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Leviathan Wakes
(The Expanse #1)
by
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 ...more
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 ...more
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Paperback, 561 pages
Published
June 2nd 2011
by Orbit
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Start your review of Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)

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

Feb 19, 2020
Emily (Books with Emily Fox)
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobooks
(2.5) Need to watch the tv show because damn, I'm disappointed.
_______________________
The moon itself - Phoebe - filled the frame, turning slowly to show all sides like a prostitute at a cheap brothel.
"But you did this for what?.." ...more
_______________________
The moon itself - Phoebe - filled the frame, turning slowly to show all sides like a prostitute at a cheap brothel.
"But you did this for what?.." ...more

I've been gorking out on Urban Fantasy and Romance lately, so mixing it with a FANTASTIC Space Opera was JUST what I needed!
I loved this book because in a lot of ways it humanized a BIG SF world in a way that is normally tough. I cared about the characters, I yelled at them a lot, and I enjoyed every minute! It felt modern and current, and created a really believable world that I wanted to live in and learn about. The politics of Earth vs Mars vs the Fringers, the mystery and vaguely noir-ish su ...more
I loved this book because in a lot of ways it humanized a BIG SF world in a way that is normally tough. I cared about the characters, I yelled at them a lot, and I enjoyed every minute! It felt modern and current, and created a really believable world that I wanted to live in and learn about. The politics of Earth vs Mars vs the Fringers, the mystery and vaguely noir-ish su ...more

Jan 11, 2015
Kemper
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
germs-viruses,
5-0,
expanse,
2017-reread,
2015,
vast-conspiracy,
crime-mystery,
sci-fi,
war,
space
I got nobody to blame but myself for this….
I’ve had a long-standing policy that I will not read an unfinished sci-fi/fantasy series because I spent over a decade waiting for a certain master of horror to get off his ass and finish what he started. Plus, I have no urge to join the ranks of fans of other fantasy writers who seem to spend more time coming up with excuses and side projects rather than producing new books to finish their on-going series.
Ignorance isn’t a good defense, but it’s all I ...more
I’ve had a long-standing policy that I will not read an unfinished sci-fi/fantasy series because I spent over a decade waiting for a certain master of horror to get off his ass and finish what he started. Plus, I have no urge to join the ranks of fans of other fantasy writers who seem to spend more time coming up with excuses and side projects rather than producing new books to finish their on-going series.
Ignorance isn’t a good defense, but it’s all I ...more

Mar 21, 2020
Petrik
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Light sci-fi & space opera readers
Leviathan Wakes was so good; a character-driven space-opera that combines sci-fi, noir, mystery, and a slice of horror into one.
I’ve watched only the first season and a few episodes of the second season, but it was enough to make me want to read all the available books in the series first before continuing with the TV series again. Seriously, amazing movies/TV adaptations boost book sales exponentially more than anything else in the world, and I do believe that The Expanse by James S. A. Corey h ...more
I’ve watched only the first season and a few episodes of the second season, but it was enough to make me want to read all the available books in the series first before continuing with the TV series again. Seriously, amazing movies/TV adaptations boost book sales exponentially more than anything else in the world, and I do believe that The Expanse by James S. A. Corey h ...more

Sep 21, 2011
mark monday
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
scifi-modern,
i-gave-up
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

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

I thought it was great and sad!!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads
Here's another Jessica quirk: I LOVE sci-fi on screen, but I rarely like reading it. I have no idea why. Some things just are.
BUT. I binge-watched The Expanse last week, and it was good enough that it made me curious. There were no giant-insects-as-aliens, no surplus of tech gobbledygook, and no discernible artificial intelligence (the things that make me avoid sci-fi literature, even though I can usually handle the movie version), and what there was was mysteriously ...more
Here's another Jessica quirk: I LOVE sci-fi on screen, but I rarely like reading it. I have no idea why. Some things just are.
BUT. I binge-watched The Expanse last week, and it was good enough that it made me curious. There were no giant-insects-as-aliens, no surplus of tech gobbledygook, and no discernible artificial intelligence (the things that make me avoid sci-fi literature, even though I can usually handle the movie version), and what there was was mysteriously ...more

Jan 01, 2020
Matthew
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Matthew by:
Gary K Bibliophile
Welcome to 2020! My first book finished this year (kind of cheating since I started it in 2019)
This book is very epic . . . and it is only the beginning.
Leviathan Wakes is book one of The Expanse series. I have seen it described as a space opera. I was not quite sure the definition of space opera - although I have seen it used many times and even read a book with that title. So, I decided to use the ol' Google machine on my internet device and this is what I came up with:
From Oxford:
"NOUN
informa ...more
This book is very epic . . . and it is only the beginning.
Leviathan Wakes is book one of The Expanse series. I have seen it described as a space opera. I was not quite sure the definition of space opera - although I have seen it used many times and even read a book with that title. So, I decided to use the ol' Google machine on my internet device and this is what I came up with:
From Oxford:
"NOUN
informa ...more

I enjoyed the story and the world (Mars, the asteroid belt between Earth and Mars, Earth, various mining stations) depicted in Leviathan Wakes. The setting and overall atmosphere of this near-future thriller has a noir feel to it (which only becomes more evident with the appearance of Detective Miller and his investigation into the missing Julia Mao). At times, you feel like you're reading a pulp crime detective novel in the spirit of Raymond Chandler, but Leviathan Wakes does more than answer q
...more

4, turns out husbands CAN be right sometimes stars!!!
This review along with a recipe for Mariner Valley skillet lasagna is now featured on my blog Recipe & a Read: https://recipeandaread.wordpress.com/...
So lets start this one off with the truth: I'm not a sci-fi fan. I don't dislike sci-fi but I have a hard time with it and it tends to get bogged down for me. But, that's neither here nor there because I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Let us begin:
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, fa....nope, wr ...more
This review along with a recipe for Mariner Valley skillet lasagna is now featured on my blog Recipe & a Read: https://recipeandaread.wordpress.com/...
So lets start this one off with the truth: I'm not a sci-fi fan. I don't dislike sci-fi but I have a hard time with it and it tends to get bogged down for me. But, that's neither here nor there because I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Let us begin:
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, fa....nope, wr ...more

Leviathan Wakes broke my reading slump! Listlessly slogging my way through various reads--a couple of which came highly recommended--I was starting to wonder if it I had lost my book love. Then I picked this up for a Book o' the Month read. Expecting a detail dense sci-fi, within the first few pages I found myself hooked, and by page 100, thoroughly reeled in by this hefty genre mash-up. Space opera? Perhaps. Horror? Maybe. Military? Sort of. Mystery in space? Yes, definitely. And if by the end
...more

Scifi is meant to awe its readers while expanding their minds. Leviathan Wakes accomplished both while also incorporating many elements from other genres almost entirely successfully. I am beginning to believe more and more due to stories like this that the best days of scifi are not dead. Yes, Asimov is no longer crafting his nearly perfect stories, but the genre itself continues to grow and experiment. That kind of experimentation has given us this scifi epic and I am extremely happy to experi
...more

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.
Leviathan Wakes is a joint venture of Daniel Abraham, writer of the Long Prince Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin series, and Ty Franck, George R.R. Martin’s former assistant and science fiction writer. They are writing under the pen name James S.A. Corey.
This is the first installment of The Expanse series which, at this point, has seven novels already published which means two things; the series is very successful and I’m very late to this party.
I did some research a ...more
Leviathan Wakes is a joint venture of Daniel Abraham, writer of the Long Prince Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin series, and Ty Franck, George R.R. Martin’s former assistant and science fiction writer. They are writing under the pen name James S.A. Corey.
This is the first installment of The Expanse series which, at this point, has seven novels already published which means two things; the series is very successful and I’m very late to this party.
I did some research a ...more

Okay, I admit it. I was wrong. It's a solid 3-plus star read. Not quite a four, there are a few focus issues...extended time spent in Eros's casino level, f/ex...where the point gets made a bit harder than is good for the story. But my dismissive early review is wrong.
Real Rating: 2.5* of five
**UPDATE 23 October 2018** The Kindle edition is a whopping $2.99! Even *I* would buy it at that price...if I hadn't already read it.
**UPDATE 24 JUNE 2018** I love the series, now in its third season, a lot ...more
Real Rating: 2.5* of five
**UPDATE 23 October 2018** The Kindle edition is a whopping $2.99! Even *I* would buy it at that price...if I hadn't already read it.
**UPDATE 24 JUNE 2018** I love the series, now in its third season, a lot ...more

A fair option of new science-fiction book series.
FRESH SCIENCE FICTION
I have a lot of curiousity about this series since it seemed like a very good option in new sci-fi. I mean, out of the obvious well-known sci-fi space opera books in the market, this "Expanse" series sounded like a good way to read something fresh in the field of sci-fi.
And I was right. I liked the book.
First of all, maybe you already know but anyway, I want to mention that "James S.A. Corey", the author, is a pen nam ...more
FRESH SCIENCE FICTION
I have a lot of curiousity about this series since it seemed like a very good option in new sci-fi. I mean, out of the obvious well-known sci-fi space opera books in the market, this "Expanse" series sounded like a good way to read something fresh in the field of sci-fi.
And I was right. I liked the book.
First of all, maybe you already know but anyway, I want to mention that "James S.A. Corey", the author, is a pen nam ...more

Re-read 7/1/18:
I feel like I've read this book three times now. Sure, not quite true, but I DID watch the Expanse episodes encompassing this book. So close enough. And now, after a third (sic second) read?
Pure love.
This is the gold standard for space opera. :) Everything else is just trying to catch up. :)
My original review still stands, too. :) I love it all. It's as close to genius as this kind of story can get.
Original Review:
Fantastic Space-Opera! I didn't know what to expect when I picked ...more
I feel like I've read this book three times now. Sure, not quite true, but I DID watch the Expanse episodes encompassing this book. So close enough. And now, after a third (sic second) read?
Pure love.
This is the gold standard for space opera. :) Everything else is just trying to catch up. :)
My original review still stands, too. :) I love it all. It's as close to genius as this kind of story can get.
Original Review:
Fantastic Space-Opera! I didn't know what to expect when I picked ...more

5.0 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/TwrwVfmZPeA
Spoiler Discussion: https://youtu.be/08TaOvk1z1s
I absolutely loved this first novel in the The Expense series. This could be a case of reading the right book and at the right time, but Leviathan Wakes has officially earned a place on my favourites shelf. When I started Leviathan Wakes,I was craving a long, absorbing scifi space opera and the book completely delivered.
Despite the length, I read this book very quickly, picking up the book whenever ...more
Video Review: https://youtu.be/TwrwVfmZPeA
Spoiler Discussion: https://youtu.be/08TaOvk1z1s
I absolutely loved this first novel in the The Expense series. This could be a case of reading the right book and at the right time, but Leviathan Wakes has officially earned a place on my favourites shelf. When I started Leviathan Wakes,I was craving a long, absorbing scifi space opera and the book completely delivered.
Despite the length, I read this book very quickly, picking up the book whenever ...more

Mar 08, 2018
Mario the lone bookwolf
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
science-fiction-new,
corey-james-s-a
This is something special because it is one the first great space operas that got transformed into a magnificent TV series and there are so many other jewels waiting to be adapted. In the best case with enough time to put all the details from the books in the series. It quite kind reminds me of Game of Thrones too, where there are these two worlds of the books and the series with their own fandoms and beef and the books are much better, thank you! A similar writing method, escalating, different
...more

Confession Time: I'm very bad at categorizing genres and sub-genres, so it didn't dawn on me that Leviathan Wakes would be considered a "space opera" until I saw it in the genre listing on the book's Goodreads page. I still don't really know what that is (space opera, not a Goodreads page), despite having read the Wikipedia page and stuff. I think of "space opera" and this comes to mind:

Probably not the same thing. But I did realize that my last attempt at reading a "space opera", The Warrior's ...more

Probably not the same thing. But I did realize that my last attempt at reading a "space opera", The Warrior's ...more

Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1), James S.A. Corey, Ty Franck
Leviathan Wakes (2011) is a science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. It is the first book in the Expanse series, followed by Caliban's War (2012), Abaddon's Gate (2013), Cibola Burn (2014), Nemesis Games (2015), Babylon's Ashes (2016), Persepolis Rising (2017), and Tiamat's Wrath (2019).
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه دسامبر سال 2017 میلادی
عنوان: گستره: کتاب نخست: بیداری لویاتان؛ نویسنده: جیمز اس.ا ...more
Leviathan Wakes (2011) is a science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. It is the first book in the Expanse series, followed by Caliban's War (2012), Abaddon's Gate (2013), Cibola Burn (2014), Nemesis Games (2015), Babylon's Ashes (2016), Persepolis Rising (2017), and Tiamat's Wrath (2019).
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه دسامبر سال 2017 میلادی
عنوان: گستره: کتاب نخست: بیداری لویاتان؛ نویسنده: جیمز اس.ا ...more

Sep 23, 2018
David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
5 "blinded me with science" stars!

I'll write a full review when I have time to really put all my thoughts together. But right now I can say this is one of my favorite science fiction novels ever!
I absolutely loved the way the science of this universe was incorporated into this story. From the way people had different body types based on the different rates of gravity of their worlds, to how the various types of spacecraft all worked in unique ways, the science was very well established and adde ...more

I'll write a full review when I have time to really put all my thoughts together. But right now I can say this is one of my favorite science fiction novels ever!
I absolutely loved the way the science of this universe was incorporated into this story. From the way people had different body types based on the different rates of gravity of their worlds, to how the various types of spacecraft all worked in unique ways, the science was very well established and adde ...more

3.5ish stars.
Good, old-fashioned outer space sci-fi. It's obviously influenced by the old-school greats, and if I'm being honest, doesn't add a lot of novelty to the genre, but it broke me out of a deadly reading slump for which I'll be forever grateful. Who knew such a chunkster could be such a fast read?
There's some awesome world-building going on, particularly the disparity between the inner and outer planets, and the differences in physiology of their respective inhabitants. The tension betw ...more
Good, old-fashioned outer space sci-fi. It's obviously influenced by the old-school greats, and if I'm being honest, doesn't add a lot of novelty to the genre, but it broke me out of a deadly reading slump for which I'll be forever grateful. Who knew such a chunkster could be such a fast read?
There's some awesome world-building going on, particularly the disparity between the inner and outer planets, and the differences in physiology of their respective inhabitants. The tension betw ...more

Jan 18, 2018
Dan Schwent
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2018,
2018-books
James Holden is a crewman on an ice mining ship near Saturn that runs across an abandoned ship and quickly finds itself ambushed. But what does that have to do with a detective on Ceres tasked with finding a missing rich girl and bringing her back to Earth?
I'm only seven years late to the party on this but what's the point of watching a TV show based on a book without being able to annoy everyone by pointing out the differences? One of my earliest memories was watching the re-release of the orig ...more
I'm only seven years late to the party on this but what's the point of watching a TV show based on a book without being able to annoy everyone by pointing out the differences? One of my earliest memories was watching the re-release of the orig ...more

Edit: demoting this to 3 stars because the 4th simply hasn’t been sitting right with me and has generally been haunting my dreams.
I’d describe this novel as ‘extremely okay’. It’s well-written, has plenty of heartwarming and funny moments, likeable characters (for the most part) and plenty of action and intrigue from the get-go as well as consistently throughout. I can absolutely see why they made this into a TV show (which influenced me to read this in the first place), BUT... there’s somethin ...more
I’d describe this novel as ‘extremely okay’. It’s well-written, has plenty of heartwarming and funny moments, likeable characters (for the most part) and plenty of action and intrigue from the get-go as well as consistently throughout. I can absolutely see why they made this into a TV show (which influenced me to read this in the first place), BUT... there’s somethin ...more

3.75 - This space opera meets crime noir is a great start to a series I'm looking forward to continuing!
...more

After watching the TV show enthusiastically, it was only a matter of time before I had to pick up the book series as well, I guess.
This first novel opens up to a colonized Solar system. Humanity has spread to the Moon, Mars, and the Belt, with the furthermost settled region to be around Uranus even. However, as is to be expected, no matter where humanity goes, its problems follow. Thus, Earth and Mars are two competing superpowers with an uneasy alliance while the Belters are the somewhat oppres ...more
This first novel opens up to a colonized Solar system. Humanity has spread to the Moon, Mars, and the Belt, with the furthermost settled region to be around Uranus even. However, as is to be expected, no matter where humanity goes, its problems follow. Thus, Earth and Mars are two competing superpowers with an uneasy alliance while the Belters are the somewhat oppres ...more

The beginning of the Expanse novels, a fantastic world building space opera.
Set in a future where the solar system has been colonized, the furthest planets – outside the asteroid belt is culturally separated from the inner planets. Mars has become a system wide power.
The authors (James S.A. Corey is the pen name for two collaborators) have done an exceptional job at imagining and describing a post-colonization universe where the technical demands of deep space exploration and colonization, and t ...more
Set in a future where the solar system has been colonized, the furthest planets – outside the asteroid belt is culturally separated from the inner planets. Mars has become a system wide power.
The authors (James S.A. Corey is the pen name for two collaborators) have done an exceptional job at imagining and describing a post-colonization universe where the technical demands of deep space exploration and colonization, and t ...more

Apr 07, 2015
Melki
rated it
really liked it
Recommended to Melki by:
The Unholy Trinity - Tom, Dirk and Algernon
This is one of the many reasons why having Goodreads friends is so awesome.
I would have never read, much less even heard of this book had it not been for some GRs buddies with impeccable taste. And believe me, it took some coaxing to get me to read a 560 page space odyssey.
It's a real page-turner, they said, and indeed, it was. You'll fly through it in no time, I was told, and indeed, I would have, had I not picked one of the busiest weeks of my life to read it. This book should ideally be read ...more
I would have never read, much less even heard of this book had it not been for some GRs buddies with impeccable taste. And believe me, it took some coaxing to get me to read a 560 page space odyssey.
It's a real page-turner, they said, and indeed, it was. You'll fly through it in no time, I was told, and indeed, I would have, had I not picked one of the busiest weeks of my life to read it. This book should ideally be read ...more
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