Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey

 

"No rest for the wicked, Julie Mao said in his mind. No peace for the good."

XO Jim Holden, soon to be Captain of the Rocinante and his crew, answer a distress call from a seemingly abandoned ship. Detective Miller is put under contract to find rebel Julie Mao and transport her home to her family. Disaster strikes and they become the only people standing between humanity and annihilation.

I loved the world building. There's Mars and Earth and the Belters, and sure that's kind of cool all on its own. But true to the series name "The Expanse," the author left me feeling overwhelmed at times by the endless expanse that is our universe; colonies of humans spread across the planets, but never having reached the stars... When I picture the space stations built on rocks, floating lightyears from anywhere, and spaceships built like cities traveling across the empty sky, it makes human connection seem so much more important and yet... Mars, Earth, and the Belters are sitting on the edge of a civil war that Holden and Miller want to circumvent.

Holden is the kind of man who has a strong sense of right and wrong and always tries to do the right thing. He's everything we've been told a hero should be. Miller is a down on his luck, nothing left to lose, psychopath. He's trying to do the right thing the wrong way. He's not quite evil enough to be an antihero, and yet he's everything we've been told a hero shouldn't be. But he's going to help save the day. In terms of human connection, I loved the joining of these polar opposites on their quest to find out what happened to Julie and save the world or die trying.

And the ending. I figured the ending was going to be super melodramatic because space opera, and where would we be without dramatic expositions, but the ending was surprisingly low key, concrete and pleasing, with an air of mystery left over.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and will continue with the series.