Cibola Burn

After the opening of the ring gates, humanity rushes toward thousands of new worlds. On one promising planet, a group of settlers has already claimed land and begun mining, while a corporation arrives with legal rights and a scientific mission of its own, turning the colony into a volatile standoff.

James Holden and the Rocinante crew are sent to mediate before the conflict becomes open war. As tensions rise, the crew is split between orbit and surface, while new perspectives from settlers, scientists, and security personnel show the same crisis from different angles.

The dispute is soon eclipsed by the planet itself: alien ruins, strange organisms, failing systems, and deadly environmental hazards begin to wake up and threaten everyone. The story becomes a struggle not only over ownership and survival, but over what humanity has unleashed by stepping into a new frontier.