missing years between Babylon’s Ashes and Persepolis Rising," making it the direct, show-canon bridge to this new era.

After three decades, the solar system's political landscape has been radically reshaped. The old power structures of Earth, Mars, and the Belt have evolved, and humanity has eagerly begun to spread out, establishing colonies on the 1,300 new worlds now accessible through the vast Ring network. Despite this temporal leap, the novel immerses the reader back into a universe that is at once familiar and startlingly different. The world feels more established, the consequences of past actions have solidified into a new status quo, and the scale of human civilization has expanded exponentially.

Yet, during this period of reconstruction, a formidable new power, born from a Martian conspiracy glimpsed at the end of the show, has been quietly growing in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge.

3. A New Power Rises: The Laconian Empire

The primary antagonist of this new arc is the Laconian Empire, a faction born from the rogue Martian conspiracy led by the brilliant and ruthless Admiral Winston Duarte. Over three decades ago, a breakaway faction of the Martian military secretly passed through a Ring Gate and established a new society on the planet Laconia. What returns is an empire as terrifying in its ideology as it is in its military might.

The Laconian Empire is a society built on a foundation of absolute discipline and militaristic fervor, a direct response to what its founders saw as the decadent failures of Earth and the compromised vision of Mars.

Laconia's power is not just ideological. By reactivating the ancient alien shipyards in their system and using the protomolecule sample they acquired from Marco Inaros, they have constructed a fleet of warships that are generations beyond anything Earth or Mars can field. Their devastating Magnetar-class dreadnoughts, powered by protomolecule technology, render all previous human naval power obsolete.

The sudden, violent re-emergence of this technologically superior and ideologically rigid empire completely upends the delicate balance of power, plunging a recovering humanity into its most desperate conflict yet.

4. The Rocinante Crew in a New Era

For a TV fan, one of the most jarring yet rewarding aspects of Persepolis Rising is reconnecting with a Rocinante crew that is subtly but significantly different from the one you last saw on screen. The book demands a re-calibration of who these characters are, a classic challenge in transmedia storytelling.

First and most importantly: Alex Kamal does not die in the books. He is very much alive and remains the pilot of the Rocinante heading into this new conflict. This is the single biggest divergence a show fan will encounter.

Secondly, the Camina Drummer of the show is a brilliant example of character consolidation for television. Her on-screen persona is a composite of several distinct book characters, most notably Michio Pa (the Belter fleet leader in book six), Sam Rosenberg, and the UNN veteran Bull. In the novels, Drummer's own arc is less focused on frontline combat and more on politics, eventually seeing her rise to become the President of the Transport Union. Reading the book, you will meet a different Drummer, and see pieces of the show's version reflected in other individuals.

With these changes in mind, the crew’s new status feels earned. After three decades, they are respected veterans thrust back into a fight against a monolithic power that dwarfs anything they have ever faced. Joining an underground resistance movement against Laconia’s brutal takeover, the crew returns to its roots, battling for freedom against impossible odds and testing their skills, loyalty, and hope to the absolute limit.

The Expanse: Dragon Tooth (Graphic Novel)

The official bridge between the show and Book 7. Fill the 30-year gap with this canonical comic series.

5. Narrative and Thematic Strengths: Why Persepolis Rising Excels

The success of Persepolis Rising lies not just in its continuation of the plot, but in its ability to elevate the core qualities that made The Expanse a modern science fiction masterpiece across all its media forms.

5.1. A Shift in Scale and Stakes

The introduction of the Laconian Empire transforms the series. The interplanetary Cold War between Earth, Mars, and the Belt gives way to an existential struggle against a burgeoning galactic empire. The conflict is no longer about control of the Sol system; it is about the future of human freedom across more than a thousand worlds.

5.2. Sustained Quality and Intelligent World-Building

Fans can rest assured that the qualities they loved are fully intact. The novel maintains the franchise's unwavering commitment to grounded science and rich, character-driven storytelling. This dedication to realism, championed by showrunner and Ph.D. physicist Naren Shankar, is a hallmark of the series. Details praised by fans and astrophysicists alike—like the Coriolis effect causing poured drinks to curve on spinning stations or characters touching helmets to communicate in a vacuum—are part of the story's DNA, making the world feel lived-in and real.

5.3. An Unstoppable Pace

From the moment the Laconian Empire makes its dramatic entrance, the novel kicks into high gear. The story unfolds as a tense, high-stakes thriller that validates the praise of longtime readers: "once you get going you won’t be able to put it down." The sense of overwhelming threat and the desperate struggle of the resistance create a propulsive narrative momentum that is nearly impossible to resist.

This powerful combination of expanded stakes, consistent quality, and relentless pacing makes for a truly exceptional reading experience.

6. Final Verdict: The Must-Read Next Chapter for Every Fan

Persepolis Rising is a masterfully executed continuation of The Expanse saga. It honors everything that came before it—in both the books and the television series—while boldly pushing the story into a thrilling and terrifying new era. By building upon the established foundation with a larger scale, a more formidable antagonist, and the deeply human stories of its aging heroes, the novel succeeds on every level as the next major literary chapter.

For any fan of The Expanse television series wondering what happens after the credits roll on season six, Persepolis Rising is not just recommended—it is essential reading, best experienced after embracing the comics that canonically bridge the gap.

The final score of 9/10 reflects a near-perfect evolution of the series. This novel brilliantly sets the stage for the epic, high-stakes conclusion to the entire saga, proving that one of the greatest stories in modern science fiction was just getting started.

The Expanse: The Complete Collection

The ultimate way to experience the full saga. From Leviathan Wakes to the galaxy-altering finale, this is the modern gold standard for space opera.

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