Leviathan Wakes
Ratings987
Average rating4.2
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.
I can't tell if I liked this book because I saw the first season of the show first and could visualize it better or if it was actually good. I do think the book went on one plot beat too much. Like he just needs to break 1k pages or something. Something could have been cut down.
It looks like an scary epic sci-fi. But it really is just a very good epic sci-fi
Full review, as always, over at the SFF Book Review.
This was fun. In fact, I couldn't say it better than Annalee Newitz did over at io9 - this is a Hollywood blockbuster in book format. It was just as much fun, there was action, there is quippy banter between space ship crew members, an ex-cop who is going a little insane (and who was my favorite character overall) and of course a big conspiracy to unravel.
If you don't mind reading 500 pages really fast, if you like space opera and... well, fun, then pick this up. It's a good read.
7/10
I didn't enjoy this book much - I guess it's a score of 2.5. I can't quite put my finger on what has put me off it; other folk have enjoyed it immensely. I found the writing style somewhat old fashioned and cumbersome, and the dialogue stilted. It is a space opera but it put me in mind of 1950's space opera. The plot was okay but I did not engage with any of the main characters
Nice space opera type sci-fi novel. Dragged a little at the end, but I really enjoyed the 2 different character perspectives.
I look forward to reading the 2nd novel.
Oh, and the Kindle version tricked me, it had one of the co-authors fantasy novels attached too, so I was much closer to finishing the book than my percentage was showing :).
My kind of SF, this was interesting and fun.
I watched the TV series and this first book in the series contains much that wasn't (yet) in the show.
Leviathan Wakes is a good book that could easily veer into being a really good book depending on how you look at it.
Goodreads doesn't do the half-star thing, so I'll say that I'm giving this 3 1/2 in heart, but four because three seems cruel. There were a ton of things that this book did right and left me feeling pretty good, while other parts were frustrating and a bit obnoxious.
Holden and Miller, our two protagonists, feel eerily similar throughout most of the book. In fact, at times it is hard to tell them apart other than their different ideals and world views. In the chapters where they were together I'd find myself wondering which character I was really reading because they felt so similar. Thankfully as the book wore on they really differentiated from each other, so that was somewhat forgivable.
I loved the premise and all, but I was pretty thrown off when “vomit zombies” entered the equation. I was ready to stop reading altogether if they were to throw away a great premise and solid characters for a space zombie book, but thankfully it was reined in and didn't lament too much on the walking undead. That's usually a sign of an (or in this case two) aware author.
Looking forward to reading further into the series.
I enjoyed this book. I listened to it as an audible book and it was narrated very well. I am looking forward to the next book.
I should have written my comments earlier, a few months later and I can't precisely remember which parts happened in each book since they all fit together in the same story. I started reading Leviathan Wakes based on the recommendation by John Moltz on The Talk Show.
As you can see by the fact that after the first book I continued through the rest of the series, I liked the books. I kept wanting to read more about the compelling characters who make up the crew of the Rocinante. Besides the crew I also loved the characters of Avasarala and, in Abaddon's Gate, Reverend Doctor Annushka Volovodov.
I enjoyed the future that the authors write, especially that it is not all rainbows like Star Trek. Except for the Nauvoo, which was intended to be a generational ship used by the Mormons (I love that idea!), the future was pretty bleak. And then that one glimmer of hope was hijacked and stolen.
Another thing that jumped out at me is that, with the exception of the Epstein (fusion) drive, none of the human technology in the books is magic. Even the fusion drive doesn't challenge our knowledge of physics, a few hundred years of new technology makes everything seem very plausible. Well, the gates are magic, but they're alien technology, so I give them a pass.
Last item of praise for the series: the aliens are alien! We don't understand the alien technology, we can't communicate effectively with it (Miller shows just how much we can't) and it is just so weird. I don't recall a story that presented such truly alien aliens. And, despite that, the second book covers how we tried to exploit their technology, even though we don't understand it at all.
Leviathan Wakes starts out strong, dumping you into the mystery of Julie Mao and the destruction of the Canterbury. I was captivated immediately and loved how the mysteries progressed and intertwined.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the core concept. It made you want to read on and on to find out who and why. The two main characters are well written making them very relatable and the chapter structure meant you always wanted to get back to the other one.
What started as a 5 star book ended as a 4 star book but I'm still looking forward to reading the next in the series. Hopefully there will be some more answers!
Is this Space Opera? Is this a Murder Mystery? Yes. Yes. It has the best of both of these. This is the best space opera since David Weber's Honor Harrington series lost my interest. Smooth formula of a Murder Mystery. It blends these two genres was well as Firefly blended Space Opera and Western on TV.
The setting is entirely within our solar system and there are no aliens. Some may say this disqualifies it from being Space Opera, but the setting is such that the size and scope matter. Earth, Mars and the Belt are three distinct factions fighting for control or independence. Humans are on the verge or launching a generation ship to fly to the stars. They have a sub-light speed drive, but no faster than light travel. Travel between planets and asteroids takes time and impacts the characters.
Miller is a believable as the over the hill cop with an unbending moral compass. He's fired from his job working security in Ceres after refusing to drop a nonsense case that was only given to him because he way viewed as inept. Investigating the murder of an Earth heiress turned Belt rebel, Julie, he meets up and joins the crew of Holden.
Holden is the captain of a crew of four survivors from the ship that investigates the destruction / sabotage of the ship Julie was on. Holden is the honorable XO that is thrust into the roles of Captain when most of the crew is killed off. His strong belief system clashes with Miller, but they have the grudging respect that comes with people that have different outlooks on life, but respect each other for it.
Like a lot of murder mysteries, the murder isn't as simples as it seems. There are a lot of fast starts and misdirection that keep the reader guessing. This reads a lot like hard science fiction, without having the hard science descriptions in it.
The real story is the compelling character interaction. There aren't any throwaway characters. The deaths matter. The red herrings matter. If you can follow through the various twists and turns the climax is very rewarding.
This doesn't read like the first in a series. It's a well fleshed out world and has a very satisfying conclusion. It will be interesting to see where this series goes in the future. I know the author has a second book in the series and a short story that details one of the shaping events of the first novel.
Note on this version: This version contains two full novels. Both of which are the first book in series by the same author. I didn't know this when I read it. This impacted my reading of the book quite a bit because the climax came about half way into the book, so took me a bit by surprise.
This book was pure caramel corn, action movie fun. The two main characters are both deeply engaging, the dialogue is witty and well-formed, and the pacing is superb. It's a little bit light sci-fi, a little noir, and a little buddy cop all rolled into a tidy volume one. The ending lets it stand alone, but still leaves plenty of room for what happens next. I am desperately hoping Miller's consciousness survived somehow. I enjoyed his point of view the most
Very fun read with interesting characters and a great creep factor. I think my favorite moment is when the detective realizes who he is and it spirals away from him.
Finishing 2014 on a high note. This book is great space opera, with a few surprising twists and two very different main characters in a well written, lived-in, gritty world. Sign me up for the sequels!
Leviathan Wakes was a solid four star rating for me. Non-stop action from the very first page, great characters revolving around a fun and exciting plot. I actually won this book on the Goodreads Book Giveaway, so I was so stoked to receive it in the mail! Honestly, I was actually doubting that those book giveaways were real for a sec...but I was wrong to doubt! So, sign up for those books that you are interested in. Anyways, I digress. This book definitely did not disappoint. The only thing that I had a slight problem with was the size of the book. It was just physically hard for me to fit in my purse, so I had to wait to get home to read this one. Might be best if you get the e-book version of this, or if you don't mind the size, then the paperback is fine too since it's not a heavy book (the cover art is pretty cool).
Bottom line: Definitely would recommend this to my friends, especially those who enjoyed watching Firefly/Serenity. I'm really excited to pick up the second book in The Expanse Series (Caliban's War)!
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.
This is the first book of a truly excellent sci-fi series! It is a self-contained story for the most part, so if you don't want to commit to the whole series, you don't have to... But you should if you like this one even a little, because it just gets better.
This novel follows two main characters and swaps between perspectives every chapter. The Holden chapters are a classic adventure style, with disaster everywhere and death around every corner, while the Miller chapters are styled like a classic mystery, with a detective that obsesses over a missing persons case that he suspects is more than it seems. The contrasting genre styles give the book a really neat feel, and with the sci-fi back-drop of a very believable future in which we have colonized Mars and a few asteroids and moons, the whole reading experience is just very fun and unique.
The characters are well-crafted, the main characters being a mix of classic archetypes (righteous hero, obsessed detective) and unique flaws, and the side characters have tons of potential which they develop in the further books. The plot is extremely original and the “villain” can send chills down your spine. And like any sci-fi book, the real-world social implications are very relevant to today. I held back on giving a perfect score because the story was fairly linear for my taste and I wanted more from the side characters. However, I have given a perfect score to some of the later books in this series.
This was a pretty good space yarn. It was well written and nicely paced. I'm not sure I'll dive into the sequels though. Mibbe.
This absolutely hit the spot. The Miller storyline was pulpy in the way any classic detective story should be, and the Holden plot line told a story that was simultaneously epic and deeply personal, claustrophobic and expansive. I loved the characters and the world that James Corey built here, and can't wait to read the rest of the series.