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Leviathan Wakes: Book 1 of the Expanse (now a Prime Original series) by [James S. A. Corey]

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James S. A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes: Book 1 of the Expanse (now a Prime Original series) Kindle Edition

by James S. A. Corey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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NOW A PRIME ORIGINAL SERIES

Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the New York Times bestselling and Hugo-award winning Expanse series - over 4 million copies sold worldwide.

'Interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be' George R. R. Martin

Humanity has colonised the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is an officer on an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew discover a derelict ship called the Scopuli, they suddenly find themselves in possession of a deadly secret. A secret that someone is willing to kill for, and on an unimaginable scale. War is coming to the system, unless Jim can find out who abandoned the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money - and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and Holden, they both realise this girl may hold the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries and secret corporations, and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

The Expanse is the biggest science fiction series of the last decade and is now a major TV series.

Praise for the Expanse:

'The science fictional equivalent of A Song of Ice and Fire' NPR Books

'As close as you'll get to a Hollywood blockbuster in book form' io9.com

'Great characters, excellent dialogue, memorable fights' wired.com

'High adventure equalling the best space opera has to offer, cutting-edge technology and a group of unforgettable characters . . . Perhaps one of the best tales the genre has yet to produce' Library Journal

'This is the future the way it's supposed to be' Wall Street Journal

'Tense and thrilling' SciFiNow

The Expanse series:
Leviathan Wakes
Caliban's War
Abaddon's Gate
Cibola Burn
Nemesis Games
Babylon's Ashes
Persepolis Rising
Tiamat's Wrath
Leviathan Falls (coming 2021)

Print length

573 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Orbit
Publication date

2 June 2011
File size

1142 KB
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Review

It's been too long since we've had a really kickass space opera. LEVIATHAN WAKES is interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written, the kind of SF that made me fall in love with the genre way back when, seasoned with a dollop of horror and a dash of noir. Jimmy Corey writes with the energy of a brash newcomer and the polish of a seasoned pro. So where's the second book? (George R. R. Martin)

"Corey... has created a refreshingly blue-collar tale, with well-drawn characters and a compelling narrative sweep. Roll on Book Two." FINANCIAL TIMES --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

James S.A Corey is a collective pseudonym for Nebula award-nominee Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, personal assistant to epic fantasy heavyweight George R.R Martin. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

'Interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be' ― George R. R. Martin

'As close as you'll get to a Hollywood blockbuster in book form' ― io9.com

'This is the future the way it's supposed to be' ― Wall Street Journal

'Tense and thrilling' ― SciFiNow

'Great characters, excellent dialogue, memorable fight scenes' ― wired.com

'High adventure equalling the best space opera has to offer, cutting-edge technology and a group of unforgettable characters . . . Perhaps one of the best tales the genre has yet to produce' ― Library Journal --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

The start of the Expanse series - a fast-paced and thoroughly gripping new space adventure. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

It's been too long since we've had a really kickass space opera. LEVIATHAN WAKES is interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written, the kind of SF that made me fall in love with the genre way back when, seasoned with a dollop of horror and a dash of noir. Jimmy Corey writes with the energy of a brash newcomer and the polish of a seasoned pro. - George R.R Martin

A winning blend of old-school space opera and modern sensibility... Corey combines no-nonsense storytelling with hard-boiled dialogue as the novel races to a truly cosmic ending. An excellent start to a promising new series. - The Telegraph

Corey... has created a refreshingly blue-collar tale, with well-drawn characters and a compelling narrative sweep. Roll on Book Two. - Financial Times

If you love tales packed with worldbuildy details like how humans cored asteroids, pumped them full of atmosphere, and spun them up for gravity's sake, then you'll love this novel to pieces. - io9

One of the best opening volumes to an SF series in recent memory, one of the most entertaining novels I've read in 2011 and a novel that only has me hungry for more in the series. This is a Space Opera I want to see more of on the shelves. - SFF World

A ridiculously entertaining space opera... A relentless, page-turning novel with some great character-building. - Wertzone --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

James S. A. Corey is a collective pseudonym for Nebula award-nominee Daniel Abraham, and Ty Franck, personal assistant to epic fantasy heavyweight George R. R. Martin. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004XCGKYQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit; 1st edition (2 June 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1142 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 573 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 5,960 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 23 in High Tech Science Fiction
- 44 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- 51 in Exploration Science Fiction

Customer Reviews:
14,817 ratings

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James S. A. Corey

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James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham, author of the critically acclaimed Long Price Quartet, and writer Ty Franck. They both live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		26%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Australia

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james cordner

Top hard sci-fi story.

Reviewed in Australia on 14 February 2019

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Just read this book and am really impressed, first time reading anything of James Corey's and am already an avid fan. I am on the wrong side of 75 yrs and have read sci-fi all my life from the pulp fiction mags to all the works of the Grand Masters of the genre and I am delighted that James S A Corey makes the grade and is a delight to read. Am looking forward to reading the rest of this series and later watching the tv series.would highly recommend to any reader of hard sci-fi.

5 people found this helpful

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DougalB

A good read, which I found after enjoying the series.

Reviewed in Australia on 6 February 2022

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I read this book after watching the 1st series of the expanse which I enjoyed. It is refreshing that the creators of the TV series didn't mess to much with the story, however the book unsurprisingly builds more depth in the characters as we as who is doing what and why. James Corey has created a vibrant and interesting universe with Mars, Earth and the belters, I am looking forward to seeing where it goes next.

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Trevor M

Tv series is great, this is better.

Reviewed in Australia on 18 January 2021

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Starts a little slow but quickly picks up speed, for recommendations the book is always better than the movie/tv show. The belters are more alien, there ethics are just as alien. Naomi is a more loyal character then tv and there is a much clearer devide between the fractions(looks,culture,social norms,religion,laws). The tv series is great but this is so much better so far.

One person found this helpful

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AC

Great read

Reviewed in Australia on 28 February 2022

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I still don't understand what happened to the Canterbury or how Julie Mao got trapped on a plague ship, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters are interesting and believable, and the imagined cultures of these people is imaginative and delightful. It was easy to read too, which is great for someone like me who hasn't read a proper book in a while. The words flow, and there are sentences and descriptions here and there that made me pause and appreciate them.

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KEITH STEVENSON

Solid space adventure with nice plot twists and good reveals

Reviewed in Australia on 8 October 2014

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I really enjoyed this book. It's a solid space adventure with some nice plot twists and good reveals. I was worried at the beginning - particularly during the scenes on Ceres - that this was going to be an example of a story that just uses an SF setting but isn't necessarily SF. However things really kicked into full-fledged SF mode once the initial worldbuilding of the political situation of Earth/ Mars/ Belt was rounded out, and it never looked back after that. My only other (early) worry was that the character of Holden was just too damn 'goody-good' to be true. Luckily the other characters are more grounded and cynical and call Holden on his wide-eyed worldview. It's not as cutting-edge science fictionally as, say, Paul Macauley's Quiet War series or Charles Stross's work, but it's certainly got some interesting ideas and goes quite some way to creating a believable solar-system-spanning society that's just a century or so ahead of us. I'm looking forward to reading more and seeing what the mooted TV series makes of it all.

Reviewed in Australia on 4 March 2020

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I liked the detailed world of the expanse. The story started off well, a missing rich girl somehow linked to an abandonded space craft with an horrific secret on board. Ultimately though it reads like it was written for the screen. And of course it is now a TV series. It was entertaining but not sure i will commit to reading any more in the series...

One person found this helpful

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Mr R Tyler

What a Read

Reviewed in Australia on 16 November 2016

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Well I went into this having never read any of this series after watching the new Netflix series based on this book.

What can I say, but I loved it. I am a hard core scifi fan from way back, loving Azimov, EE Doc Smith from the golden era through to more recent works in the pulp sci fi fields.

The book has a darker feel to humanity and our endeavours to reach for the stars, but it also shows how even the most flawed of people have redeeming qualities

Worth a read.

3 people found this helpful

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HunkyDory

Awesome sci-fi thriller.

Reviewed in Australia on 12 April 2022

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I was looking to dive into another world of sci-fi and this does not disappoint. It’s space opera, with a dash of body horror and noir mixed throughout - and it goes down well. An awesome thrill ride beginning to end.

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Liz Barnsley

Just brilliant.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2018

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I started watching the t.v. adaptation of “The Expanse” and a little way in, loving it, decided to read the books first. Always prefer it that way round and “Leviathan Wakes” is simply brilliant, a rollercoaster ride through space – a proper epic that holds all your attention first page to last.

A classic tale at the heart of it, a small, motley and eclectic crew who may hold the fate of the universe in their hands, face off against varying powers, battles galore, with plenty of richly layered characters all set against the backdrop of a beautifully imagined future world.

A heady mix of space opera, drama, horror and science fiction, Leviathan Wakes drowns your senses, messes with your heart rate, keeps you up at night and has a disturbingly relentless feel to the more horrifying moments. All this whilst attaching you to the characters in an emotional way that makes you crazy when the bad things inevitably happen.

I adored it – I don’t think I’ve read a book this long in such a short time ever – that cliche about not being able to put it down was almost literally true in this case.

Fantastic writing, clever, intelligent plotting and a visceral, visual feel to it that digs deep, Leviathan Wakes is one of my favourite reads ever. No messing.

Bring on Caliban’s War is what I say.

Highly recommended.

55 people found this helpful

Robert Nielsen

Underwhelming

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 December 2018

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This book had a lot of promise but unfortunately didn't live up to it. It opened well, I was interested in the characters, the setting and the plot (especially the mystery). Unfortunately, these were not well-developed as the plot went on and became something of a slog by the end. There were certainly plenty of good moments, but nothing particularly great or special.

Part of the problem was Miller's crime noir plot. The problem is that if you've read one noir plot, you've read them all. His plot was predictable, unoriginal and I found it hard to care about someone who cared so little about themselves. A world-weary alcoholic cop obsessed with a beautiful missing girl he hopes to rescue (and hopes she will rescue him) is an over-used cliche (why does the girl always have to be beautiful, would he not care if she was ugly?). Miller was best when he had someone else to bounce off, alone he was just too miserable. Also the obsession over Julia was really weird, the ending tried to make it sound noble, but it was just creepy.

Holden was better, especially as he had a crew to interact with, but these characters never got much depth to them. The world-building was similarly shallow and half-hearted, there was no nuance or shades to political struggle. Making Earth one unified blob without any diversity of opinion or action just seemed lazy. Making cities/stations where everything is dreary and decadent gets repetitive and dull. The villain was cartoonishly evil and just lazy. There were also a few holes in the plot and timeline.

However, what really made this a 3 star book was the ending. Without spoiling anything, throwing alien/zombie/hivemind/extermination was really out of place and didn't work well at all. By the end it got so absurd that I couldn't take it seriously. Even the characters comment on how bizarre it was and how it resembled magic, which is a bad sign (if you're writing hard sci-fi things have to make at least some sense). A lot of mystery novels put so much work into building the mystery that when the final reveal comes it's anti-climatic and that's how the ending felt to this.

25 people found this helpful

Alyssia Cooke

Unexpected and unpredictable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 November 2019

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If there was ever a book that simply didn't go where I was expecting, it would be this one. It's rare that an author manages to throw such mammoth curve balls and make it seem not only in keeping but also simply the way things had to go, the natural order of things. I really enjoyed this and honestly, I think I enjoyed just about everything here with no disappointments or let downs.

The concept is fantastic and Corey executes it well with a witty and engaging narrative filled with characters who, even if I might not always like them very much, I certainly cared about. They are three dimensional and utterly human, with all the flaws and chaos that involves. Corey writes well and is equally adept at tension, action, humour and more touching moments. His dialogue flows well, always in keeping not only with the characters but events as well.

I'm thrilled to discover this is a series that I certainly will sink my teeth into!

9 people found this helpful

Danimal

The expansive is just 5 star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 March 2020

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Okay so I watched the tv show before I started this book series and Of course the brilliance of the show meant I couldn’t miss out on more content through the books. My only disappointment with this book is how much is missing. Normally you get more from a book and the screen equivalent never matches up but in this instant after finishing book 1, I’d say the show nailed how it should have been written. This is like a good first draft and what has become the brilliance of the show. Don’t get me wrong the book is still 5 star, easy to read, great story telling, just it could have been so much more.
Still highly recommended

8 people found this helpful

MR A BAKER

Leviathan Wakes, reader sleeps!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2021

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Thought I'd try it as it was hyped up, got great reviews and sounded interesting but it's just so boring! I want a book that I struggle to put down, not one that I have to convince myself to pick up. Don't get me wrong, it does have exciting parts, but they're too few and far between that all interest was lost before I even made it half way through. After reading the first chapter, I felt kind of conned into believing that the rest of the story would be similar to that setting, but instead it's the complete opposite. It's like watching a movie which you think is going to be an action film. The opening scene is a gunfight, so you get all excited only to find out that it's a courtroom drama.

The story could probably be half the length if it didn't snake it's way through the plot and instead, just got straight to the point! The final straw for me was when one of the main characters was going through his emails and instead of just writing 'Miller was looking through his emails when he received a call' it decided to literally read through his emails only for him to delete them, as they were uninteresting and of no relevance to the story at all. Why?? What was the point??

I'm just glad the box set was unavailable as I would probably have bought that going by the reviews.

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