Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)

by James S.A. Corey

The circle of life on Ceres was so small you could see the curve. He liked it that way.

“The circle of life” is one of those phrases you keep running into until it turns into a cliché. Orwell had a whole essay about finding new, striking images or else ways to make old ones fresh again. I remember figuring out that “last ditch effort” was a reference to trench warfare. Made the phrase a lot more meaningful for me. We don’t always do a great job making images fresh, but this one landed pretty well. The other one we particularly like is “stood out like blood on a wedding dress.” Ross Macdonald was a master of that kind of thing. Pity he never did scifi.