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A review by toggle_fow
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was an interesting sci-fi mix. There were some space noir detective vibes, some space political drama vibes, and some space horror monster vibes.
It took me a decent while to even figure out what was going on. The premise of the plot, when finally revealed, is extremely compelling, and it almost surprises me that I wasn't more riveted by this book. Space horror is usually very riveting.
The characters slowed things down quite a bit. You end up following two perspectives: Miller, the space noir detective, and Holden, the plucky leader of a small spaceship's plucky crew. Miller was my favorite, although he did drag a little bit nearer the end. At least he DID things. He was absolutely right in shooting that guy and I'm UPSET that things didn't work out better for him with the crew than they did.
Holden had his moments, actually, especially when negotiating with Fred. But sadly, despite the promising found family setup, his crew mostly seemed to be made of up Love Interest and Other Guys Who Mainly Exist For Their Core Competencies. Not much to latch onto there.
Other than that, you've got the plot. (Good, wish we could have spent more time focused on it rather than in the characters' self-reflective brooding.) The worldbuilding. (Interesting, especially with the Earth-Mars rivalry and the space xenophobia.) And Julie. (Nah.) I'm probably going to pick up the next one, but it might be a while from now.
It took me a decent while to even figure out what was going on. The premise of the plot, when finally revealed, is extremely compelling, and it almost surprises me that I wasn't more riveted by this book. Space horror is usually very riveting.
The characters slowed things down quite a bit. You end up following two perspectives: Miller, the space noir detective, and Holden, the plucky leader of a small spaceship's plucky crew. Miller was my favorite, although he did drag a little bit nearer the end. At least he DID things. He was absolutely right in shooting that guy and I'm UPSET that things didn't work out better for him with the crew than they did.
Holden had his moments, actually, especially when negotiating with Fred. But sadly, despite the promising found family setup, his crew mostly seemed to be made of up Love Interest and Other Guys Who Mainly Exist For Their Core Competencies. Not much to latch onto there.
Other than that, you've got the plot. (Good, wish we could have spent more time focused on it rather than in the characters' self-reflective brooding.) The worldbuilding. (Interesting, especially with the Earth-Mars rivalry and the space xenophobia.) And Julie. (Nah.) I'm probably going to pick up the next one, but it might be a while from now.