LEVIATHAN WAKES ( THE EXPANSE BOOK 1 ) - Review
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- My review of Leviathan Wakes, the first in The Expanse Series!
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Daniel: Leviathan Wakes is a big story
Expanse Authors: Hold my beer
I love it how the scope scales up, Every. Damn. Book.
you meant hold my genetically engineered algae whiskey
Matt Valuk I think I have to read it some time soon
Book 8: that’s cute
@@taikajorma7276 It's one of my favorite book series and I can't recommend it enough.
Are we officially including sci-fi epics into the channel? If so, I'm friggin' stoked 🚀👽🤖
Same 💯
Seriously, this channel was good to beginning with but it just gets better
^ This
Me too! I hope he covers Poor Man's Fight!
Hopefully.
I heard you saying author and would just like to point out that S.A. Corey is actually two authors collaborating, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.
This. Daniel. Do you homework.
@@hadesdarklord That's a little harsh. Knowing this fact isn't crucial to enjoying or understanding the story. If anything, Daniel not knowing this proves he read the book with an open mind and didn't research a bunch of other reviews and spoilers before putting his thoughts together. That can be helpful for making sure your opinion is unique and not externally influenced, so kudos to him.
@@syndetonation yeah. But he cant read daniel Ahraham's other work if he dont know who sa Corey is
This is exactly what I came to the comments to say. Haha
I came to let him know this as well but figured someone had beat me to it! I love this series so much.
What I love about this series is that the main character is space itself and how terrifying it is.
And amazing.
Yes, that it is a constant danger. Too large, too empty, too dark, too cold, too lifeless, too mysterious. Space isn't for life, and we're always reminded of that with every little detail in the story. So many things must be done to avoid space. People are afraid of space and they respect it. The Belters formed a culture that embodies that philosophy: don't fuck with space.
👁👄👁 im scared
Omg, i never relised that but it makes so much sense!!!!
The Expanse rules and I’m only five books into it. The layers that keep being peeled back is truly epic.
Halfway through book seven, and still loving it so much! It's fantastic
Book 8 is so damn good. Haven’t finished Leviathan Falls but so far Book 8 is my favorite.
@@DongusMcBongusreally? I was so worried the latter three wouldn’t hold up to the first 6. I gotta get cracking on those.
The Expanse series is one of the best written scifi series ever written. They knock it out of the park technically, conceptually, and in pure entertainment value.
The series is paced so well that every book brings something totally new and yet feels familiar.
Me: Wow, this book sounds really cool, I should go read it.
*Daniel casually says spoiler warning mid-sentence*
*Fastest spacebar pause in the west*
RIGHT. lmao I almost crashed my car 😅😂
What if u r in the midst of writing a comment and he quickly says, “spoiler alert.” that does things to the blood pressure
When will I have time to read The Expanse, Malazan and The Wheel of time? im 27 years old, im supposed to be working, but who cares? My TBR is long and full of terrors, but im very excited
Great review, one note.
-James SA Corey is actually two people (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck)
Edit: also, the next book introduces two of the most badass women in sci-fi!
Avasarala and Bobbie are some of my all-time favourite characters in sci-fi period.
Damn I forgot that the book didn't have Chrisjen POV until book 2.
@@i_dont_know_who_i_am69 well, if you watched the show that's understandable, that introduces her way earlier
Yea but the TV show destroyed them. That’s my biggest beef with the show.
Bobbie is the best.
The audiobook narrator also does a fantastic job, one of the few that enhances the story to me.
I agree! It is really cool to have a voice for "Jimmy" and it is super fitting
I'm reading it 1st but love audio books so definitely get round to listening to the series once I've read it fully
True, the audiobook narrator is outstanding.
I haven't watched the show but I also just finished that book and I loved it. Also I dont think he has a pessimistic attitude so much as a realistic one, based on human history thus far
Agree the wide scope of humanity is super realistic if you look at our history. Individuals are good but you can't stop civilization and governments from moving our species in dark directions.
please watch the show.
>I dont think he has a pessimistic attitude so much as a realistic one
Heh, that's what pessimists always say :)
It's a book of its time is how I'd put it. Much less optimistic than the books I grew up reading, but it was a more optimistic time.
I wonder if it seems pessimistic because alot of sci-fi wants to see humanity evolving outside of itself. This series seems to come from the perspective of humanity in all it's ugliest pieces draping itself across the system.
@@DonyFurrer-donytop5 well there's 2 ways it could really go for humanity. We can be the same planet consuming, money rules all society as portrayed here. Or we can grow beyond our need for being a selfish species, truly help our planet and let discovery be our planets prime concern, and go the way of a star trek style society.
Great to see some novels from different genres on the channel.
Keep it up, Daniel!
The Expanse is special since it manages to make books and show complement each other in a great way.
This is a series that seemed very interesting to me, think I'm gonna find a copy in the library and go from there.
Like he said buckle up. It's great and it feeds all of my sci-fi cravings
I kinda saw the Special Girl as part of the noir nod..."This dame walks in..." I didn't really attach that aspect to the sci-fi, oddly enough. The interesting flip on "girl is the key," was cool. Didn't exactly save the world. Lol.
James S. A. Corey is the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck
I love The Expanse. Especially Ep 4 and 5 of Season 2. That was very poetic television.
Great to see, The Expanse is my favorite sci-fi book series. It's relatively-realstic speculation about the future of society scratches the most wonderful itch for me.
I am such a huge fan of this series, both in book and TV form. I watched the show first and then saw some interviews with the cast where they were gushing over the books and knew I had to dive in. And dive I did, I read all of the main series books and the short stories in about two months. Now I am eagerly anticipating the last book. I know this will be something that I reread many times. Thanks for the review!
Hey Dan, great review and I'm excited for you to be reading one of my favorite series. You should def rewatch season 1 now and maybe read a book then watch the show up to that point back to back and see how they compare. It's a great show with a few differences but pretty faithful.
Just FYI if you do try to watch the show up to the source material it doesn't go 1 season 1 book, here's the breakdown:
Leviathan Wakes: All of season 1, season 2 ep 1-5.
Calibans war: Season 2 ep 6 - 13, season 3 episode 1 - 6.
Abbadon's Gate: Season 3 ep 7 - 13.
Cibola Burn: All of Season 4
It is very epic in scope, but I think the way the first book introduces us to this world, er universe, is really well done. This is a system spanning epic, but it starts with a small group of characters in book 1. That manageable starting cast is a great choice by the authors.
While it was indeed epic i found it more of a casual read. More of an introduction to important people in the story. You basically get to know them. I liked that.
I'm happy that Daniel enjoyed this book, and can't wait to see his reaction as he reads more of the series. I have a huge to-read list, and as a result I rarely read books a second time. But I read the Expanse books 1-7 twice, and will read book 8 again just before 9 is available. It's so freakin' good. Daniel complained a little about the lack of character growth. Keep in mind that the characters are adults, so they aren't necessarily going to grow the way a coming-of-age character might. The growth in these novels is more about the "found family" and the ever-shifting political situation on the scale of an entire solar system. Each book builds upon the last, in a believable and sometimes horrifying way.
Hey Daniel - the trope you complained about was almost a requirement, given the authors decided to weave a classic noir detective story into the first book. Some people love that choice (I do), and some not so much.
Ahh, my sweet summer child. You are not prepared.
The initial plan was 12 books. They did outlines for each book and removed 3 of the books to avoid stagnant stories. Watch some of their youtube videos from these guys. Its truly amazing. The first book is completed half way through the 2nd season. They are shooting season 5 (book 5) now. There are 8 books out now with the 9th (and final) coming out this year and a number of novellas. The show is incredible and the book writers are producers/writers on the show.
The author's specifically use different genres for each book. The first was a noir mystery, the second a political thriller, the 4th a western, etc.
As you progress through reading the novels in the series, don't overlook the novellas that provide some additional backstory and context. After reading the first book, you might think Amos is a one-dimensional character -- later novels expand his character quite a lot and "The Churn" is a novella the explains why Amos is... well, Amos. For me, he's one of the most interesting characters in the book.
It's a really quite a contrast to many books you might read, where's there's obviously one obvious protagonist in the story. You might initially think that James Holden is that character in these novels, but in many respects, he's not the most interesting character. Even the other characters representing other "factions" are not so obviously "good guy" or "bad guy" -- they all have their motivations, perhaps with varying degrees of flexible morality that you might think as pushing them into a "villain" role.
I am so anxiously awaiting the final book in this series. The story only becomes larger in scope, truly an epic scale story. And the unexpected bonus of this all is that the video adaptation is actually quite good, too! It gets off to a slow start because of all the world building that needs to be done to set the stage, but it's also some of the best science fiction on TV that's ever been done, too. How fortunate for us all.
There's 8 books currently published, with the 9th dropping later this year, plus some short stories. Definitely an epic series.
This is such a great series of books! Despite being sci-fi rather than fantasy, it's definitely one of the only series that scratches that Song of Ice and Fire itch for me from a character and plot standpoint; yet also being a quicker and easier read overall. The first book in the series is by FAR the weakest in the series also; it just gets better and better and more epic in scope. You've honestly seen nothing yet! :D
Edit: Time for a re-read!
Travis Mattson hard disagree on that. Book 1 is my favorite, I like a lot of the others but this one just had the original magic that the others sometimes struggled with.
From what iv seen other people say Cibola Burn is a lot more divisive among fans to the point were id say around half would rate it as their lowest
SMouse Booth yes most fans like Cibola Burn the least, myself included. It has some great stuff in it but is also a let down in other regards. It also feels insignificant to the main plot until certain plot threads from it re-emerge in books 7-8
Keep reading! The series will take you places you will love. The tv series is an excellent adaptation and well worth the time once you get through the books.
So glad you've started this series, it blew every other scifi out of the water. Perfect blend of character drama and science that passively teaches you about the physics of our universe. Once you experience it other science fiction doesn't quite hold up as well.
I love the worldbuilding in the series so far and planned to read more of the books. There's something unique in the series that hasn't been done a lot in other sci-fi media and particularly how the writers takes in consideration of how the universe works around the characters and how it affects them. Say like gravity that affects the Belters' physical appearance and whatnot. I haven't seen or read any sci-fi book that actually does that.
Though, I do really want to hear your thoughts on some of the Halo books. Maybe Fall of Reach or even the Forerunner Saga (Cryptum, Primordium and Silentium). As always, loved the review.
It gets better! Lots of cool characters and storylines to come for you my friends!
Everyone should -try- these books. They might not be for everyone, but give it a try. You might be surprised.
Me, I loved it. I loved it A LOT
After watching a bunch of Daniel’s unboxings and tier lists lately I almost forgot that he is also a super intelligence and well spoke dude! Really good review, especially considering I just finished the book today!
It´s actually 2 authors writing under a synonym, thought you might find that interesting
It's ACTUALLY 2 authors writing under a pseudonym, thought you might find that humorous
Pseudonym*
Also George RR Martins assistant
I hope it's a nice word they are under like a tree or foliage and not a rock or boulder.
Antonym
I watched the first season before I noticed this was a book series. As soon as I was aware there were books, I picked them up on Audible and have listened (so far) to the first two books. I agree that the pacing in places is slow, but the stakes and conflict grow in scale which kept me tuning in to the audiobooks with fervor. So far, like you, I am highly impressed with the writing and the story... man, the story! As soon as you think things are finally going to be resolved, BAM! James S. A. Corey (a team of two authors) come in and snatch your dreams with even more intrigue. Great review! I think you hit the nail on the head as far as someone who's never read science fiction before might react toward these books. ☮
A very challenging review, met with vigor and grace. I agree whole heartedly, and had i not already read the book i would be doing so now. Thanks again for all your hard work great job!
I read this entire series last summer/fall and it was incredible! I had never ventured into space operas before and I was blown away by the scope and ambition of the series. I do seriously recommend the audiobooks, they have a full cast and I loved all of the voice actors! I switched between formats and found myself missing the voices
Daniel: This is truly epic!
Me: *Laughs in Caliban’s War*
Me: Laughs in Nemesis games and Babylon's Ashes.
@@th3lonef0x4 It's been a while since I wrote the comment... Nowadays It'd be like
Me: *laughs in Tiamat's Wrath*
God I loved that book!!
@@Mikus011 I'm really looking forward to reading book eight however, I need to read book seven first.
@@th3lonef0x4 Books 7 and 8 were both incredible, but Tiamat's Wrath might be my favorite out of the whole series.
@@kingofhearts642 For me book 6 is my favourite and 8 is in close second.
'Surprised you didn't mention: James S. A. Corey is two authors. One of which is Daniel Abraham. The other was an aid for George Martin.
And spoiler: it does continue to improve as the series progresses
Ty Franck I believe is the other author.
Roland Deschain You are correct. And he has saved Martins beard from being cut by a fan 😆
Super love that you finally reviewed Leviathan Wakes. Can't wait to see your opinions on this series and then also the Dresden Files.
A friend who recommended me the series also described it as being in the line of ASOIAF but in space and said the writers had actually worked with GRRM, like he was their mentor or something. I watched the first season of the show and it was enjoyable but as you said, it was somewhat predictable, I still need to read the novels to see what's next though. Good to see you liked it and can't wait to see what you think of the next books.
Jael Moran I think Ty Frank was actually George’s assistant at one point
Fantastic review as always. I think you’ll enjoy the rest of the series. Plenty of twists and turns to come!
Thank you so much for this review. This review sold me on the book, and I just finished it. Thank you for your great reviews!
Yes I love this series. It's an expansive series so buckle up. I also love the show! they did an excellent job with it.
You can tell, in parts, that the book started out as a tabletop RPG, which they originally shopped around to be a video game adaptation. That didn’t pan out, so they sold it as a novel. Side note: the actress who plays Avasarala also does some VO work in the Destiny games.
Awesome, finally!!! one of my favorite booktubers read the Expanse!!!
You wont be disappointed, it only gets better from here on out....I wouldn't of thought it possible, but the subsequent installments, the world gets even bigger, and it moves even faster....Hands down my favorite Sci-fi series.
The TV, book, and audiobook are all FANTASTIC! Dune is my all-time favorite sci-fi epic, The Expanse climbs the same ladder, just on a lower rung. Highly recommended!
Love your content and I am mostly a Science fiction reader now an indepth review of a science fiction book, it only gets better.
Keep up the great work.
I love these books. The show is actually pretty good too. Excited and sad for the Final book this year.
As I expand into this Sci-Fi, this series is on the top of my list.
So fracking happy you reviewed this love your reviews keep it up
There's actually two authors, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, and they split the characters between them. I think they carefully balance a cautious optimism with an understanding that people often react poorly to crisis initially
This is a great series, I just started the last book, looking forward to your views on the rest of the series.
Hey congrats on your CZcams medal! 100k!!! Fantasy community are mainstream now!
I've not read the books yet as I dont want to spoil the series. That said- The Expanse show is likely the best science-fiction drama we've had on TV in a very long time. I put it up there with Babylon 5 in story telling with the added benefits of modern effects and a much deeper bench of acting talent to draw on, even for small parts, than the genre had on tv in the 90's.
One of my favourite Sci-fi series, as I love both the book and the TV show, and would definitely recommend continuing with the rest of the series. The last book should hopefully be out this year, so plenty time to catch up, unless you decide to tackle the novellas that pad out the back stories for characters and events of the series too.
YAH so excited you got around to reading this. Favorite sci-fi currently running. I think you can benefit from watching the show then reading the book (even though book 1 finishes half way into season 2). Can't wait to see what you think as you read on.
It's really accessible, I think most people would get into. Plus, the audiobook is a fantastic wash to go!
Wait until Caliban’s War (2). That and Nemesis Games (5) are just amazing. Here comes Avasarala and all her foul-mouthed glory.
I started with the show and switched to the books waiting for season 4. Both are brilliant.
Really glad this review went up, I have been on the fence about picking this up for awhile and once I get caught up on other series I plan to give it a try!
I watched the show up to season 3 before I started the books and I think my enjoyment of both was never hampered. I still love them both. The Canterbury explosion still gives me chills listening to the audiobook.
Also I would LOVE to know your thoughts on the book 5 happenings. Dang. That one snuck up on me and I was texting “OMG” to my bf at 3am on a work night.
And Julie is “key” early on but all subsequent books really veer from focusing on her. In the long game she is almost just a coincidence, a consequence of the social and political climate and her family’s and her own bad decisions. The story gets so much bigger!
I am also reading this series! I'm currently 4 books in, and have just been flying through them.
While I really enjoyed Leviathan Wakes, it’s definitely the weakest of the series. If memory serves, the noir mystery bit is dropped going forward and the politics and alien stuff is more prominent. There are more POVs and the story becomes even bigger. So good. Also, the tv show is excellent.
8:00 "she's gonna be the key and it's going to be tied into how this catastophy is avoided" -- But she wasn't. She was a macguffin used to direct the plot and give certain characters a motivation.
Hands down favorite series.the epic ness just keeps getting better.
Finally, I've been waiting for you to review this series for years. Go read the books and watch the show, it's all amazing
Johnny come lately again. Having watched the series twice and will again when 6 comes out has quite an effect on reading "Leviathan Wakes" which I just started a few days ago; lots of differences and a fore knowledge of what the story is all about. For me this is not a problem as I have always been able to separate the two. Obviously the book is more detailed covering things the series had to leave out or change the order. The physical description of the characters is different from the people in the movie but that is easily over looked. I can not comment too much as I am shy of being half way. I prefer visually the series version so far; and that is the problem with viewing first then reading though it doesn't take away from the book in the long term. What I like most about the book is the authors' writing style (styles) as it flows so naturally.
Love your book reviews and this one is no exception. My last few trips to the bookstore and Amazon are all of your doing! Damn you for spotlighting and reviewing such great sci-fi/fantasy books. Keep up the awesome reviews! Thoroughly enjoy your channel and reviews. Thanks.
To be honest I have not watched the show, mostly because I read the books instead. This a series of similar complexity to the Nights Dawn trillogy by Peter F Hamilton and The Gap series by Stephen R Donaldson. If you enjoyed either of those books, you will like this series and vice versa.
The show is amazing. Its on Amazon and if you loved the books you will love the show.
Watch the show. It's one of the best adaptations I've seen. They did it justice, even with parts that were necessary to skip.
James Lewis The show is one of the very few adaptations that captures the books perfectly...just the best SF that’s been brought to the tv screen.Definitely worth a watch,you won’t be disappointed,in some respects at some points the show is even better than the books,though that’s not too surprising as the authors were totally involved in the production and writing of the show
Love the book series and the show.
In book one some characters seem like a bit of a shell only; not much personality. I blame only getting two characters POVs.
But more characters will be added (inc. two great females in book 2) and more POVs. You will get to know more about the crew, especially when their POVs come up in later books.
Well worth your time.
I think reading it first then watching the series is the better way. I feel the first book in the series is the authors feeling their way, and comes over very much a first book. By the time they got around to doing the series they were further into the book series, knew the universe more, and took it as a chance to apply learnings, and tighten up and tweak the first few books storyline.
When both book and TV series are finished, a discussion of book v TV will be an interesting conversation
Loved hearing your thoughts on this one. I started the audiobook a while back and love the TV show. May need to push it up in my Need-2-Read!
Just finished the book, stopped this video before the spoiler section and came back to it after i'd finished. managed to finish this book in just under a month, and that's an achievement for me, considering the size of the novel. this book made me enjoy reading again
The author is actually two people, fantasy author Daniel Abraham (see The Long Price Quartet) and Ty Franck, Georg R. R. Martin's assistant.
This series had consistently been one of my favorites. Each book ups the ante and somehow manages to top the last one. The character development is beautiful and it has some of the best action sequences I’ve ever read. Can’t wait for the rest of your reactions!
I really enjoyed it as well. I felt very interested the whole time. Great review!
I read it and loved soooo much of it. The politics and the HOW the humans go about in space and and then it did one thing (that I won’t state here) that turned me off the whole thing straight away. Didn’t go in for book two.
And now your comment section is telling me it is actually two people. Two!
Best book adaptation onto the screen to date.
Fantastic series! Both books and the tv show.
Edit: interesting thing I read on wiki was that the series is written by 2 authors, Corey is a joint pen name for both.
Funny, I did the same. Watched the first few episodes then noped out and bought Leviathan Wakes. Several years later I've just finished a reread that ended when I binged Leviathan Falls on the day it released and am now scraping CZcams for content because I can't wait a full week for each new episode of the show to drop
My brother. Welcome to The Expanse series. I can't wait until you get to book 4 and we have diametrically opposed opinions on it.
Miller was definitely a character that I was really fascinated in.
Read The Butcher of Anderson Station before Caliban's War
Echoing several of the other people who have posted, the series only gets better from book one. The characters get deeper and richer with each book. Having watched most of the TV series, I don’t actually think watching it first spoils the books. They really did a pretty damn good job with the TV series. For example, I didn’t picture Amos like he is portrayed in the TV series, but now Wes Chatham IS Amos.
If you liked this one get excited because the best is yet to come! I feel like the expanse fandom doesn’t have much of a consensus on what the best book is, but I haven’t seen someone list Leviathan Wakes as their favorite.
Okay, fine, I’ll finally read this. I’ve had it in my possession for a while now and I’ve kept putting it off for some reason but I’ll either get to it after The Lies of Locke Lamora or I’ll make it my new nightstand book.
Happy to see you reading this series! I only started reading the books because I worked on the show and I loved it. Plus the writers are both fantastic guys who are really passionate about the story they created!
Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the whole series, it's amazing! (and the TV show is as well when you get back to that!)
If we’re including sci-fi on the channel (so HYPE!), then a great read is The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Very enjoyable sci-fi read.
Collapsing Empire is great!
My thunder was taken by most of the previous posters so... all I have to ad is that the audiobooks are amazing. Jefferson Mays’ portrayal of each character is Oscar quality imo. He is a master story teller.
One thing to know is each book introduces new characters with Holden and his crew being the main overall characters in the series.
An important element to think about with these novels is:the authors wanted to sell this setting as a tabletop RPG. The setting and rough plot were developed as a sandbox for people to play in. The main characters are an "adventuring party" and the side characters are mostly "npcs" to direct the players into the events. Still a good book.
Ty Franck was hired to make the world for an MMO. He had a huge amount of information written down but when that project fell through his friend Daniel Abraham wanted to take a look at it. Together they made it into a tabletop rpg that they played with friend's. Daniel Abraham quickly realized they had something amazing and convinced Ty to write a book with him (he is an established author). There are a number of CZcams videos of the author's discussing this backstory/evolution.
I LOVE this series, so happy to see you discuss it.
I watched all 5 seasons and eewach all 5 seasons of Expanse. I bought my audible book of the expanse book series starting the kaviatan wake and it is amazing. I listen to it while I drive to work. Wow.
It's honestly scary that this series keeps building and keeps surprising me. I now need to he reread it.
I can't wait to see your reactions to later books in the series. I am eagerly awaiting the final book to come out this year(?). Love the series, love your channel, can't wait fot more scifi coverage!
I just finished the series a few minutes ago. Definitely a lifetime favorite for me. My *only* complaint is the dialog and descriptions of conversations are sometimes GoT-season-8-ish. "He grunted angrily. Then he shrugged angrily in an angry way because he was angry." Other than that I just wish there were more books in the series!
I just got through this series and I felt similarly about the first book. Boy, did I ever get into that series from there on out though!
I read this title as "Leviathan Wanks." pls forgive my brain, it broken
Supreme Leader Smeagol my mind is now damaged.
That would be a great read
I found out about this series way too late. Extremely underrated
As someone who's only seen the show (and loved every single second of it), I think it's about time I began reading the books. I'll go do that now.
Yeah a friend of mine recommended LWakes to me and a friend because we both liked Firefly. My friend found it too dense and I wait for every release. So there you go. I get the complaints. I get not giving it your strongest recommendation. It all definitely gets better especially with the addition of a couple of characters in the second book one of which is so important they added a bunch of her in the TV series before she appears in the book.
I cannot wait for you to get to book 5 of the series. Nemesis games is the best