Leviathan Wakes

By: James S. A. Corey

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

From a New York Times best-selling and Hugo award-winning author comes a modern masterwork of science fiction, introducing a captain, his crew, and a detective as they unravel a horrifying solar system wide conspiracy that begins with a single missing girl.

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

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left 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 rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive 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

• Leviathan Wakes
• Caliban's War
• Abaddon's Gate
• Cibola Burn
• Nemesis Games
• Babylon's Ashes
• Persepolis Rising
• Tiamat's Wrath
• ​Leviathan Falls
• Memory's Legion

The Expanse Short Fiction

• Drive
• The Butcher of Anderson Station
• Gods of Risk
• The Churn
• The Vital Abyss
• Strange Dogs
• Auberon
• The Sins of Our Fathers

©2017 James S. A. Corey (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written." (George R. R. Martin)

Best Sci-fi I've read in a long time

If Dune, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress had a communal baby, this would be it. Corey's descriptions of #SpaceLife and the people who live it are some of the most realistic I've ever "read." He clearly spent some time getting into the minds of people like those in his books, and wrote from a perspective that includes near-future analogues of 21st century blue collar workers, middle class families, and privileged persons. Exploration of high-level ideas of what politics might look like in the future and what practicalities would be needed to live in a place with no atmo vs small scale interactions between hard-working Belters and no less hard-working but obliviously privileged Earthers and Martians are what make Corey's world building so complete. The characters he writes are complicated and three-dimensional; his heroes have flaws, sometimes big ones. They might not even be heroes in the grand scheme of things. I really identified with Miller, and hoped (and still hope, since we're not sure if his story is over by the end of the first book) that he would find his place in the solar system, even if it wasn't with the crew of the Rocinante. My favorite "part" of the book is that the cast of characters is so diverse, culturally and physically. His fictional prediction of what it would be like to export various Earth cultures off-planet and the resulting anachronism between them paints a picture that shows long-term living in space as more than the sterilized metal hallways and fluorescent lights we're so used to seeing in "hard" science fiction.
Jefferson Mays's narration of the beginning of this epic space opera is, at first, a little annoying in the clipped pronunciation of non-dialogue text, but that doesn't last long. He's got a great grasp of pronouncing the patois the Belters use, and is consistent with said pronunciation. The characters don't have wildly different voices, which I like. YMMV. I've never been a fan of the way some narrators use a soft, simpery voice for female characters, and Mays emphatically does not do that.
Overall, I absolutely loved the book and the performance. I think it's the kind of book you could write papers about. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

Science Fiction done right.

Unfortunately, I saw the television series before I listened to the audiobook. I say unfortunately because it took away some of the suspense this book has to offer. If you were to ask me which is better I wouldn’t be able to answer. Both were incredibly well written. I would compare the authors to Andy Weir or Arthur Clark if that tells you anything. If you’re on the fence about using your credit here, don’t be. You won’t regret it.

Outstanding!!

Not a huge SCI-FI guy but COULD NOT STOP reading (listening) to this book. It has an amazing plot with detailed and great characters that keeps you engaged and on the edge of your seat. Way better than Star Wars or Star Trek. Can't wait to start the next book!

story is great. voice talent doesnt do it justice.

The story is phenomenal and I love the tv series, but the voice talent doesn't do it justice.

Better than the show.

I really enjoyed the first two seasons of
The Expanse which pushed me to try the books and while still believe the show is really good, the books are so much better.

Jefferson Mays' performance

The voice acting was amazing. This was my first audioboo, and I suspect the bar was set impossibly high for future titles.

Great book

Terrific story, great character development, and narrator was engaging. I watched the TV show first. The first season was free on Amazon and I was hooked, so I purchased the 2nd season.
The TV show is great, but I enjoyed the book a bit more. I'll be listening to the next book in the series.

A good story.

I did watch the show on Syfy before I listen to this book. it still held my attention and I enjoyed it. I didn't care for the narrator. His voice overs weren't bad but his normal speaking voice seemed a little too "patrician" for me.

voiceover

narrator sounded like Stewie from Family Guy but if you can get past that you'll like it.

Best, Most Realistic Sci-fi I've Ever Read

This book, and the 7 (soon to be 8, or 16 if you count the novelas) books after it are part of the best science fiction series I have ever had the joy of reading (listen to? whatever). Jefferson Mays narration really brings the authors' stories to life and is arguably one of the best narrators in the audibleverse. The story is amazing, yet easy to follow. The universe of The Expanse is in my opinion, the most realistic depiction of what humanity could be 200ish years from now, which makes the story so compelling and believable. The characters are likable, or at least worthy of remembering and their back stories make them more than just drones put in place for plot fodder. If you're looking for a great series to consume about 6 weeks of daily listening, I highly recommend this series.
"6 weeks? Damn that's pretty quick to finish 160 hours of Audible! Like, 25ish hours a week! Obsessed much?"
Believe me when I say you'll find it difficult to put this down once you start. After hearing that the final book will be out this year, I am going through my second read/listen right now. Oh yeah, and it's pretty good on screen too (I've watched the series twice, working on the third now), but the books obviously get into detail that the show doesn't at times.