Rate: 4.5/5

Medium: Audiobook

Overview (No Spoilers): For several years now I’ve been slowly making my way through a book list I’d stumbled across highlighting titles any lover of Red Rising should immediately pick up.  Leviathan Wakes is the last book I had left on that exceptional list, which has introduced me to so many wonderful literary adventures. While the society structure is completely different than Red Rising, the level of human expansion is roughly comparable.  Despite the large expanse of this solar system, the world building in Leviathan Wakes is delightful despite the drama mainly being relegated to the Belt and inside confined quarters.  Corey makes positively the most of his characters spending the majority of their time in the limited spaces of small ships. That being said, he flushed out several key characters, while leaving many of the supporting cast lacking in the wake of the obvious leaders. With Leviathan Wakes being the inaugural novel in the Expanse series I’m sure Corey will build upon the one dimensional foundation that has been currently established for the aforementioned personalities.  In general, I found the premise behind this literary world to be highly intriguing, especially as the mystery surrounding the unexplained events falls into sharp focus. Cory proposes an interesting example of moral grey ground as the conflicting views of right and wrong are explored as based on the eye of the beholder. Overall, Leviathan Wakes was an edge of your seat space opera that will keep the reader glued throughout its many twists and turns.

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

• Naomi, Alex, and Amos were great supporting characters but were definitely underutilized. I’m sure as the series progresses we will see their personalities start to become more defined as we see bright flashes of individuality in Leviathan Wakes.
• Why did the unknown ship not shoot down Holden in the beginning of the story?
• Miller was definitely the most intriguing character in Leviathan Wakes. Sure he was all sorts of crazy but when in the story did he actually go off the deep end?
  What happened to Miller’s partner? Was it discovered he leaked information to Miller?
• How did Julie actually get out of her ship and to Eros?
• If everyone had actually been able to nuke Eros wouldn’t the unknown infestation that thrived off radiation grow exponentially as a result?
• How did they know that the organism from Phoebe was actually from another world? Maybe it was native to Phoebe?
• What would have happened if Julie had not been the first person infected with the organism on Eros or Miller had not been able to reason with her.
• How long will the organism be happy in Venus? What is it creating there? Are Miller and Julie ‘dead’ now?