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Leviathan Wakes

The Expanse, Book 1

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Leviathan Wakes

By: James S. A. Corey
Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
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About this listen

Humanity has colonized the planets - interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions - the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond.

Now, when Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the attack, stop a war and find the truth behind a vast conspiracy that threatens the entire human race.

©2011 James S. A. Corey (P)2014 Hachette Audio UK Adventure Fantasy Fiction Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Solar System Funny War Interstellar Mars

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Editor reviews

A colossal and staggering take on the future of mankind, James S. A. Corey brings his latest and arguably his best, Leviathan Wakes: The Expanse, Book 1 as a full and unabridged audiobook, narrated by the brilliant Jefferson Mays. This series depicts a populated solar system and the demise of Earth’s resources. Planetary unrest is brimming between the colonies, human and alien alike. With the fateful discovery of a deeply-rooted secret, a full-fledged war could be the ultimate ending of it all. This is utterly spellbinding. Available now from Audible.

Critic reviews

"It's been too long since we've had a really kickass space opera. Leviathan Wakes is interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written, the kind of SF that made me fall in love with the genre way back when, seasoned with a dollop of horror and a dash of noir. Jimmy Corey writes with the energy of a brash newcomer and the polish of a seasoned pro" (George R. R. Martin)
"A winning blend of old-school space opera and modern sensibility... Corey combines no-nonsense storytelling with hard-boiled dialogue as the novel races to a truly cosmic ending. An excellent start to a promising new series" ( The Telegraph)
"Corey... has created a refreshingly blue-collar tale, with well-drawn characters and a compelling narrative sweep. Roll on Book Two." ( Financial Times)
"If you love tales packed with worldbuildy details like how humans cored asteroids, pumped them full of atmosphere, and spun them up for gravity's sake, then you'll love this novel to pieces" ( io9)
All stars
Most relevant  
I started listening to this following on from the Netflix first season. Throughly enjoyable and kept me awake listening instead of going to sleep! I highly recommend this!

Sci-fi meets Game of Thrones engagement!

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Compelling book and excellent narrator. I'm excited to start listening to the next book. I hope it's just as exciting.

Could not stop listening.

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Great book, good sifi through thriller, as I said firefly for grown ups, allot of thought gone into it, details like how the Martians use there hands to nod because of life fe in space suits... Love that... It is or could be our future...

Fire fly meets brains

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My favourite sci fi since the early Culture novels. It may even surpass those in time as I make my way through the series.

So engaging and clever.

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Kept me hooked. Some of the voices a little hard to tell apart but overall loved the narration.

Characters were really well developed and the action was pretty constant. Most of the science believable too.

Superb characters

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A good book spoiled by an androgynous narrator. The narrator's voice just grated on my nerves, it really stopped me from enjoying this audio book.

The story itself is ok. I was hoping for more but it was OK. Not the greatest sci-fi book but ok. It's very much a who done it in space. The action is formulaic and factions simplistic.

I can't honestly say that the characters had much depth or that I felt any empathy for their plight. Too much time getting nowhere.

Overall it is an OK book, but that's all. Perhaps if another narrator had performed the reading I would have enjoyed it more. As is, I am disappointed and wouldn't bother to get the written version to see if that was any more enjoyable as there really isn't much second reading value to the story.

Androgynous narrator

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I really enjoyed this audiobook - the story was interesting and substantial, the characters engaging and the narration performance great.

However the real star of the show (pun intended) was the world and setting of the story itself. Fantastic, futuristic yet fully believable and immersive. Every aspect of the science behind the various technologies felt well considered and plausible (normally something I struggle with in this genre). For this the author deserves real credit, and this aspect above all has hooked me into The Expanse.

Once I was halfway through the story I decided that however it ended, I wanted to explore more of the setting and therefore purchased several further titles in the series!

Excellent Sci-fi

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Jefferson Mays has become one of my favourite narrators and the story is top notch sci-fi. Can’t recommend this series enough (except the one not read by Mays - that’s appalling unfortunately).
If you want a good series to dig your teeth in to and enjoy gritty space adwentures this is for you 😊👍🏻👍🏻

Absolutely Excellent

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it gripped me so hard I had to listen to it at work two days straight to finish it. My only complaint is the narrator reading it out had very little depth to his performance. Some areas of the text he performed admirably but in terms of dialogue and consistency he lacked.

Still, 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

excellent story, and a good sci-fi writer

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I'm a fan of the show, and after finishing the latest season I found myself unable to wait. I wanted more.
The books carry so much more detail, and the characters are much more fleshed-out, and arguably more interesting.
There in lies the problem. There are so many characters that are so different from each other, but the narration doesn't quite reflect that. The performance is good, don't get me wrong. But it could be better, add some difference to the way certain characters speak, for example, a change in accent.
A great addition would be 2 narrators. Someone to do male characters and someone to do female characters. As I said, the performance is good, even when performing a woman's speech, but at the end of the day it's a man doing an impression of a woman. It's not as immersive as it could be.

Fantastic story. Good performance

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