The Sword and Laser discussion
This topic is about
Leviathan Wakes
2012 Reads
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LW: I like this book!
I despise Lem threads. People all too often just bash the book and don't give specifics about what they don't like. I personally think if you are in a book club you FINISH THE DAMN BOOK before you comment on if you like it or not. Seems like there are lots of people who lem every book. To these individuals I'd ask, why are you in a book club then?Maybe goodreads needs an additional status for "didn't finish" that you could add to whatever the books rating is. This would be of great use to me when looking at books since I don't want to see the opinon of people who didn't finish a book and can't give a comprehensive review.
EDIT: I don't mean to say not to comment like "Hey I love the book so far!" or "Its not grabbing me yet" I just mean don't give a full review on the threads when you obviously didn't read the whole thing. Again, from my perspective I'm only interested in complete reviews which is impossible for people to give when they don't finish the book.
You can mark a bookshelf as 'exclusive' and then call it 'lemmed' or something. I finished the book, by the way.
I'm enjoying it so far. I love the setting (yay, solar system!) and I like how different Holden and Miller are, but at their core, they are decent people.
Tamahome wrote: "You can mark a bookshelf as 'exclusive' and then call it 'lemmed' or something. I finished the book, by the way."Yeh, I saw. The book didn't seem that long to me when I listened to it but then again at 3x speed it would be a faster read/listen. I'm rereading LW on kindle since I admit I know I missed parts while listening.
I know you said it took you 6 months to finish.
I am listening to LW as I level up a death knight. Got my sword, got my laser. I am about 1/4 of the way in and I am enjoying it. Also, I forget where to farm bear meat. Felwood?
I read this book quite a while ago. Most likely right after its release. So glad it turned up here. It's a good quick read. Nothing too deep or original; just a great page turner. What I need after the last pick.
I'm enjoying the book so far. It's kind of nice reading some old-fashioned science fiction that's not too heavy.
As I said in another thread I like it as well.The Characters are likable, the story light (in a good way) sci-fi, I like the mystery so far (302 pgs in at this moment) and after finishing Gillian Flynn's Amazing! Gone Girl yesterday I need something lighter...that woman has a damn deep dark side :)
Yep, love it here too. Nicely paced, characters you can get to know. I think it's what they describe as a "rollicking read", lol. It's honest about what it is: a mystery story set in space. It's not trying to be literary, it's not trying to convey some great message. I will almost certainly pick up the second book on the basis of the first 40% or so; fingers crossed it stays as good.
It got off to a slow start in the early chapters as they introduced the world & the characters (I'd give the edge to the writing of the Miller storyline there), but it soon picked up & turned into a really great read.I actually have created a "lemmed-it" bookshelf. I don't give the books I put here a star-rating, but I do try to explain why I put it here.
Richard wrote: "It got off to a slow start in the early chapters as they introduced the world & the characters (I'd give the edge to the writing of the Miller storyline there), but it soon picked up & turned into ..."I liked Miller's, but I actually like Holden's story a little more. I guess that speaks well. Both enjoyable characters though.....Minor, Minor spoiler maybe................................................
It took me until Eros to keep Alex and Amos straight though.
Loved it. 30% through Caliban's War now and its even better.
@David I agree Caliban's War takes everything good about LW and makes it better and introduces some interesting new characters.
Paul wrote: "It took me until Eros to keep Alex and Amos straight though. "Seriously! I'm on pg 100 or so and still struggle to remember which name goes with which scenario. I'm sure it gets better, and I'm not sure why it is difficult this time around.
Jenny wrote: "Paul wrote: "It took me until Eros to keep Alex and Amos straight though. "Seriously! I'm on pg 100 or so and still struggle to remember which name goes with which scenario. I'm sure it gets better, and I'm not sure why it is difficult this time around."
I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I attributed it to my sporadic reading at first, but sounds like it might be a more systemic issue.
Jenny wrote: "I'm on pg 100 or so and still struggle to remember which name goes with which scenario. "I've been using the kindle app highlight and note taking feature. When I read through the first couple of chapters I highlight the first mention of each character and any further description of them given later. So if I come across a name later and I'm having problems trying to remember how they fit in then I just pull up the highlight listing and go back to their introduction.
I wish I had had this feature when reading LotR when I was younger. I could never keep the stupid dwarves straight and during the council meeting I remember having to page back a lot see who was who.
Nick, what a great idea!
I'm already reading the follow-up. Yeah, great series, very engaging.
Half-way through and loving LW so far. It's a fairly light, quick read. The characters and mysteries are interesting enough to keep me reading. So far, I like Miller the best. (And for some reason I've had no problem keeping Alex and Amos straight.)
It gets better when things start exploding.
I'm enjoying it, about two thirds of the way through. On the audiobook Alex has a Southern drawl, while Amos sounds more like a dockworker, so they're easy to tell apart. A bit more slime than I expected, which may be a complaint in my meatspace bookclub. I think the authors just got a kick out of saying '(view spoiler)'.
I loved LW when I read it when it came out. I'm almost finished with the follow-up, Caliban's War, now and am loving it as well.
kvon wrote: "(view spoiler)"I may give it five stars for introducing that phrase to my vocabulary alone. It is the perfect thing to wake my husband up with when the kids are ill in the night. "Hey, honey...wake up. We've got (view spoiler)"
I love the pacing! im halfway through and so far it feels like three big events have happened that other authors would have used to end the book and make you continue with the next in the series. Its nice to get some pay off. :)
I'm about 30% of the way through the book now (I only started reading it yesterday) and I really quite like it. Is it the next Dune or Hyperion? Probably not but it's an enjoyable read.It also makes a nice change of pace after Hyperion and Tigana which are very "literary" works with a slightly archaic and floral verbosity to them and so to me it's refreshing to read something that's nice and fairly straightforward. I think I will check out Caliban's War after this because so far I am enjoying this story.
Don't get me wrong, I loved both Hyperion and Tigana (Tigana in particular was a bit of a slog, took me almost 5 weeks to do) but sometimes it's nice to go for something a little easier on the brain.
Nick wrote: "I despise Lem threads. People all too often just bash the book and don't give specifics about what they don't like. I personally think if you are in a book club you FINISH THE DAMN BOOK before yo..."I'm with you there Nick. Even though I didn't like either 'The Magician' or ' Tigana' I pushed through to the end so I could have an honest opinion of the whole thing.
Oh and I am about half way through LW and liking it so far. This seem to be the 'honest to goodness spaceships book' that Tom has been promising us for months:)
I haven't started it yet, but I'm glad everyone's saying it's a nice, light spaceship story. I get too lazy to invest in more literary books during summer.
I enjoyed this one; nice pacing, interesting characters and politics.The only minor issue I had with it is that I don't think it passes the Bechdel Test, which is something of a feat for a 500+ page book. (I might be a bit foggy on this; I only thought about this after I finished it).
The sequel is better in this regard with two great female characters introduced.
I read LW shortly after it was released and really enjoyed it. I agree with Alterjess, it probably wont go down as a classic of science fiction, but I found it a fun and entertaining frolic across space.
I'm two-thirds in, and as a pulpy sci-fi summer read, it's not bad. Nothing earthshaking or even very compelling about it, but it's a decent read, so far. However, unless it blows me away in the final chapters, I doubt I'll return to The Expanse in the future.
Mark wrote: "I am listening to LW as I level up a death knight. Got my sword, got my laser. I am about 1/4 of the way in and I am enjoying it. Also, I forget where to farm bear meat. Felwood?"You rule, Mark.
I'm only a fifth or so in, but I think I already disagree with the assertion that the book has little weighty to say. I think the byplay about prejudice is at least as substantial as the commentary on patriotism in Tigana. Im quite enjoying it.
Well, there's a first. I finished a book club book on day 2. Guess I'll read the free bonus sword book that came with the ebook.I fully enjoyed LW. Fast paced, with a good mix of noir detective story, pulpy space opera, and a little bit of horror (and zombies!) for good measure. I'll definitely be reading the 2nd book in the series. The sneak peek already has me wanting more.
Fully enjoyed it as well, especially the conflict between Inners and Belters. I like how humanity is still so flawed as a species, despite having left the gravity well of Earth. Some people think that leaving Earth behind means that humanity leaves all its flaws behind too, but truth is, it doesn't.
wow so I was suprised when the book came to an end at 50% progress on my kindle. turns out it comes with a free book.. The Dragons path. Nice but I was a little sad that the book was over when I thought I was only halfway through. :P
Lindsay wrote: "The only minor issue I had with it is that I don't think it passes the Bechdel Test, which is something of a feat for a 500+ p..."No, you're right - it does suffer from a lack of properly-developed female characters (although it is good to see two of the minor characters in positions of authority without comment). That was my major niggle with it; Naomi is a foil for Holden's emotional side and Julie for Miller - albeit an imaginary one. I'm glad you mentioned the second book being better on this score - I do want to read it but I'm even more interested now you've said that.
I would agree it has quite a lot to say about prejudice; and about nobility not always being the best path - Holden really didn't think about the consequences of his actions at all. I still think he was right to release information but his timing was terrible!
For those that read the follow-up (Caliban's WAr), your strong female characters are coming. The Marine (Draper?) reminded me a lot of Brienne of Tarth.
If you like the independent belters fighting to survive against the greed & malfeasance of the big, bad corporation back on Earth dynamic, I can definitely recommend Heavy Time. The eBook is available from the author here: http://www.closed-circle.net/c-j-cher...Really good belt-miner books seem to be few & far between. The similarities in the descriptions between these 2 books is what made me vote for Leviathan Wakes, a choice I do not regret at all.
Ok I finished the book today (4th book in just over a week) and I still like it :Dcheers friends.
Caroline wrote: "No, you're right - it does suffer from a lack of properly-developed female characters (although it is good to see two of the minor characters in positions of authority without comment). That was my major niggle with it ...The reason I gave it a "pass" on the issue is that I think that there are only two well-developed characters in the whole book and it just feels like luck-of-the-draw that they're both men.
But I was very glad to see Bobbie and Avasarala in the next book.
I really enjoyed Avasarala and her foul mouth :)
I liked LW. I didn't love it. I appreciate the author(s)' desire to fill that oft-neglected space between near-future SF (cyberpunk/post-cyberpunk/transhumanism/singularity stuff) and far-flung future space opera. It's a murder mystery dovetailing with a Hitchcockian political thriller/chase IN SPACE, and it works absolutely fine on that front. It makes some pointed commentary on current events (e.g, freedom of information vs. secrecy for security's sake).
I was irritated by the (view spoiler). But otherwise, a fine read.
Joe wrote: "I was irritated by the"I don't have a problem with the concept - but I have an adverse reaction to using generic words like "creature" or "monster." I don't think they do it in LW but there is a passage in the next book where those words are over used and it distracted me in a bad way. Other than that it was a great read.
Tamahome wrote: "I finished the book, by the way."I finished it too, even though I felt at times like strapping it to a crash couch and tossing it down a gravity well. ("You know nothing, Jon Snow.")
Escapism without memorable ideas. I think it appeals more to fans of crime fiction than science fiction.
(I was hoping for Paula Mayo or the melding plague.)
Joe wrote: "I was irritated by the"
Me too, at least it didn't include any vampires.
Joe wrote: "I was irritated by theSame here. I found myself wishing they'd chosen some other word to use, just not that. (view spoiler)
Oh, I dunno - I liked the term (and not just for silly reasons). It made it all the more horrifying to me. The characters clearly saw them as still human and depersonalising it, as you suggest, would definitely have lost that edge, for me. Depends what you've been exposed to (ho ho) lately, I suppose - I've avoided a lot of it.Still tired of vampires, though.
The term (view spoiler) seemed like the sort of thing a layperson would say, so it didn't bug me. It didn't feel to me like (view spoiler) so much as they were trying to come up with a term that two guys knowing nothing about pandemic medicine would come up with.One the subject of the Beschdel test, the novel does pass just barely - Naomi and the female tech on Tycho (who does have a name, just not one I can remember right now) have a very brief conversation about the ship. It's maybe a third of a page long. So not an impressive cast of female characters, but not a complete fail either? Eh, I'm used to this kind of disappointment.
Alterjess wrote: "The term [spoilers removed] seemed like the sort of thing a layperson would say, so it didn't bug me. It didn't feel to me like [spoilers removed] so much as they were trying to come up with a ter..."Agreed I don't think they were saying they were technically (view spoiler)
Jenny wrote: "Alterjess wrote: "The term [spoilers removed] seemed like the sort of thing a layperson would say, so it didn't bug me. It didn't feel to me like [spoilers removed] so much as they were trying to ..."(view spoiler)
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
Leviathan Wakes (other topics)The Lies of Locke Lamora (other topics)
Heavy Time (other topics)
Red Mars (other topics)
I like this book so far. It's not deep, weighty social commentary, and it probably won't be remembered as an Important Work Of Science Fiction in fifty years, but sometimes you just want a fun page-turning story about spaceships getting blown up!
It's hard to tell how far I am into the book because of the extra content on the Kindle version - it's telling me 20% but I think I'm probably closer to halfway through. I just got to the part where (view spoiler)[Miller and Holden find Julie's body (hide spoiler)].
I am really loving the universe where this book takes place. It reminds me a bit of the Red Mars trilogy - I can easily imagine this book taking place in that universe's future.