Leviathan Wakes

Apr 13, 2011 DMS rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

Part way through, it occurred to me that this included everything I want in a space opera (besides welding) without even leaving the solar system. And then, in the biggest piece of engineering porn scenery, there was welding. Seriously, though, it's all there. Not just the action and adventure, the mad scientists, the military strategy, and the horror, but also interesting characters with conflicting viewpoints making difficult decisions from terrible options. There was a moment I was so focused...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Joel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 52-in-2011, book-club, wssfbc

I complained in my review of Chasm City that the gee-whiz mechanics of space opera can't really sustain a 600-page narrative. It turns out I was perhaps incorrect: most of the lengthy examples I've sampled in the sub-genre (Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks) are of the "dark and gritty" variety, grim, nihilistic visions of the future starring amoral asshole protagonists who are impossible to sympathize with. Even with a bunch of cool ideas on display, spending 700 pages in these books is exhausti...more I complained in my review of Chasm City that the gee-whiz mechanics of space opera can't really sustain a 600-page narrative. It turns out I was perhaps incorrect: most of the lengthy examples I've sampled in the sub-genre (Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks) are of the "dark and gritty" variety, grim, nihilistic visions of the future starring amoral asshole protagonists who are impossible to sympathize with. Even with a bunch of cool ideas on display, spending 700 pages in these books is exhausting. Inevitably, I like them for about 400 pages and then I just... get tired.

But this book... this is the space opera I want to read. This book has the spirit of the genre's early days, characters who still marvel at the impossible immensity of the stars, but it isn't a pastiche or a throwback -- it's a natural evolution, and a remarkably satisfying one. The closest analogue I can think of is the oft-overpraised television show Firefly. Say what you will about the annoyingly zealous fanbase (or don't, you don't need the hate email); that show really did almost everything right in translating space opera to the modern age. The characters are complex, they operate in a world that is more grey than black & white, but each also has a clear moral center, so we know why they do the things they do, even when they are terrible things. You can make space opera (or epic fantasy or whatever) that is "dark" and "gritty" and still fun to read, with characters that are fun to read about. Because why would you want to explore the stars with assholes?

I'm having some trouble locking the tractor beam on my point here, but it basically comes down to this: if you want me to invest in your lengthy space epic, you better give me something more to care about than magic space technology macguffin crap, because I will get sick of that. This book gave me cool ideas and everything else: archetypal characters that nevertheless manage to be compelling and sympathetic, interesting and very well thought out politics and economics, constant narrative momentum without sacrificing character... It's the most fun I've had reading sci-fi in a long time.

I should have expected nothing less of Daniel Abraham, who is one-half of the pseudonymous James S.A. Corey; earlier this year, I gushed about the way he was able to do basically all the same stuff within the confines of the epic fantasy genre. And there is so much to like about the premise, just on the face of it: it's a few hundred years from now. Humanity has colonized Mars and invented an engine that allows fairly speedy travel, to a point. Our solar system has been colonized, with outposts on the moons of Saturn and spread across the asteroid belts, but we've gone no further because, come on, space is freaking huge and what are the chances we're going to invent warp drive and quickly stumble across the other needles in the galactic haystack? Besides, we've got enough to keep ourselves busy: colonizing space hasn't exactly united humanity, and Earth, Mars and the Outer Planets Alliance operate under an uneasy truce, with heavy prejudices on all sides.

This stuff is very well thought out. People in the outer planets have lived for generations free from the constraints of heavy gravity, and have started to differ physically from Earthers. Language and culture have shifted too. This makes racism easier. Meanwhile the sheer logistical challenges of sustaining life on dead rocks (from mining interstellar ice to diets of food manufactured from algae) mean the "Belters" are still beholden to their terrestrial cousins.

The plot is a potboiler, effectively combining space action with a noir murder mystery (the two storylines intertwined in chapters that alternate between two POV characters). The characters are, like I said, broad types in some ways, but you can do broad types very well; a stock character can still be well rounded and compelling. This book manages to star both a world-weary detective and an idealistic space captain (with a smart-mouthed love interest and some wise-cracking ship's crew in the background) and not feel like a retread, to give the characters tough moral choices (and sometimes they make the wrong ones), without turning them into unrepentant sociopaths. It goes back to what I was saying many, many paragraphs ago about honoring conventions while expanding upon them.

I don't know if I am communicating this very well, but this book is all of that and also just impossible to stop reading. It's also funny without trying too hard, and thoughtful without being overly constructed or preachy. It's the book I have been looking for every time I picked up a space epic. I just didn't know until I found it.(less)

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Apr 30, 2013 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 2.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and hi...more

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Sep 24, 2011 mark monday rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-gave-up, futuristik

EH? EH! this so-called space opera is anything but. no sense of wonder, no sense of truly divergent civilizations, no galactic span. and a clear lack of operatic emotions on display as well. perhaps this is due to the characterization, which is rote, uninteresting, and badly developed, with sub-par Firefly-style dialogue along for the ride. perhaps it is also due to the subject matter, which is confined to purely in-system politics between Earth and Mars (the two reigning superpowers) and the as...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: space-the-final-frontier, detectives, sci-fi, the-future-is-now, zombies, necrophilia, reviewed, pirates

As a reading experience, I loved this book. I was sick when I started, looking for the literary equivalent to a Law & Order marathon. Space opera is the police procedural of the science fiction world, and this one has an actual police procedural embedded within. It's a galactic billiards game, the ordinary made extraordinary through the right place, right time, a bunch of forensics/technology, a lot of fragility of life just on this side of the hard vacuum of space. I mean, gee whiz.

There's...more As a reading experience, I loved this book. I was sick when I started, looking for the literary equivalent to a Law & Order marathon. Space opera is the police procedural of the science fiction world, and this one has an actual police procedural embedded within. It's a galactic billiards game, the ordinary made extraordinary through the right place, right time, a bunch of forensics/technology, a lot of fragility of life just on this side of the hard vacuum of space. I mean, gee whiz.

There's a Jim Anchower article, Jim being one of the "columnists" for the Onion, that describes Star Wars: Attack of the Clowns as "like watching C-SPAN on some other planet" - a bunch of boring imaginary politics playing out in the most expository way possible. Space opera can fall into this so, so easily. The ships embody the engines of society, and authors get caught up in the schematics, reading out the blueprints. Look at this nifty pinball game I made! The characters here are more types than actual people, but the cultures they inhabit, they were well sketched. This is an alien-less environment (for the most part) - so the conflicts are between people, in social terms: the Belters, several generations out living in low-g on Saturnine moons or asteroids, stretched by weightlessness, grousing about tariffs and taxes imposed by the colonizing Earthers or Martians; the freedom-fighters/terrorists; the subtle pull of cultural gravities in different places.

As befits a dual-author novel, this pings back and forth between two pov characters: a space ship captain cut from the same cloth as Malcolm Reynolds, with more high-handedness and less Han Solo, and a noir-ish cop who getting to old for this shit. The individual sections tend to be beautifully arced, little vignettes which build from one of those "he didn't know that his day could get any worse" and then ramping up furiously until you hit the next ~~commercial break~~ section totally leaned in, freaking out. Maybe it sounds like I'm making fun of this, and I am just a little, but affectionately so. There is something to be said for this kind of masterful genre writing, the guns laid onto the table in deliberate, methodical gestures, and fired one at a time, hitting their targets with a casualness that belies study, and lots of it. Bew bew! The book is masterfully plotted, and absolutely joyful to read.

But, two things stuck in my craw starting at about half-way point. Miller, our exhausted, alcoholic Belter cop who is in over his head, leaves the culture which props up his personality - types, as I said, more than people - and at this point his character falls apart for me. His motivations become laughable, his psychology almost literally unreal. You cannot take a type like Miller out of his world, because he is his world or the lens on it, the situated observer, the commentary though moving mouthpiece. And his relationship with Julie is squicky in a way I can't put my finger on, but in a way that dovetails into my next complaint.

At about 3/4 through, two women have a conversation about going to the bar and playing a game together, and then have some teasing fun. This is (I'm pretty sure) the only conversation that keeps this entire 600ish page novel from failing the second two parameters of the Bechdel Test - and that just barely, because this was not a necessary or meaningful exchange. Now, yes, the Bechdel Test was developed for movies, and failing the test does not mean the book sucks. There's all kinds of situations that fail the Bechdel test because they are small, personal stories that take place with limited characters. But a tumbling active story taking place all over an entire freaking solar system? It is incredibly discouraging to me to find yet another fictional solar system in which women are only love interests or ball-busting superior officers, vague individuals in a universe peopled by men almost exclusively. Miller's relationship with Julie, in this context, seems like that shitty thing where a girl becomes an emblem, a chit in a psychological game that moves a man, because a man is what moves. I don't think I'm supposed to heart Miller and the way this plays out, but it doesn't feel good to read.

I don't want to come down on this too hard or act like this book is somehow anti-feminist or anti-woman. It just feels like in riffing on these traditionally boys-only genres - the police procedural, the space opera, the cop show - no one bothered to notice the boys-onlyness. And there are, to make up for this lack, a pretty subtle sense of politics and societal tendencies, and vomit zombies. Vomit zombies! I'm not going to explain, because explanations is spoilers, yo, but the vomit zombies were part of a general inventiveness and genre-specific yee-haw! that I really enjoy reading. This is a first in a series, I am given to understand, and although this one ties off in a way that doesn't dot-dot-dot to the sequel, I would totally read the next one. Gee whiz!

Edit: I'm feeling a little defensive for bringing up the Bechdel test, for no good reason, because it's not like anyone has called me on it or something. I went and looked at the books on my space opera shelf, and at least half of them fail this test, as far as I can recall. It's a pretty common thing. The names thing is little easier to pass in books, because it isn't hard to name a female character on the page, even if she is throwaway and tangential. The rest though - that happens much less frequently. I would just like us all to image a boy version of the Bechdel test, where we look for a book that fails that, a book where there are not two male characters who have names, they don't talk to each other, and when they do, they only talk about women. Can you think of even one book or movie that fails this test? I don't think so. And sure as shit, you can't think of a hundred. (less)

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Dec 04, 2011 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, read-2011

5 stars for it delivers everything that you would expect...

I really love space operas, and Leviathan Wakes is a very good one, albeit a light one. This is not a hard science book like an Alastair Reynolds novel, but it is a true space opera in that outer space is one of the main characters.

The story centers around two very different protagonists that each view the world in a very different way. Miller and Holden are both good guys that try and make the world a better place by being the best at...more 5 stars for it delivers everything that you would expect...

I really love space operas, and Leviathan Wakes is a very good one, albeit a light one. This is not a hard science book like an Alastair Reynolds novel, but it is a true space opera in that outer space is one of the main characters.

The story centers around two very different protagonists that each view the world in a very different way. Miller and Holden are both good guys that try and make the world a better place by being the best at what each of them do. Holden is made Captain of his starship after his captain is killed. This is the job that he was meant for. He is a natural leader. He cares about the well being of his entire crew. He wears his moralities on his sleeves and is generally a good guy. Holden would be the priest in another story.

Miler is a detective that works on a large space colony station. He is a 50 year old cop that has seen what life can dish out. He has been around the lowest dregs of society for most of his life, and as a result, views the world through his graphic experiences. Miller, unlike Holden, does not see society and the average joe as all being good,God fearing people worth protecting.

The differences between our two heroes moralities is what really make this book work. They are polar opposites, yet they are on the "same side of the coin". Neither character wants to empathize with the other, and neither feels that the other one is justified in their beliefs. They have some great conversations where one tries to tell the other their point of view with little succes. I liked both men and found many reasons to side with each of them.

As a space opera this book rocks. Almost the entire book is spent on spaceships, in our solar system, and on distant moons and stations. The space travel is lightly explained, but it works. There are plenty of space battles, filled with lasers, cannons, protons, and other things that go boom...great stuff. There is an alien virus, and evidence of life outside of our solar system. Best of all there are VOMIT ZOMBIES!!!!

Miller is a detective and does solve a mystery, but I did not get much of a noir feel from him or his story. The mystery is an intergral part of the story, but to me, it came across as noir lite type novel. We needed more backstory, more dirt and grime, and more of it.

The writing is fun and descriptive.
" Way, I see it, there's three ways this can go, One, we find your ship still in dock, get the meds we we need, and maybe we live. Two, we try to get to the ship, along the way we run into a bunch of Mafia thugs. Die gloriously in a hail of bullets. Three, we sit here and leak out of our eyes and assholes."

I really enjoyed this space romp and cannot wait for more. If you like space opera's or like the lighter side of science fiction, than this book is for you...(less)

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May 22, 2012 Carlos rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

El 50% de este libro es malo. Así que 3 estrellas.

Vamos por partes. Primero unos antecedentes: no soy un especial seguidor de este género. De hecho creo que es la primera vez que leo una space-opera.

Ahora lo bueno. La trama está bien. Organizado à la Martin -quizá demasiado evidentemente- con capítulos en forma de POVs de los personajes. Estos suelen estar bien construidos y tienen gracia sobre todo los femeninos, aunque a veces no lo parezcan mucho. Havelock me ha caído bien, y la historia det...more El 50% de este libro es malo. Así que 3 estrellas.

Vamos por partes. Primero unos antecedentes: no soy un especial seguidor de este género. De hecho creo que es la primera vez que leo una space-opera.

Ahora lo bueno. La trama está bien. Organizado à la Martin -quizá demasiado evidentemente- con capítulos en forma de POVs de los personajes. Estos suelen estar bien construidos y tienen gracia sobre todo los femeninos, aunque a veces no lo parezcan mucho. Havelock me ha caído bien, y la historia detectivesca tipo serie negra funciona. Se pueden tener reparos sobre si funciona en este ámbito pero, como historia, funciona. Tiene también diálogos rápidos e ingenio. Con tantos diálogos, casi parece un guión (me pregunto si no funcionaría mucho mejor en serie).

La parte mala. No me creo mucho la especulación científica, son muchos años para que todo se parezca tanto a lo que es hoy día. Los conflictos entre las sociedades extraterrestres (o sistemasolarianas) suenan demasiado conocidos, y no porque se trate de una reflexión sobre lo humano: es que se ve el plumero del crisol de culturas. Los secundarios son anécdotas que pasan por allí. Lo malo es que pasan muchos y a veces parece que todo bicho viviente tenga que decir la suya, aunque no nos importe.

Por otra parte es cansado el continuo subir y bajar de calidad literaria. Aproximadamente la mitad del libro está escrito, si no con gusto, sí con un oficio aceptable. La otra mitad tiene la calidad literaria esperable de un crío de dieciséis años, con todo lo que tiene de intento de ser impactante y no conseguirlo. Estas dos mitades están agitadas, no mezcladas, y sin criterio ni mucho concierto.

Para mi gusto, demasiada mezcla. De todo: oficio, personajes, ideas, tramas... Muchas cosas en poco espacio, y eso que páginas también hay muchas. También está el vicio de la prolijidad, agravado por la promesa o amenaza de hacer una trilogía (y qué manía con las trilogías). En momentos he pensado que se intentaba hacer algo tipo ASoIF, sin la originalidad, talento, criterio, propósito ni gracia de Martin. Aunque la imagen general parece clara, el detalle es descuidado. Por lo que los bien informados me han explicado, todo tiene explicación. Pero se ven demasiadas manos intentando añadir una idea brillante, y sólo una que las pudiera contar de manera eficaz.

Entretenido con expectativas bajas. Seguro que me gustaría bastante una versión filmada. Pero aquí no. Demasiado palomitero para mi tolerancia al gluten.(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, maryland-vanity, hugo-nominee

Early on in this book, I started to feel like I was reading some fusion of Cowboy Bebop and Firefly. I like both of those things, so that's not a bad thing exactly, but it's tough to live up to those two excellent series.

The reason why it's like Bebop is because it has this feel where there's space but it's still mostly focused near to the solar system. It's kinda like Firefly because it adds in that Western aspect (OPA being akin to the Browncoats) while keeping the space flavor. I think the bo...more Early on in this book, I started to feel like I was reading some fusion of Cowboy Bebop and Firefly. I like both of those things, so that's not a bad thing exactly, but it's tough to live up to those two excellent series.

The reason why it's like Bebop is because it has this feel where there's space but it's still mostly focused near to the solar system. It's kinda like Firefly because it adds in that Western aspect (OPA being akin to the Browncoats) while keeping the space flavor. I think the book is helped by this familiarity, because it doesn't do a great job of establishing a connection otherwise. The action takes place out in the asteroid belt - where the Belters have, in lower-gravity environments, developed physiological differences from those who live on planets. That's fine, except a lot of the plot involves certain things to do with Earth and Mars, places in which the narrative never gives us a reason to be invested. So that stuff kind of falls flat.

The book is good when it's just the characters doing things. Miller, the detective, is fascinating in his lucid insanity. Holden is basically Malcolm Reynolds with the Han-shot-first parts removed, and his crew analogous in various ways to the Firefly crew. Common reference points are good. A reader may not care about them without those existing stereotypes to graft onto the characters, though.

Extra material after the book itself is concluded tells us that the author is actually a pen name for two authors, one of whom is Daniel Abraham, the other is Ty Frenck, who I guess is George RR Martin's personal assistant. I guess one of these guys writes the Holden parts and one writes the Miller parts? Which is which? I don't suppose it matters.

Not bad, not great, but mostly an interesting read. At several points the book goes in a different direction than you expect based on the norm, and it gets some points for that too. I might remember to read the next book when it is released later this year.

Tagged with Maryland vanity because a member of Holden's crew is originally from the future version of Baltimore, which apparently has no trees.(less)

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May 02, 2013 Ric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't read anything by the two authors who comprise James S.A. Corey, but they can, collaboratively, spin a yarn. In particular, the SF elements of this book rank among the most engaging in recent years, with an escalating sense of wonder that is firmly rooted in "possible" science (as opposed to, say, pure fantasy). The vibe is part Firefly, with an honorable schoolboy captain and his motley crew, and part high-adventure ala John Varley's Titan (this is an obscure reference fro many, harkin

...more

I haven't read anything by the two authors who comprise James S.A. Corey, but they can, collaboratively, spin a yarn. In particular, the SF elements of this book rank among the most engaging in recent years, with an escalating sense of wonder that is firmly rooted in "possible" science (as opposed to, say, pure fantasy). The vibe is part Firefly, with an honorable schoolboy captain and his motley crew, and part high-adventure ala John Varley's Titan (this is an obscure reference fro many, harking back to the 1980s, but is a remarkable mirror of Leviathan Wakes). They traverse the solar system that has established societies on Mars and the asteroid belt, in pursuit of (or being pursued by) an inscrutable and ancient alien. This is what space opera was meant to be. For the world building alone, this book is worth the read. However ...

Yes, there need be "howevers". For in the body and interstices of the narrative structure, the authors fill with: (a) Testosterone. Not just "fill in" but perhaps "lacquer with". Numerous brawny battle scenes and chase sequences. Two male POV characters, both of whom are chauvinistic, inordinately chivalrous and stubbornly self-righteous. The best character, in my opinion, does not have a POV of her own and for the bulk of the book is a ghost; Julie, the alien victim, I think would have had a compelling story to tell if only given the voice. The XO Naomi may also have given a meaningful feminine POV to the story and softened the implied masculinity in her character in the early going. (I peeked at the sequel and found the authors have fixed the T issue in the next book.) (b) Dialogue and character motivation. The main characters are Holden and Miller. Holden, who closely matches Captain Mal of the Firefly TV series is a straight-shooter imbued with an idealistic Wikileaks streak. Miller is a middle-aged cop detective pastiche who is presented in a noir haze like perhaps a Dashielle Hammett in space. Both Holden and Miller engage in prolonged existential arguments and soliloquies that lulled me to disorientation.

But despite the howevers, and in much the same way that the cult book Revelation Space captures attention by its strong SF storyline (overshadowing any of the head-scratching acts of the characters), the authors present an endearing tale. A good first entry in this trilogy that promises more good things to come.

(less)

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Aug 07, 2011 Neil Pearson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Daniel Abraham (as one half of the amalgam author James SA Corey) is clearly on a roll this year with not only an impressive new fantasy series but a pretty impressive sci-fi series as well. This book is set in a near future where humankind has managed to colonise the solar system but does not yet have the means for interstellar travel. I like the idea of this setting as it's a stepping stone that is often forgotten about in favour of galaxy spanning adventures. This setting is used to explore h...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Apatt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first "inter-solar" space opera I have ever read (or remember reading). The era of the setting is also interesting, neither the near future nor particularly far-flung. This is set at a time where space colonization has been going on for some years but mankind is still restricted to our solar system, intergalactic travels are still a dream, or a science fiction concept. The year is not indicated in the book so my guess is about 100 years from now, 200 tops!

The book is an interesting h...more This is the first "inter-solar" space opera I have ever read (or remember reading). The era of the setting is also interesting, neither the near future nor particularly far-flung. This is set at a time where space colonization has been going on for some years but mankind is still restricted to our solar system, intergalactic travels are still a dream, or a science fiction concept. The year is not indicated in the book so my guess is about 100 years from now, 200 tops!

The book is an interesting hybrid of noir detective and space opera, with a touch of Lovecraftian horror. The prose style is crisp and clear though without ever achieving elegance. The action sequences are very well described, scenes where the characters are inside a space ship under attack by another ship are quite vividly written, I can practically feel the scenery shaking like they do in star trek episodes. There is also an interesting contrast between commercial freighter and military spaceship. Both the space opera and the noir detective aspects of the book work reasonably well in the first half of the book, though I did find the pacing flag a bit from time to time.

Alternating chapters between two protagonist point of views is fine and it is easy to follow because there are only two of them, but I wish the authors had not subtitled every chapter with the name of the POV protagonist, switching back and forth between the two of them. This approach works well for their friend George R.R. Martin's ASOIAF books but it is unnecessary here as there are only two POVs, this becomes even more glaring when the two protagonists are together, the narrative is told in the third person after all. It seems like belaboring the obvious, still it does not really detract from the book, just a minor irritation.

The authors made quite a lot of effort to develop the characters, especially the two main protagonists. They partially succeeded as Miller is quite an intriguing and pitiful character in spite of being a walking noir anti-hero detective trope. Captain Holden is too righteous and self doubting to be appealing. The supporting characters have their own quirks but they did not really come alive for me. I did not find myself particularly invested in any of them.

To their credit the authors did bring their A-game for the final stretch. The pace picks up considerably in the last 50 pages or so and the climax is quite thrilling and surprising. Over all this is a readable book, though I do not feel addicted to the series and I am a little ambivalent at this point about whether I will continue with the second Expanse volume Caliban's War.

* James S. A. Corey is a pseudonym used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.(less)

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Apr 24, 2011 Justin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-debut, science-fiction, read-2011, noir, space-opera, 2011-release, hachette

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2...

First of all, I need to give some kudos to Orbit Publishing. I was first exposed to Orbit a few years ago when they released the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks in its entirety over a few months. This strategy provided Weeks with a strong shelf presence and offered reader's an assurance of a completed story arc.

Last week Orbit released The Dragon's Path, Daniel Abraham's highly anticipated first book in a new series. Attached to the end of the eBook ver...more http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2...

First of all, I need to give some kudos to Orbit Publishing. I was first exposed to Orbit a few years ago when they released the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks in its entirety over a few months. This strategy provided Weeks with a strong shelf presence and offered reader's an assurance of a completed story arc.

Last week Orbit released The Dragon's Path, Daniel Abraham's highly anticipated first book in a new series. Attached to the end of the eBook version of Dragon was an advanced copy of Leviathan Wakes, Abraham's first foray into science fiction under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey (along with co-author Ty Franck). This inclusion has ensured that readers will begin to associate Corey with Abraham and furthermore it gives the online community an opportunity to give Leviathan some love before its wide release in June. Orbit clearly understands how the publishing industry is changing and they are responding. Now, on to Leviathan Wakes.

Leviathan is equal parts science fiction, horror, and crime fiction. Over the past few years we have begun to see drastic changes to the traditional science fiction and fantasy model. I have even begun to see literary terms like modernist and post modernist thrown around. Leviathan is not these things, in fact it's quite the opposite. It is a refreshing return to the science fiction many of us grew up on.

Set in our solar system with a technology level we can conceptualize Leviathan does not reinvent the wheel. The outset of the novel sets a grisly scene reminiscent of the sci-fi horror film Event Horizon leaving an entire ship dead. This simple event throws the solar system into open conflict pitting Mars against the Belters - those living on asteroids in orbit around the outer planets.

Corey tells the story from only two points of view - one a boy scout freighter officer and the other a hard boiled detective who would slide seamlessly into a James Ellroy novel. So many novels in the genre really suffer from the misunderstanding that ten POVs makes for an epic novel. By only showing the thoughts of two characters Corey tells an epic story in a very personal way. It gives his characters authenticity and gives the reader a sense of empathy.

Many who have read Abraham before are familiar with his excellent command of the English language. The Long Price Quartet was beautifully written and while Leviathan is well written it lacks a certain flare that I got from Abraham in the past. My guess is this is intentional. Where many science fiction novels feel vast in a spatial sense, Leviathan feels claustrophobic. From the Belters living in domes completely reliant on imports of air and water to submarine-esque spacecraft, Corey's vision of the future is somewhat bleak.

Leviathan is almost assuredly the first book in a series. Corey never takes the reader to Earth or Mars. I suspect that future novels will focus on the inner planets. With that said, Leviathan absolutely stands on its own and while I look forward to future novels, I don't feel like I need them tomorrow.

In all, Leviathan is a very satisfying read. Potential readers should remember to expect a certain amount of nostalgia for the past days of science fiction as well a certain noir flavor typical of early century crime fiction.(less)

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Jan 26, 2012 librarianh20 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-12-lariat

The cover made me grumble--"Hard-core sci-fi! And 500 plus pages!" but I really enjoyed it. It's a great blend of sci-fi, noir, horror, and adventure. The story is character-driven, which is my preference, and reminded me strongly of Battlestar Galactica, which is a very good thing.

Humanity has expanded out beyond Earth. Earth, Mars, and the "Belters" are the major players, but then something....else comes along in the form of brown goo and vomit zombies.

Jim Holden--ship captain, bad habit of ha...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Algernon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

For once, I think the hype around the launch of a new series is justified. It's true this is not really a new author, I have already read and liked both The Long Price and The Dragon Path by Daniel Abraham. The Expanse looks set to become one of my favorite space opera books.

Humanity has reached the outer limits of our Solar system, colonizing the Moon, Mars, the asteroid belt and the satelites of the outer planets. Yet human nature hasn't changed much with the centuries and this futuristic set...more

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Aug 10, 2011 William rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book is a collaboration between Daniel Abraham and debut author Ty Franks, I wouldn't have said it was obvious that it was written by two authors and their writing does seem fairly consistent throughout. Abraham has been one of the best new fantasy authors of recent years (his “Long Price” series being particularly good) and it’s to Franks’ credit that his chapters are comparable in quality to those written by his more experienced co-author. The quality of the writing is good throughout, and...more The book is a collaboration between Daniel Abraham and debut author Ty Franks, I wouldn't have said it was obvious that it was written by two authors and their writing does seem fairly consistent throughout. Abraham has been one of the best new fantasy authors of recent years (his “Long Price” series being particularly good) and it’s to Franks’ credit that his chapters are comparable in quality to those written by his more experienced co-author. The quality of the writing is good throughout, and I thought the pacing was good as well. It doesn't take long for the plot to become interesting and it does a good job of increasing the amount that is at stake in successive increments, starting from what appears to be a simple act of piracy and ending with the future of humanity at stake. It does also tell a complete story, even if there is plenty of potential for plots for the later books in the series.

I thought the characterisation was also good, although the two main point-of-view characters get a lot more character development than the rest of the cast. The alternating point-of-views worked well, particularly in showing the different ways in which Holden and Miller deal with crises and it was particularly interesting to see how one main character appeared from the perspective of the other. Miller’s abrupt way of dealing with problems provides some of the book’s most memorable moments.

I liked the setting as well, most space opera stories seem to span several star systems but in Leviathan Wakes humanity is confined to the solar system due to the lack of faster-the-light travel. I thought it was a fairly plausible-sounding portrayal of how humanity would colonise the solar system, although in some places it could have done with a bit more detail (we never really hear much about what motivates the Earth or Martian governments even though it has quite a bit of relevance for the plot, but maybe we will in later books). It does a good job of conveying the claustrophobia and the perilousness of life on an asteroid colony. It does have a slightly old-fashioned feel to it and couldn’t really be said to be at the cutting-edge of Science Fiction writing, but there’s nothing wrong with a good, traditional Space Opera.

Overall, I thought this was a very good Science Fiction novel, particularly considering it is the first novel for one of the co-authors.

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Jul 04, 2011 David Monroe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: space-opera, science-fiction, arc-review, noir, mystery, thriller

Leviathan Wakes is an old-school space opera with noir and horror elements woven throughout. It's a collaboration between Daniel Abraham (author of the recently-released The Dragon's Path) and Ty Franck, personal assistant to George R. R. Martin. It's a thriller that happens to occur in outer space. If you are wary of science fiction, this would be a good introduction. If you love the old-school science fiction of "Doc" Smith, Heinlein and Alfred Bester, you'll love this.

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May 12, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system un

...more

Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to The Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

Review

It's been too long since we've had a really kickass space opera. LEVIATHAN WAKES is interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written, the kind of SF that made me fall in love with the genre way back when, seasoned with a dollop of horror and a dash of noir. Jimmy Corey writes with the energy of a brash newcomer and the polish of a seasoned pro George R. R. Martin A winning blend of old-school space opera and modern sensibility... Corey combines no-nonsense storytelling with hard-boiled dialogue as the novel races to a truly cosmic ending. An excellent start to a promising new series THE TELEGRAPH Corey... has created a refreshingly blue-collar tale, with well-drawn characters and a compelling narrative sweep. Roll on Book Two. FINANCIAL TIMES LEVIATHAN WAKES is an amazing book. In fact, there is not a single negative thing I can say about the novel, which delivers in all phases including setting, characterization, story, pacing, prose, and from a purely entertainment standpoint. Simply put, LEVIATHAN WAKES is the best novel I've read in 2011 so far FANTASY BOOK CRITIC The world building, hands down, is some of the best that I've seen for a space opera novel, with a good cast of characters and story that go along with it ... This novel feels like a breath of fresh air, trading in the galaxy for our solar system, but retaining an sense of the epic SF SIGNAL If you love tales packed with worldbuildy details like how humans cored asteroids, pumped them full of atmosphere, and spun them up for gravity's sake, then you'll love this novel to pieces io9 LEVIATHAN WAKES is space opera for the masses-it asks for little from its readers other than that they show up and enjoy the ride, no doctorate in quantum mechanics necessary. The classic juxtaposition of Miller's hard-edged noir narrative and Holden's idealistic adventure are perfectly suited for one another and together they form the most enjoyable novel I've read so far in 2011. It's fast, it's fun and it's escapist science fiction in the purest sense of the term. One can only hope that The Expanse is expansive, indeed A DRIBBLE OF INK One of the best opening volumes to an SF series in recent memory, one of the most entertaining novels I've read in 2011 and a novel that only has me hungry for more in the series. This is a Space Opera I want to see more of on the shelves SFF WORLD A ridiculously entertaining space opera ... A relentless, page-turning novel with some great character-building WERTZONE So far as cinematic sci-fi goes, LEVIATHAN WAKES is as entertaining and summer-blockbuster as you can get with a 600 page book BOOK SMUGGLERS LEVIATHAN WAKES has it all and I defy you to come away from this book empty handed when I'm talking about things like the death of a battle cruiser, alien infestations on a space station and gunfights in seedy space port hotels ... If you read one science fiction novel this year I'd seriously consider making it this one. Essential space opera reading that bodes very well for future books in the series GRAEME'S FANTASY BOOK REVIEW This new science fiction series begins with an incredible story, complex and well-executed. With an intriguing storyline, vivid characters, and even vomiting zombies, this was highly enjoyable from start to finish. Blending suspense, horror, space opera, and mystery - this first installment is one no science fiction fan will want to miss SCIFI CHICK If you're looking for some Space Opera Noir SF goodness, then read this one, people. It's sure to please. It certainly did good things for me ELITIST BOOK REVIEWS LEVIATHAN WAKES is a big novel full of movie worthy space battles, hand-to-hand combat, near death experiences, a couple of love stories, and a big bad evil to be fought and conquered ... Approachable, easy-to-read, and entertaining GRASPING FOR THE WIND

About the Author

James S.A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. They both live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Find out more about this series at www.the-expanse.com.

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Mar 15, 2013 Hana added it · review of another edition

This terrific new novel blends space opera with hardboiled fiction. If those two genres attract your attention, read on, dear reader. If they don't, read on, dear reader. This book is that good.

Chapters alternate between two characters: the idealistic and naive Jim Holden and the cynical detective Miller. These two characters and a small cast of others pursue and endure an astonishing number of adventures in our solar system, mainly on and around colonies in the "Belt." Speaking of which, the li...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Daniel Withrow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of my favorite recent random library pickups. Once I finished it, I found out that the author is really Daniel Abraham + someone else (sorry, someone else, but I don't remember your name); given how much I've enjoyed Abraham's other books, suddenly this book's qualities made sense.

So yeah, it's space opera. But it does some things really well:
1) The characters are compelling, even if a bit cliched (although the movie could be recast almost entirely using the cast from Firefly, one c...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Vijay Paradkar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked this book. It wasn't perfect, but it was some of the best new science fiction I've read in years. I was a little leery about it being tagged as space opera, because I wasn't sure I liked the genre, but I think that's because it's so poorly or vaguely defined. If I had to define what I consider space opera, I would say that it includes work that combines elements of hard and social science fiction and frontier/seafaring adventure and fuses them into a story that is ultimately chara...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Koen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Charles David George Stross, a Brittish SF writer, indicates on the cover: “An excellent space operatic debut in the grand tradition of Peter F. Hamilton”. I’ve read almost all books from Peter F. Hamilton and the remark on the cover made me curious for the story written by James. S.A. Corey. The story is character driven and each character is described in good detail. You will be introduced to the main charters in the first chapters and further on, each chapter describes a part of the story rel...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Skírnir rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Erstmal zum Hard-SF-Anspruch: ich würde mal sagen, Kategorie "Hardish". Grundsätzlich gibt es keine Magitech; also z.B. keine Schwerkraftgeneratoren, kein FTL, auch keinen FTL-Funk, keine reaktionslosen Antriebe -- also insofern alles sehr solide. Die interplanetaren Antriebe werden als "Epstein-Antriebe" bezeichnet und sollen "modifizierte Fusionsantriebe" darstellen, es ist von Helium-3 als Brennstoff und Wasser als Treibstoff die Rede -- soweit alles schön und gut.
Allerdings scheinen die Lei...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Grady McCallie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's space opera, but I've read better. In the relatively near future, humankind has colonized Mars, the asteroids, and even some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. A cascade of brutal attacks brings Mars and the Belt to the brink of war; meanwhile a washed-up detective tries to locate a missing young woman, and survivors of one of the brutal attacks try to track down the criminals responsible. The canvass is big and intricate, and it's neat to see space opera pitched at the intermediate scale...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Den Dotson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Leviathan Wakes is an interesting read and hard to review. Did I like it? Yes. Did I have issues with it? Yes.

The first issue is this four novels worth of plot shoved into one novel. The story went all the way to a finale and climax at least four times maybe more. The other thing that is apparent is that James S.A. Corey is more than one person. The distinct style of the person writing bleeds through at times and it is jarring.

I so wanted a good space opera with space battles and space stations...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Phillip Welshans rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sprawling space opera involving things like fusion drives, space stations inside asteroids, Mormons building a generation ship to explore beyond the Solar System, vomiting zombies (seriously) and a weapon designed by an ancient alien race to remake life on Earth 2 billion years in the past. Set hundreds of years in the future when humans have fully colonized the Moon and Mars and have established stations on most of the moons of the gas giants and large asteroids in the outer belt.

Yeah, it's a...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Robert H rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Told from the viewpoints of two different characters, this isn't science fiction in the sense that the science is fictional, but extrapolates science that we have today into the future, creating a space opera in the sense of a significant story told against the background of our solar system. It's not hard scifi, but tries to be realistic in the way things work, making the story feel much more grounded than if everyone had been able to just pop over to Mars in a few minutes.

The two different vie...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Brian Sweany rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mega-selling fantasy author George R.R. Martin needs no introduction, but Ty Franck does, at least for now. After quietly honing his craft under Martin’s watch, Franck has started collaborating with fellow sci-fi author Daniel Abrahams under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey. Quite frankly, it’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about science fiction. Like a lot of teenage boys in the 80s, I went from Star Wars to Tolkien to girls and never looked back. That being said, LEVIATHAN WAKES has h...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Tiamat_the_red rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Minor spoilers in this review!

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. The intro was definitely gripping and I was excited to see a book with a female main character but (spoilers) she doesn't reappear until nearly the end of the book and isn't really a character at that point. So both of your main characters are men. This book fails the Bechdel test really, really badly. It felt like the authors were trying because you see women in positions of power all over this book but the only women who ar...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Nathaniel Turner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmm.

This was a difficult book to like, at times. I have no taste for gore/horror storylines, so the aptly named "vomit zombies" were unappealing to me. An intriguing, albeit not unprecedented, take on the shambling menace. This was the crux of the entire book (and, it would seem, the groundwork for the entire series, however long that shall be), so it was pervasive. I didn't hate it, but I didn't particularly enjoy it.

Worse, the profanity. More pervasive than the zombies. I get that many people...more Hmm.

This was a difficult book to like, at times. I have no taste for gore/horror storylines, so the aptly named "vomit zombies" were unappealing to me. An intriguing, albeit not unprecedented, take on the shambling menace. This was the crux of the entire book (and, it would seem, the groundwork for the entire series, however long that shall be), so it was pervasive. I didn't hate it, but I didn't particularly enjoy it.

Worse, the profanity. More pervasive than the zombies. I get that many people don't find a story "real" or "genuine" if the characters aren't cursing up a storm when things go sideways. I disagree. I think it's entirely plausible to avoid modern curses altogether; you can use alternatives ("frell," "rutting," "gorram," and others come to mind) or you can have characters that simply don't curse every other word. Such people do exist, after all.

I did not care for the notable presence of sexuality, but I will point out that the sexuality in this book was remarkably less blatant and graphic than it is in many modern science fiction. I suppose "pulp fiction" may be the term for selling books to the lowest common denominator, and "Leviathan Wakes" was not (quite) pulp fiction.

The book's treatment of religion was... callous, at best. Indifferent, maybe. There was an apparent disconnect between the characters and any sort of genuine religious sense - or maybe that disconnect extends even to the authors, but I can't say for sure. But I do know that, while the book avoids the trends of other Sci-Fi (e.g., Star Trek) in claiming that religion was erased as if it were a black spot on humanity's record, it doesn't quite give it a fair shake. But I wasn't expecting much in that department, anyway.

On the other hand, there was mystery, intrigue, and tough characters. In some ways, Holden and Miller were very likable. Holden more than Miller, though, but I think it was intended that way. Miller is almost an anti-hero, someone who does good things but not necessarily for good reasons, and certainly not with an upbeat or positive attitude. His particular brand of insanity is peculiar, but not necessarily unreasonable. Holden is basically a good person, and believes that everyone is basically a good person, but he's a bit too enslaved to his own emotional well-being to be a real hero.

At any rate, I enjoyed the book, and its flow and structure allowed it to build before entering that inescapable page-turning phase. It also set up handily for future volumes, although I would not expect favorite characters to make much of an appearance. This universe doesn't revolve around Holden and Miller, after all - they just happened to be caught up in the first bunch of events. Someone else will probably be caught up in the next bunch.

Speaking of the next bunch, I may not read future volumes. The profanity, sexuality, and probability of gore/horror elements (evidently, according to the authors, a staple of their work) provide strong dissuading arguments. But it was a fun read, and I am glad that I received it from my dear wife as an anniversary present (after requesting it some months prior, of course).(less)

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Jul 20, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Spaceships and colonization politics and a relentless plot full of action—Leviathan Wakes certainly scratched my old-school science fiction itch. In a grimy near-future solar system, the already tense political situation between Earth, its tenuous ally Mars, and the increasingly independent asteroid belt and outer planet moons is complicated when someone starts blowing ships up for no apparent reason. When a tired Belter detective named Miller gets obsessed with a missing girl who might be conne...more

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Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1)

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