Book Review: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Vomit zombie.

I’d like to open with that, because it is, as old Amazon would say, a statistically improbable phrase, and its presence in a space opera really tells you everything you need to know about Leviathan Wakes, the SF novel by the duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The authors’ casual use of the phrase “vomit zombie”, while it doesn’t come into play until halfway through the book, is the single best indicator of that Leviathan Wakes is part of a new stage in SF: one grounded in 21st century pop culture and a grown-up political awareness. The worlds-weary characters quip one liners that readers raised on the cool ironic humor of the 90s and the Aughts will feel super-comfortable with. And there’s no hint of utopian Randism here. Characters are generally as stupid and self-righteous as any active politician.

The story holds the promise of a fascinating world that the authors have constructed for us: humanity has just started reaching beyond the Earth to colonize the Solar System, but it’s clear that this stunning technological advance has not been accompanied by any advance in the wisdom of human civilization. Petty rivalries and self-interest are the vices used to spark an inter-planetary war, which soon threatens to destroy humanity entirely. Good to know that in this future, humans won’t confine themselves to fvcking up merely one planet when the opportunity arises to fvck up several!

The plot itself is no great shakes (a pretty standard detective/thriller outline...perfectly serviceable, but not inspired). But the authors really get rolling whenever they dip into politics, the weakness of short-sighted policies, and/or criticisms of “business as usual”. Their contempt for corporations and their pursuit of profits is particularly sharp (the main villain, a corporate tycoon, is identified as a sociopath the instant he appears on the page). And then there’s a whole thing with a Very Bad Incident on a spacerock, which leads to vomit zombies. There’s a lot going on here.

With a cast this large, only a few of the characters really stand out: the ship captain Holden (promoted in the field and still reeling from the experience); the cop-to-ex-cop Miller (who embodies every cop and ex-cop stereotype you’ve ever read); and the uber-competent XO Naomi (cool, efficient, and pretty, natch). Most of the supporting people merely cross the stage when needed, or hover about until the plot requires them to pop in with a comment. I could not keep the characters of Alex and Amos straight, so they blended into a sort of catch-all wingman for Holden to toss tasks over to when he was busy. (Hint: do not give your characters nearly interchangeable names of similar length and sound unless there’s an excellent reason for doing so.)

Leviathan Wakes is the first in a series, so even though the ending is a legit ending, there plenty of threads to pick up and run with for the next installment. More inter-planetary politics, more nasty threats to all life as we know it, more characters following their own slightly skewed ethics...if that’s what you like, you’ll probably find it in Leviathan Wakes...and in the upcoming ones as well. For myself, while I liked the book fine, I don’t think I’m going to rush to pick up the others. Big fans of space opera (or of police work in a total vacuum) may well feel differently. But I did enjoy the vomit zombies. They added that special touch.