I wonder if different pacing would have helped, or if there needed to be some additional POV character to let us see more of the conflict, or even just having the Rocinante stop off some places rather than constantly being in space. Because yeah, it felt like it dragged and retreaded some plot beats. There were fewer instances of characters being tempted to switch sides, or folks maneuvering politically to change the balance of power, or even much inter-personal conflict that had any chance of shifting the story.
I'm not a book reader. How did the book compare?