Book Review: Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, Book 1)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

At a glance:

The first book in the Expanse series, Leviathan Wakes, was a very good introduction into the universe by James S.A. Corey (who is actually two people, fun fact!). This is novel takes place, in large part, in space near the outer planets and sometimes near the inner planets but, notably, not on a planet. The story follows two main characters, Miller, a detective, and Holden, a captain of a small crew. In terms of space opera, this is much harder sci-fi, and explores very realistic settings and problems in space.

What I liked:

First and foremost, my favorite thing about this novel is the way the story lines interconnected. It was a bit of a puzzle for me in the first few chapters, but then the way became clear how they were going to come together. I really, really enjoyed the descriptions and imagery as well. Usually, in science fiction novels, I find that the descriptions tend to be focused on the scenery. Here, it actually explored the characters.

Further, I think the book had a diverse set of characters which felt real. The detective, Miller, didn't feel super cookie cutter to me. Although I cannot say the same for Holden, Miller did feel a bit more distinct and straight from a murder mystery novel. Additionally, I liked the setting was in space primarily. That is by in large my favorite part of this book, they are often in low gravity and adhere, from a layperson's perspective, to the laws of physics.

What I didn't like:

That said, there are plenty of things I also disliked, but not enough for me to want to lower this rating to a 4 star. First, I don't enjoy the apparition that one of the characters constantly sees. I found this to be distracting and taking me out of the realism that the novel goes for. The book is grounded in reality, so having a ghost character really was rather irritating to me, especially when they kept getting a bigger role.

Second, there are a lot of random blurbs of sexual scenes and references that didn't really serve to benefit the novel. For example, there are MANY references to sexual assault which I didn't find necessary at all and was just input to emphasize that some bad guys are, well, bad. Similarly, one of the characters who had amazing characterization prior to the halfway point of the novel, randomly turns into a romantic. I think that the way I could best summarize this is that it was clearly written by men. The female characters didn't feel bad or were poorly written--but they felt one dimensional and only served one or two purposes, while the men in the story were multidimensional and complex.

Concluding Thoughts:

Despite its problems, this book has a great plot, good lead characters, and a whole lot of world building. Although at times the plot can get a bit confusing with how much time has passed and the female characters don't feel as well written, the overall journey is amazing. I really do think that this has entered one of my top five favorite space operas that I have read.

Recommended to:

I recommend this book to people looking for more of a space adventure that really like world-building. There is quite a lot of world building, so much so that I wish I had a dictionary for some of the terms as I read it, but it isn't overwhelming. If you like books like Old Man's War but with the hard sci fi of something like Three Body Problem, then I think this book is for you.