Leviathan Wakes is a "space opera" (what a fun genre name) that fuses together sci fi and detective. It takes place in a world where humans live on Earth, Mars, moons, and The Belt (the asteroid belt), each leading to different livelihoods, political environments, and resource scarcity. Leviathan Wakes follows two main characters: Holden, XO (executive officer) of an ice mining ship, who stumbles upon an abandoned space ship and its secrets, and Miller, a detective in search of a missing girl. The two stories collide, leading to Holden and Miller racing to save all of humanity. Sounds intense, doesn't it?

This is quite an entertaining read. The world that Corey has created is innovative and has some very well thought out points. For example, those that live on The Belt don't have easy access to water (hence ice miners). The Belters are longer and thinner than their Earth counterparts due to growing up in low gravity. Ceres, an asteroid in The Belt, has "recycled air that had passed through a million lungs" and "water from the tap so clean it could be for lab work, but it had been piss and shit and tears and blood and would be again." The plot kept me generally engaged, always waiting to find out what was next as the mystery evolved and escalated. The author had some exquisite bits, as well, like "it was a manic high, panic pressed through a cheesecloth mask of normalcy." (Oooh! Can you feel that spice?)

No on to my not so favorite parts. The character development was subpar and cliche. Think: emotionless but also emotionful and damaged-by-his-past detective, and an all too good, too handsome XO. I found most of the science reasonable and thoughtful, but I would be remiss if I didn't admit that it was difficult to follow at times. Something would happen or a dialogue would be exchanged that I would reread a couple times, only to find that the author explains it several paragraphs later. The author also relied on several repeated phrases and words, like "tendrils" and "it wasn't a question", or phrases that I had to look up (could definitely be a "me" issue, but I had to look up "living bottle to mouth").  I  was also not a fan of a certain obsession that Miller develops (not to give too much away) that borders unrealistic obsession in my mind. That and Holden's willingness to give in to it. 

Overall, I would recommend this book if you like sci-fi. It is an interesting world and the plot is fast-paced. It is hard to follow at times, so I wouldn't recommend this for those not willing to put in the effort to understand it (or would fully recommend to those that don't care to follow the minutia and can still follow along with the plot). I bounced back and forth between giving this book a 3 and a 3.5. I ultimately gave it a 3 on goodreads as I don't believe it deserves a rounding up to 4, but on here, I will happily give it a 3.5/5.

Happy Reading

<3 Vivian

This is the second of Abercrombie's books that I've read (the first being Best Served Cold). In my opinion, this book isn't as good as Best Served Cold, but, still an amazing read. I'll explain why in the review I'll write on it. Abercrombie has a way of creating characters that you either root for or hate, or feel one way towards and then quickly change to the other, especially across books (yes, some of the characters that I loved from Best Served Cold make appearances in this book, and I either loved or hated them, but I'll keep that a secret!). The world he has created in this series is brilliant and complex. All are in a middle earth setting, but this book dives into a more western/cowboy feel. 

Abercrombie is also one of a select few authors that actually makes me laugh (mostly internally, but sometimes out loud). For example, in the middle of a character's apology, he writes, "A stray dog limped across the plot, sniffed at a turd, added one of its own, and moved on." I also love/hate his descriptions of the vile written in eloquent prose: "Cog sniffed up some snot, worked it thoughtfully about his mouth, gathering a good sense of its consistency, then leaned back and spat..." All of this is delicately interspersed among a page-turning plot and interesting character back stories. Also, the sarcasm between a male and a female character (I won't name names so as to not ruin their meeting) is far too real, in a good way.

OK, now for the pieces I didn't love so much. In this book versus his last, I found that some emotional dialogue happened at inappropriate times, like en route to battle. Not exactly the right time to ask someone about why they have changed or who they truly are... right before you're about to stab at another with a sword. This next bit is also probably a "me" problem, but I don't love what I call "round" endings, meaning an ending that is a little too perfect or had to have perfect timing and execution of events, like a last minute save. There are a few of those in here, but not enough to dock it extra points. Just something I notice when reading.

I give this book 4/5 stars. Definitely recommend this series to fantasy fiction lovers.

Happy reading!

<3 Vivian