The Butcher of Anderson Station - A Story of The Expanse

I was excited to find this backstory after finishing LEVIATHAN WAKES. As I read through that book I found myself wanting more of a backstory on Fred, but having read this, I see that it really didn't fit the narrative.

If you liked LEVIATHAN WAKES, then THE BUTCHER OF ANDERSON STATION is worthwhile to read. But it was too short in my opinion. I really hope the authors consider expanding future installments.

This is a quick little 20 page back story to Leviathan Wakes. It's a decent read. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesnt' really add anything to the story line. If you've read Leviathan Wakes and want to get a little more, get it. It's no big deal if you skip it either. Then again, I haven't read Caliban's War yet, but I can't possibly imagine how this could be more than a blip on the vast fictional universe that is The Expanse.

The Expanse series might be on of the best Sci-Fi series in a long time. If you want to check and see if the style is to your liking, this short story will help you make that decision. I myself loved it and

You may wonder how Fred got his position and his reputation. This fills you in nicely. Another thing to read while you wait for the next novel. Can be read at any time without giving anything away.

I liked the story a lot but as I got into it I realized the novella was going to end too soon... The authors got my attention with a great setup for a full novel and I'm very frustrated I won't ever get to read what Fred decides to do...

it explains a lot about the background of Caliban's War and how the infamous Butcher became OPA after been a long UN soldier. A little longer would have been greater.
If you have only watched The Expanse's TV show, it worths it too.

Excellent short story length and memorable look into the psyche of a war "hero" who finds out he has been manipulated into committing an atrocity. We find out even more about the strength of character exhibited by a leader of the "other side" --who can offer him an opportunity for salvation.

I Love the Expanse Series. The only thing that I don't like about this new series is that it is new. What I mean about that is there is no backlog of books that I can read and catch up on the series.

I have already read Leviathan Wakes, Caliban’s War, Abaddon’s Gate, Gods of Risk and The Butcher of Anderson Station.

WHAT CAN I SAY “I WANT MORE!!!”!!!

I hate waiting a year or more for the next book!!!

I can’t wait for the next book Cibola Burn next year.

Short and interesting, but didn't really add much to the character. I kind of liked it when Anderson Station was this nebulous, Things went sideways and awful and it defined this character, incident and we knew it happened, but not any of the specifics. Well written and all, but, eh. Didn't really add to the Expanse series overall, for me.

I love the Expanse novels, so I liked having the full story of an incident that's referred to many times in the books.

Very short.

No regrets buying it though, it's cheap, well written and delivered me a bit more of the universe.

An OK read. Rather short but fills in some gaps from the 2 books about the Expanse. Didn't realize until later that this probably should have been the 1st read before getting into the real meat of the Expanse books.

I had just finished reading Leviathan Wakes, which I gave five stars to and which included a second book by Daniel Abraham (the Dragon's Path), so I couldn't resist the opportunity to read some backstory. What a disappointment. One fifth of the price for one tenth of the length and in terms of quality an equal disappointment, a very brief and sketchy account of how Fred Johnson became the Butcher of Anderson Station with a denouement that a child of six could have seen coming.

I enjoyed The Butcher of Anderson Station, what there was of it. That's the problem--this read like one of those teaser chapters placed at the end of a book to get you excited about the next book in a series, or a VERY short story in one of those sci-fi anthologies from noted authors. Despite what the description says, the story itself (without the other filler) couldn't have been more than 20 pages of printed text, and that's being quite generous. It seems to me that this material would have been better handled either by expanding it into at least a short novel or dealing with the same issues in a few paragraphs in Leviathan Wakes. Even though the price set by the author was only a few bucks, that comes out to a pretty high price per page--the full length novel Leviathan Wakes would have been something like fifty bucks if the price per page were the same.

If you liked Leviathan Wakes and want to find out more about one of its characters, as I did, you'll probably spend the couple of dollars, just like I did. After all, it's still less than a cup of coffee from your favorite barista. But--like I did--you'll still feel cheated when you get to the end and say "Is that IT"?

Humanity has expanded beyond its home planet and split into three competing groups,Earth,Mars,and the Belt. The latter is economically downtrodden and under the heel of the inner planets. When a group of belters pushed to the wall takes over Anderson Station the powers that be decide to make an example of them. They send out decorated hero,Colonel Fred Johnson and his force of Marines does the job killing over 1000 civilians in the process. The brutality of the affair and the corruption behind it has sickened Johnson and he leaves the service. With nothing left to live for he descends into depression when unexpectedly he is offered a chance at redemption from an unusual source. With less than 50 pages of text this does not even rate as a long short story but it packs enough breadth and nuance for a full novel. Written as a follow up to the first book of the well received Expanse series James S. A. Corey(the team of Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham) proves his/their writing chops once more as they take standard plot lines and write them in a way that gives new life to the stale themes of current space opera with some desperately needed fresh air.
Note:I see several reviewers wrote that $2.99 seemed a high price for such a short work(the product description on the store says 35 pages). I checked my purchase at the store and see that I paid $1.99 when it was initially released in 2011. Possibly the temptation to increase the price won out when the series turned into a TV show.

One of my favorite reads from the Expanse series and, honestly, closer to what I want from the series than the craziness which has followed recently. The story is about how Fred Johnson, Colonel of the UNN, has been going to Belter bars in order to pick a fight. This despite the fact he is the titular "Butcher of Anderson Station" and this will probably get him killed. Anderson Dawes, leader of the OPA, kidnaps him and then tries to find out what really happened that day. The story is complex, fascinating, and yet short enough to be a satisfying tale with no loose ends. It's also fascinating enough that I wish it had been a complete novel. Fans of the TV series will note that this story was incorporated into Season One.

Listed as Book 1.5 in the Expanse series, the bestselling space opera by James S.A. Corey, The Butcher Of Anderson Station gives us the backstory of one of the most enigmatic characters from Leviathan Awakes (book 1 of the series). Depending on who you talk to, Fred Johnson of the Outer Planets Alliance is either a hero or a mass-murderer, freedom fighter or terrorist, and that sentence alone highlights some of the complexities around the man. This short e-novella (around 10 K words long) details Fred’s backstory and leaves us, as readers, to make up our own minds.

Written in the same engaging style as other Corey books, TBOAS will no doubt delight fans of the series and, being something of a self-contained story, might even serve as a good taster for newbies. Either way, with The Expanse TV series due to hit Netflix soon, there’s no better time to get onboard with the books.

When a high ranking Space Marine finds himself kidnapped from a bar, all hell breaks loose in his head. His training comes to the fore, and so too does the bravado, the heroism and the psychology. Amid the flashbacks provided by the authors of this fantastic short, we learn he is a man who lost his soul in the act of following orders. The twist in this tale, unsurprisingly, lies in it's conclusion.

Who says that science proves the nonexistence of God?

BFN Greggorio!

The world in the Expanse series is so vivid. The characters and world's are clear in my head. These novellas really assist. They are short, easy to consume in one commuter plane ride but add to the overall experience of the series.

With a brevity similar to Hemingway and a psychological twist reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the authors manage to lay bare the essence of Fred Johnson. A great addition to the Expanse cannon.

Only reason for the 3 stars is that I thought this was a full length pre-quel to the series. It's just a short story though. Writing is good, just very short when you are expecting a full length book.

While the "book" The Butcher of Anderson Station does explain the circumstances that led to the invasion of Anderson Station, it cannot really be called a book. It is more likely a single chapter that neither author could figure out how to fit into any of the main trilogy books. At less than thirty pages, it barely even qualifies as a chapter! Thus, I rated it only 'OK' because of its extreme brevity, not its content. I think it is valuable background info, but don't be fooled into thinking you are actually buying another book in the series.

Although this is short, it was a good read, I just found myself wanting more. We get a bit more background on the mysterious man behind The Butcher of Anderson Station...though I found myself wanting even more.

This is a good short story for fans of The Expanse, though there aren't really any surprises, and you could've filled in the blanks yourself.

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"We've Gone Too Far." - "The Expanse" tag line

Five EXPANSIVE Stars. Based on the novels of the talented two-man SciFi writing team called "James S.A. Corey" and also based on the Syfy Channel 10-episode production of their novels, this novella is from that universe. Set 200 years in the future, it shows how fractured mankind has become in this reality.

The storyline of "The Butcher of Anderson Station" picks up with Colonel Johnson drinking in a bar served by a reluctant bartender. His feelings about 'Belters', those born in the weak gravity of the asteroid belt in the solar system, are about to take a sharp turn as he comes to grips with his past military encounter at Anderson Station, meets an unusual man, and he gets a fateful surprise at the end, as the storylines jump between two timelines, past and present. Fans of "The Expanse" may enjoy this highly-detailed prequel-like short story which explains specifically and graphically what the TV show jumped over about the Anderson Station encounter in Season 1, Episode 5, at 32 minutes in. Those not familiar with "The Expanse" may be left hanging, wondering what comes next, and go looking for answers in the other books or on TV. Highly Recommended. Five INFORMATIVE Stars. (Orbit Short Fiction publishers. 70 pages. Kindle Text review.)