Confession Time: I’m very bad at categorizing genres and sub-genres, so it didn’t dawn on me that Leviathan Wakes would be considered a “space opera” until I saw it in the genre listing on the book’s Goodreads page. I still don’t really know what that is (space opera, not a Goodreads page), despite having read the Wikipedia page and stuff. I think of “space opera” and this comes to mind:
Probably not the same thing. But I did realize that my last attempt at reading a “space opera”,
So, if not for Audible, this book was probably a Lifer. By that I mean a book that will just sit on my radar forever, but never actually get picked up and read — at least not for a long, long time. I have lots of these, unfortunately. There are just too many books, and too little time in the day. (If only my job would stop being so insistent that I show up!)
How did Audible, that evil (MWAHAHAHA!) Amazon company, factor in you ask? Well, not only did they give me a $10.00 credit for my 1 year anniversary of having an account with them (woohoo! free money!), but then they also put this audiobook on sale for $4.95. So Audible bought me this audiobook. And it rocked. Thanks, Audible!
So let’s get down to business and talk about how much I loved this book.
Wait, wait… no… I was right before. This much:
Because I loved The Fifth Element, and I loved Leviathan Wakes.
This book had everything. Great, believable, and realistic characters, an interesting plot, fantastic scope and worldbuilding, just the right amount of plausibility to make it terrifying, brilliant humor that was perfectly timed and hit just the right notes to make me laugh out loud, and it had what were awesomely called ‘vomit zombies’.
In fact, the only thing I can find to criticize, and it’s more of a nitpick, is the overabundance of saids peppering the narrative. Holden said, Miller said, Naomi said, Fred said, Amos said, etc etc etc. Listening to the many saids being read was a little tedious, but only occasionally; it was mainly noticeable during long stretches of pure dialogue.
Otherwise, I loved everything about this book, and the reading. The reader did a great job at letting the story do the talking, and despite only getting to listen to this in small chunks at a time, I was engrossed in the story.
I loved the characters, and especially enjoyed the way that the two main characters, Holden and Miller, interacted with each other. They are from different sides of the personality spectrum, with two completely different ways of handling a situation, but when the shit (or the zombie vomit) hits the fan, they effortlessly slip into “Let’s discuss this when we aren’t dead” mode, and just kick ass. I loved it. I thought they complemented each other wonderfully, and the arc of their working relationship was realistic and understandable, from both sides.
Which brings me to the dual narrative. This story is told by alternating viewpoint chapters, and I thought it worked perfectly. We get to see things from two different perspectives, and it allows for so much more story information to be conveyed without huge info-dumps. I liked the noir detective story feel of Miller’s chapters, and it contrasted nicely to the more high-tech, adventure feel of Holden’s chapters. And then when they run into each other and become a sort of hybrid, I loved that, too.
Speaking of the technology, I thought it was brilliant. We’ve colonized other planets, and moons, and we can mine ice from Saturn’s rings, and travel through space at 7+ Gs. The methods of combating nausea and blackouts during travel at these speeds is interesting, and plausible. The technology that allows us to live on little rocks millions of miles away from the sun is fascinating. But it’s still familiar, in a way. RADAR and LADAR are things I’ve heard of. It’s not too much of a stretch to get from where we are now, to where this story shows us in just a few short centuries.
The Protogen project is also plausible, and frankly terrifying, as is the reaction to it. I was totally Team Miller on this one, despite usually landing on Holden’s side of the opinional axis. I shudder to think of situations like the ones depicted in this book, and can’t help but think that it would happen exactly like this if it were to one day come to pass. I would hope that we’ve learned from past mistakes… but we don’t. This is not-too-distant-future, where we’ve colonized the solar system, but we’re still human. Racism and bigotry is larger scale, because our bodies have adapted to living off-earth, but our minds are still stuck in the ‘us vs them’ small-town mode, and now we just have more differences to divide us.
But I digress. I loved this book. I loved the world(s), and the characters, and, well, everything. This worked perfectly as a stand-alone novel, but I definitely cannot wait to read more of this series. I ‘m very regretful at categorizing genres and sub-genres, so it did n’t dawn on me that Leviathan Wakes would be considered a “ quad opera ” until I saw it in the writing style listing on the book ‘s Goodreads page. I still do n’t actually know what that is ( space opera, not a Goodreads foliate ), despite having read the Wikipedia page and stuff. I think of “ space opera ” and this comes to mind : probably not the same thing. But I did realize that my final attack at reading a “ space opera ”, The Warrior ‘s Apprentice, left me distinctly underwhelmed.So, if not for Audible, this reserve was probably a Lifer. By that I mean a ledger that will equitable sit on my radar forever, but never actually get picked up and read — at least not for a long, long time. I have lots of these, unfortunately. There are just excessively many books, and besides little fourth dimension in the day. ( If lone my subcontract would stop being therefore clamant that I show astir ! ) How did Audible, that evil ( MWAHAHAHA ! ) Amazon company, divisor in you ask ? Well, not only did they give me a $ 10.00 citation for my 1 class anniversary of having an account with them ( woohoo ! spare money ! ), but then they besides put this audiobook on sale for $ 4.95. indeed audible bought me this audiobook. And it rocked. Thanks, audible ! So let ‘s get gloomy to business and talk about how a lot I loved this book.Wait, wait … no … I was right ahead. This much : Because I loved The Fifth Element, and I loved Leviathan Wakes.This bible had everything. Great, credible, and naturalistic characters, an matter to plat, fantastic telescope and worldbuilding, just the right amount of plausibility to make it terrifying, bright liquid body substance that was perfectly timed and hit precisely the good notes to make me laugh out loudly, and it had what were awesomely called ‘vomit zombies’.In fact, the lone thing I can find to criticize, and it ‘s more of a nitpick, is the surfeit of saids peppering the narrative. Holden said, Miller said, Naomi said, Fred said, Amos said, etc etc etc. Listening to the many saids being read was a fiddling boring, but only occasionally ; it was chiefly noticeable during long stretches of arrant dialogue.Otherwise, I loved everything about this reserve, and the read. The subscriber did a great subcontract at letting the history do the talking, and despite only getting to listen to this in small chunks at a time, I was engrossed in the story.I loved the characters, and specially enjoyed the way that the two independent characters, Holden and Miller, interacted with each other. They are from unlike sides of the personality spectrum, with two wholly different ways of handling a situation, but when the bullshit ( or the zombie emetic ) hits the fan, they effortlessly slip into “ Let ‘s discus this when we are n’t dead ” mood, and just kick buttocks. I loved it. I thought they complemented each other wonderfully, and the arch of their sour relationship was naturalistic and apprehensible, from both sides.Which brings me to the double narrative. This fib is told by alternating point of view chapters, and I thought it worked absolutely. We get to see things from two different perspectives, and it allows for therefore much more fib information to be conveyed without huge info-dumps. I liked the noir detective fib feel of Miller ‘s chapters, and it contrasted nicely to the more high-tech, gamble tactile property of Holden ‘s chapters. And then when they run into each other and become a screen of loanblend, I loved that, too.Speaking of the engineering, I thought it was brilliant. We ‘ve colonized other planets, and moons, and we can mine frost from Saturn ‘s rings, and travel through space at 7+ Gs. The methods of combating nausea and blackouts during travel at these speeds is matter to, and plausible. The technology that allows us to live on little rocks millions of miles away from the sunlight is fascinating. But it ‘s still familiar, in a means. RADAR and LADAR are things I ‘ve heard of. It ‘s not besides much of a stretch to get from where we are immediately, to where this history shows us in merely a few short centuries.The Protogen project is besides plausible, and honestly terrify, as is the chemical reaction to it. I was wholly Team Miller on this one, despite normally landing on Holden ‘s side of the opinional axis. I shudder to think of situations like the ones depicted in this script, and ca n’t help but think that it would happen precisely like this if it were to one day come to pass. I would hope that we ‘ve learned from past mistakes … but we do n’t. This is not-too-distant-future, where we ‘ve colonized the solar system, but we ‘re placid human. racism and bigotry is larger scale, because our bodies have adapted to living off-earth, but our minds are still stuck in the ‘us vs them ‘ small-town modality, and now we just have more differences to divide us.But I digress. I loved this script. I loved the world ( s ), and the characters, and, well, everything. This worked perfectly as a stand-alone novel, but I decidedly can not wait to read more of this series.
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