Leviathan Wakes
Ratings1,207
Average rating4.2
Alternates between clever and silly. Lacks the awe and wonder I'm drawn to in sci-fi, and the world building stalls out pretty early on. But it mostly kept my attention.
Overall a nice read even if sometimes a little hard to read. Lots of space acronyms
Characters meh
Wow
This book had just about everything that I enjoy! I loved the space opera feel, the elements of horror, and a detective on a case.
Looking forward to the rest of this series!
I desperately want to give this a 5* but there are too many minor issues in the book for me to give it more than a 4-4.5. very very good.
James S. A. Corey are not the most amazing lyricists, so at over 550 pages, this could've easily been a slog. But it isn't—because they never.break.momentum. The chapters are short and in every single one, something major moves the plot forward, another puzzle piece is put in place or a cliffhanger pulls you along. And Corey never become so enamored with their own worldbuilding for it to take center stage for too long. It's all larger-than-life stuff infused with a sense of boyish wonder, so don't expect a great work of art. But all in all, this was really entertaining read, and I‘m already looking forward to starting part two.
3.5–Rounded for Goodreads and rounded up for ... being fun!
Pros: fun, fast, engaging. A good scope: there's lots of sci-fi that's just a little in the future, like the Martian, or way far in the future, like Star Wars / Trek, but this is in between, and that's a neat time to focus on. It gets it right that if we meet alien life of some sort, it's very likely to be so foreign to us that we can't even conceive of what it is (Arrival or Annihilation, not little green men).
Cons: Not the deepest character development out there, but that's not what it's trying to be
4.5. Struggled with the politics at first but I'm glad I stuck with it. Super enjoyed the ending.
Great plot. I found myself making time to listen because I wanted to know what happens next. I wish there were more POV characters though. I was looking forward to Avasarala (who I remember from the first season of the TV show), but she hasn't made an appearance yet! The juxtaposition between Holden and Miller was a bit too on the nose at times.
Maybe kinda nearer to 4.5 stars? Honestly this book was just such a fun time from start to end. One of the quotes on the cover of my ebook copy compares it to a “Hollywood blockbuster” and frankly I can see it. It's just got the right amount of action, humour, personality, plot, and everything in between.
While the book does have its serious moments and has a few amazing quotes, the plot flirted with being formulaic - but just enough so that you have a frame of reference to know where you're probably going before the rug is pulled under your figurative feet as Corey brings the story in a direction wilder than anything you expected.
Holden and Miller make such a great duo, each complementing the other's flaws and crabbiness. Holden is almost your stereotypical white knight, believing wholeheartedly in his ideals with an almost annoying naivete even when it leads him to make decisions that screw people over. Miller is your jaded detective straight out of film noir, coming to terms with the fact that people now see him as a has-been and that he's not as ahead of the game as he thinks himself to be. When they do eventually meet, they both dislike each other for obvious reasons but do come to form a partnership that is convincing and, dare I say it, even heartwarming.
Naomi is also one of the stand-out characters that I've become fond of, much more so than either Holden or Miller. She's just the right amount of spunky but without trying to behave like she's a #girlboss or that she's independent and doesn't need companionship. She's not even above admitting that she has a crush. She's literally the voice of reason in the whole book - we might as well have Holden and Miller wearing “What Would Naomi Do?” bracelets.
I also loved the Solar System politics in this one. It's a little confusing at first but quickly becomes legible. Although human beings have colonized Mars and the Kuiper Belt for so long that the descendants and now-natives of these planets/asteroids have become their own faction with their own cultures and even physical builds, there's something still innately human about all of them and Corey utilises this humanness to build up some very realistic politics between the 3 major forces of the Solar System.
I'm a pretty new reader in science fiction but I've come to enjoy it because I liked how philosophical and abstract a lot of it can get. Leviathan Wakes is nowhere near as philosophical as other sci-fi books and series, but it's taught me how a damn good space opera can read on the page too. Absolutely will check out the rest of the series.
Pretty great, but it's definitely not for everyone. This is near-future, rather “realist” sci-fi. I use the word “realist” in two ways: first, technology hasn't made everything invincible yet. The dangers of space and spaceflight take a central role in the book. The second way I use “realist” is in contrast to philosophical. I find that, while writing about the future, sci-fi writers often have deep insights into the present day and the human condition. I'm thinking particularly of Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?.
I strongly prefer less realist sci-fi. I may come back to this series some day, but it just didn't strike me as a true “great.”
This was amazing! So glad I got recommended this! A lot of the time Sci-Fi goes over my head and I'm not saying I understood a lot of the science stuff, but this is such a great and captivating story that it wasn't an issue. Characters were brilliant, went from liking one of the main POVs to being luke warm by the end and the opposite for the other one! But they were always interesting. Cant wait to jump into book 2 soon.
I've read these books before, but man, if there is a sci-fi series better than this I need to read it. I love everything about them.
I've owned this book for maybe a year and only now, and somewhat reluctantly, decided to read it. And damn, if it's not some of the best sci-fi I ever read!
From chapter 1, I did not want to put it down. And when eventually would, I'd spend my time thinking and theorising about it.
100% recommend!
I had a blast reading it.
Not sure which of the two protagonists I liked more, but I know that it was a well-written space novel that had a lot of smart science based narrative that I can get behind.
To me, The Expanse played out like a good, but not great Star Trek episode. The characters are fairly surface-level, but the story has some interesting twists and turns.
In this expansive (pun intended) space 0pera, we follow 2 main POVs: Holden, who is on the crew of a large ice hauling ship, and Miller, a cop in the Belt. When Holden's ship is shot down during a distress signal rescue mission, he broadcasts to the universe that he found a Mars-built item on the ship, starting off an interplanetary war. Miller is assigned to a mission to find a wealthy family's daughter. During these 2 characters story arcs, we get to see all of the politics that go on, with Mars and Earth always at each others' necks to be the better planet, and the Belters treated as expendable. All of this tension builds up into a full-fledged war. But what Holden, Miller, and the crew discover is bigger than anyone could have predicted.
I enjoyed this book. The disease was the most exciting plot point of the book. It created this really tense, honestly terrifying story of these people trying to survive. The whole arc of Eros had my heart pounding. One of the main reasons I'm giving this 3 stars is that I really did not enjoy reading from Miller's perspective, which was about half of the book. I understand why his character is necessary to the story, I've just never been a big fan of reading books about cops. However, Holden and his crew are great, and the last quarter of the book really redeems Miller for me. The politics took me a while to get the hang of. I could not keep up with what was going on for a while. Also, the ship-to-ship combat was confusing to me. All of the science involved with the ship combat, however, was fascinating and kept me intrigued during these scenes.
All in all, I liked this book and am excited to continue with the series. I'm hoping now that I have a better understanding of how this world works and who the key players are, I'll have a better time with the next book.
TW: body horror, gore, death, violence, gun violence, alcoholism, mental illness, suicidal thoughts, vomit, suicide, blood, police butality, murder, war, drug use, chronic illness, genocide
NEW REVIEW
I was right, the series feels like a carbon copy of the book. Still a good read if enough time has passed since you last saw the first season.
OLD REVIEW
I saw the series, doesn't feel I need to read this
I had no idea what I would read back when I originally picked this book up. This book quickly became a favorite of mine as everything about it was fantastic. Political intrigue, mysteries, a realistic look at living in space, excellent written combat and characters that were real and different from one another. I'd argue that reading this was more of an experience than anything else.
If you're a fan of sci-fi, or really well written books pick this one up.
Ohhhh. Well, this book is a handful. So many things getting destroyed. Now I'm curious from whose point of views the next book would be.
Era da tantissimo tempo che non leggevo fantascienza, mi sono deciso con questo perchè le recensioni erano molto alte, la premessa è che io sono cresciuto a pane ed Asimov e poi va beh Heinlein, Dick, Hamilton, Clarke, insomma i massimi esempi dell'età dell'oro di questa branchia della letteratura; dunque avevo paura e parecchio di rimanere deluso.
Devo dire invece che mi sono dovuto ricredere, la storia è molto bella, ti prende dall'inizio e ci sono tutte le caratteristiche che sono fondamentali in un buon libro di fantascienza: le astronavi, gli intrighi, i buoni personaggi, una storia comunque verosimile, ma quello che è davvero importante è la ricostruzione o per meglio dire l'immaginazione del futuro che verrà. Non per niente la serie di questi libri è stata presa per essere trasportata su Netflix, con un buon successo.
Quello che non ho gradito (ma questa è solo una mia cosa personalissima) sono i nove libri di cui questo è il primo, sinceramente non ho più il tempo e ad essere onesti la voglia, di farmi prendere da queste serie infinite che si protraggono per tutti questi anni. Ormai preferisco leggere singoli romanzi, magari anche molto lunghi, ma l'idea di iniziare una tetralogia, non mi prende come un tempo. Ovviamente la voglia di attaccarmi a leggere il seguito è presente, in quanto l'autore sa scrivere bene e mi ha lasciato incuriosito e sicuramente tra un libro e l'altro prenderò in considerazione l'dea di leggerne altri... ma pensare di leggerli tutti...
Dunque credo che consiglierei sicuramente la lettura di questo romanzo: si legge velocemente, la storia è frenetica, i personaggi reggono e “l'immaginato futuro” è coinvolgente con la guerra tra i pianeti esterni ed interni colonizzati e l'arrivo di una probabile minaccia aliena, soprattutto a chi oggi è abituato a dei libri che fanno l'occhiolino alle serie tv, ma non potrei mai partire da questo per iniziare un neofita alla fantascienza, per me i classici come la serie della Fondazione di Asimov sono imprescindibili per qualsiasi persona che vuole cominciare a leggerne.
