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Jan 15, 2012

mark rated it:

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...

24 comments like (20 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2011

DMS rated it:

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...

16 comments like (24 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Ceridwen rated it:

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.

T More...

20 comments like (27 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2011

Joel rated it:

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 i More...

11 comments like (33 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2011

Jason rated it:

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 b More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

Neil rated it:

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...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 31, 2011

Justin rated it:

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2011...

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 More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Algernon rated it:

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 fu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 25, 2011

Richard rated it:

Leviathan Wakes gave me the most fun read of the year; as far as FUN goes it had more of it than even “The Heroes”, “Wise Man’s Fear” or especially “A Dance with Dragons.” I enjoyed almost everything about this book. I enjoyed the space-jockey aspect, the noir mystery, the vomit zombies, and the WORLD IS GOING TO END back half. It all plays well.

It doesn’t feel like each part shouldn’t naturally lead to the next part and the stakes keep rising in a way that you’re pretty sure the au More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Josh rated it:

This is a good pseudo-hard sci-fi book. It dodges some questions (how do those ship drives work, anyways?) but maintains a good deal of realism that many space operas ignore (acceleration is slow and painful, radiation is a constant threat, etc.).

I love the paranoid feeling this book instills. The world building on that score is really phenomenal. The solar system is a tiny mote in the "galactic biosphere" and humanity is such a new, young race that the elder races (if t More...

1 comment like

Jan 08, 2012

Alytha rated it:

Finished Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (who is actually Daniel Abrahan and Ty Frank aka GRRM's Assistant)

Mild spoilers in the following!

This novel contains two very different stories with two very different protagonists, who happen to meet each other when they inexpectedly have to fight against an alien invasion.

Jim Holden is a bit like a Julian Assange in space, do highly idealistic that he appears a bit naive. He believes that information should be shared fr More...

0 comments like

Jan 04, 2012

Feather rated it:

I had been wanting some space opera lately, so when I was gifted with a Kindle this Christmas, I snatched this up on several friends' recommendations. I devoured it in 3 days, and I came away pleased and interested in the next part of the trilogy.

SPOILERS

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, and I think it was a good thing I had no expectations going in. Again, I liked it. I'm going to get the next book.

I think I liked the story despite itself More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 16, 2011

Jim rated it:

This is the first of an expected trilogy by James S A Corey (pseudonym for Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck). The book was okay, but I don't expect to read beyond this one.

First, things I disliked.

It was like being back in high school gym where guys exhibited their manliness using every four-letter word they knew, whether they made sense or not. Gave a juvenile feel to the whole book (which was at odds with the sophistication of the story--quite annoying).

I have a pe More...

2 comments like

Sep 27, 2011

Silvercharmer rated it:

First, let me disclose that I am a rabid fan of Alastair Reynolds, and always on the lookout for books that read a little on that level. I say this so that you can take this review in the proper context, because this is the first time I really feel like I found something that can sub in for Alastair Reynolds. Not surprisingly, I devoured this book. To put it quite frankly, it's good science fiction, with a "world" that has been crafted by someone who took a hard look at the capabilitie More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Lightreads rated it:

I picked this up expecting a Daniel Abraham book (he’s half of James S.A. Corey), but what I got instead was a scifi summer blockbuster. You know – lots of shoot-outs, a starship chase or two, a splatter of space horror, a bit of light weight philosophy, no surprises. Oh, and the characters, ahaha. One of them is an idealist forced into command by circumstance; the other is an alcoholic and divorced failing cop whose only emotional tie is his creepy fetishy love affair with a missing girl half h More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 28, 2011

Richard rated it:

I picked this partly on a whim as Borders began It's wholesale liquidation and partly because GRR Martin endorsed it. I was worried as i dug deeper (after purchase) i found that there was a deeper relationship and hoped it just wasn't just covering for a friend. Shouldn't have worried. It was excellent. Not reading Science Fiction much lately, I didn't know what to expect. What I got was an excellent story with two primary POVs threading alternating chapters. When the characters were far a More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Adam rated it:

I was supposed to savor this book, really, but this excellent space opera practically forced me to finish it in two days.

If you've played or are familiar with the Dead Space video game franchise, the plot of Leviathan Wakes will be familiar. Humans plunging headfirst into the depths of space, corporate greed, military control of a government coverup, a nasty bug that zombifies its victims, morality and mortality, the cramped confines of space vehicles, and a dead love interest as a c More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Bruce rated it:

Even though he grew up in the gravity well of Earth, executive officer Jim Holden of the Canterbury is comfortable with his job hauling icebergs from the rings of Saturn back to the fifty million customers now living in the asteroid belt. In the century and a half since it was settled, the Belters, long and lean by Martian or Earth standards, have developed their own culture and ethos, but still Holden is comfortable among them. But his comfort disappears when his ship gets a distress call that More...

0 comments like

Aug 11, 2011

Dotarvi rated it:

I loved this book. I was trying to explain what I loved about it to my sweetheart without giving away any spoilers. What I came up with was roughly this:

Most writers seem to fall into two camps: those who have the craft *down*, amazing prose, great technique, but can't seem to tell a story to save their lives and then those who can tell a story, but their grammar is awful and they don't know any words with more than two syllables. Then there are those few who have both.

This b More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 03, 2011

Thomas rated it:

I'm just going to get it out of the way: This book is awesome. If you have even a passing interest in sci fi (IE If you enjoyed Star Wars or Pitch Black) then you should read this book.

Leviathan Wakes is a sci-fi book first, and a horror/noir book second. The book does a good job of avoiding falling into normal nerd fallacies, such as over-explaining how ship drives work/etc. Things are explained to the point of believable and left alone. The story stays the true star of this book More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2011

Blake rated it:

First, my usual disclosures: I count Daniel not only a friend, but a mentor; his Long Price Quartet profoundly influenced my present trilogy. So, clearly, I can't be completely objective regarding his work. However, I don't know Ty. I think I stood next to him back when WorldCon was in Denver. In fact, I'm pretty sure I accidentally spilled beer on his shoes at some post-Hugo party. In for a penny, in for a pound...so I can claim to be pretty objective regarding him. Not that I dislike his contr More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Chip rated it:

Given the high ratings here and good reviews on Amazon, I was really looking forward to this. The book started well enough, but ended up being, at best, an average read, and overall a vast disappointment. Numerous examples of lazy writing and plotting, and, again and again, the writing, the characters, and their actions just didn't ring true - sufficiently so that that became a real (and very annoying) distraction. One example (minor spoiler) - one of the two viewpoint characters, who was seco More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Jacqie rated it:

This is a pretty good old-fashioned space opera. The Vomit Zombies are not on-screen as long as one might fear, and although there are some horror aspects, this is not a horror book.

Our time and setting is the solar system as man is just beginning to colonize the outer planets. Mars and the Moon have a fairly well-developed society, some of the outer moons of the gas giants are being used for research stations, and the Belt is sort of a colonial frontier. Think of a setting kind of More...

0 comments like

Jun 14, 2011

Jo (Mixed Book Bag) rated it:

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse) is old time Science Fiction combined with some old time detective work. Humans have made their way out into the Solar System but have not found a way to get to the stars. However, over 2 billion years ago something sent a package designed to make major changes to life on Earth. Instead of hitting Earth the package got caught on one of Saturn’s moons and now that package has been discovered. What follows is a race full of twists, turns, tension, and danger.

More...

0 comments like

Feb 06, 2011

Allison rated it:

Corey says in an interview in the back that this book isn't hard sci-fi, but science, futuristic technology, and space travel are all at the core of this novel, so to me it certainly had that flavor. I haven't read a good, true sci-fi book in a while so this was definitely welcome. I really enjoyed the characters. Though they were a little bit cookie-cutter at times (the righteous captain versus the cynical police detective) they both had flaws and were forced to make choices that made them much More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

Max rated it:

Well, that was surprising. I only picked this book up because I was looking for a short book of something else than fantasy to get back to ASOIAF afterwards, but the story sucked me in and refused to let me go for way too long. In fact, I have spent almost all my free time of the last three days on this book, instead of learning for the upcoming exams. Go figure.

So, about the book. First off, let me tell you that I am by no means an expert on Science Fiction. The last science fiction b More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

William rated it:

I thought Daniel Abraham's "Long Price Quartet" was superb but wasn't so impressed with his other book out this year, "The Dragon's Path", so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this but although the writing is probably more like The Dragon's Path than the Long Price books I thought this was a very enjoyable book.

Although the book is a collaboration between Abraham and debut author Ty Franks, I wouldn't have said it was obvious that it was written by two author More...

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2011

David rated it:

A an old-school space opera with noir and horror elements woven throughout. Leviathan Wakes is 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.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 25, 2011

KarenF rated it:

I don't read a ton of science fiction but when I find one where the science doesn't overwhelm the fiction I tend to really enjoy it. For me, this was that kind of book. In some ways it was a great popcorn movie type book, like Aliens, with lots of action, some humor and a lot of building tension. But I found the characters to be deeper than that. In some ways they are stock, the idealistic young Captain and the grizzled older hard case detective. But they are more human than that.

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0 comments like

Jun 25, 2011

Louise rated it:

(4.5 stars)

Leviathan Wakes has everything to make it a Hollywood blockbuster. The classic battle of good versus evil, incredibly tense space fights, near zero-g close combat, awkward relationship dynamics, and a likeable crew of ragtag space cowboys brought together by a common goal. Reading this whopper of a book brought me to the good ol' days of experiencing Battlestar Galactica and Firefly for the first time.

If mentioning those two shows turn you off, then this book p More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)