Leviathan Wakes

The Expanse series was a real game-changer for me. An epic space opera set in a very real and gritty future with a host of working-class heroes.

James, Naomi, and Amos work in deep space on an ice trawler and only become involved in the action by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When they get swept up in the story, the characters must learn and adapt to navigate the world of politics and espionage.

This book series walks the tightrope of creating a very possible future in space without getting too impeded, explaining the science of… show more.

Come for the space opera, stay for the detective story.

The heart of this first entry into the Expanse series is a missing person case, and I was instantly engaged with the path this plotline took. I found the book has more facets and depth than the TV series (as per usual) and was drawn into the detective’s growing attachment to the missing woman as he grows to understand her fate.

Great science fiction world-building without the flab!

Sometimes, I just want to read a good book. A safe pair of hands, immaculate world-building, a setup that pays off. Leviathan Wakes is one of those books. 

While there are several flawed heroes in the series, perhaps the most broken of all is Joe Miller. A detective for a private security company on a space station, he is laden with all the flaws you’d expect. He has a problem with the bottle and a problem with his boss.

With unconventional methods, a jarring personality, and an indifference to all forms of authority, Miller has the dogged (and often opaque)… show more.

At first glance, the setting is a common one: space. What makes it interesting is that space travel is advanced enough that humans have colonized the solar system, but no further. This makes it different from most space-faring sci-fi I’ve seen.

The plot resolves around the conflicts between Earth, Mars, and the belters, colonists living in and mining an asteroid belt. However, the story involves a lot more than that, including a missing person mystery, a potential war with Mars, and a conspiracy involving a mysterious proto-molecule.

This book is part of a long series, so if you enjoy it,… show more.

I thought I wasn’t a fan of space opera until I started reading Leviathan Wakes. I was drawn in immediately by the worldbuilding, which is some of the richest and most plausible I’ve ever encountered, but it was the characters that kept me reading.

I love a found family story; this series has one of the best. Spending time with Holden and his crew just made me feel happy; I’ve rarely been so invested in a set of characters’ lives and arcs. It felt like I knew them all personally.

I devoured this first book, reading late into the… show more.

Arguably, one should wait many years after finishing a beloved TV show before diving into the books, but after stumbling across Leviathan Wakes – the first book in The Expanse series – in an Oslo bookstore, I couldn't resist taking it with me.

The TV show hews close to the book's beats. Yet, I felt I got a more detailed interior look at the characters by reading the story, which is just the beginning of a massive space odyssey that finds humans encountering aliens – and also learning that some of the aliens are themselves.

Rich, thought-through, and with characters… show more.

The recommendation might seem out of place because Leviathan Wakes is sci-fi rather than fantasy, but James S.A. Corey’s incredible series has all the elements of an unforgettable D&D campaign – strangers thrown together to solve a mystery that threatens the very fabric of life and non-stop action full of twists.

This series is a master-class in world building and storytelling.

These books launched one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time, and are fantastically written space opera.

Humans have expanded into space, living on the Moon, Mars, and the asteroids. We’re on the edge of war, political hardliners aren’t helping… and then a weird, mysterious substance makes things much, much worse.

The science in these books is spot-on, and the storytelling completely absorbing while spanning an epic scale.

The Expanse series is truly expansive world building at its finest.

A science fiction thriller filled with interesting personalities created from Earth’s many factions who now live among the stars (on asteroids and moons) and only one alien, an entity of unknown origin that is being manipulated for different means (end of the human race, anyone?).

Who, what, where, when – it’s all there in delicious and highly imaginative detail.

A masterpiece in this genre that will keep you immersed so much so you won’t want to come up for air. Books are best when you want to live in… show more.

Good world-building is hard to come by, but The Expanse series pulls it off with panache. Credible, engaging, flawed, and loveable characters, science and tech that makes sense (rather than just being a McGuffin), and a fascinating genre blend of sci-fi, noir, and horror makes this a difficult one to put down. One of the main themes of this first novel is an exploration of the dangers of withholding or broadcasting information, but as you explore this universe narratives of tyranny and freedom, intrigue and vision – and, of course, good and evil – collide to make some of the… show more.