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  • Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes

The Expanse #1 / 9 ✓
by James S. A. Corey
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S. A. Corey
★ 8.22 / 19
1234526476829510

Hugo Award nominee 2012, Locus Award nominee 2012.

Welcome to the future.

Humanity has colonized the solar system – Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond – but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for – and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to The Scopuli and rebel sympathizer, Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations – and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

"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. So where's the second book?" – George R. R. Martin

"An excellent space operatic debut in the grand tradition of Peter F. Hamilton." – Charles Stross

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Release date: May 25, 2011

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James S. A. Corey

James S. A. Corey

In the vast universe of modern science fiction, few names have reshaped the genre quite like James S. A. Corey—a pseudonym that conceals a powerful creative duo: Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Their collaboration gave birth to The Expanse, a sweeping space opera that redefined political intrigue, interplanetary tension, and character-driven storytelling on a galactic scale. With its gritty realism, moral complexity, and vast yet intimate scope, the series captured the imagination of a generation hungry for science fiction grounded not in fantasy, but in plausible futures.

Read more ...

The partnership began with a world that wasn’t meant to be written—at least not at first. Ty Franck had developed an intricate science fiction universe as a setting for role-playing games, while Daniel Abraham, already an acclaimed fantasy author, saw the untapped potential in the world’s layered politics and grounded physics. The two joined forces to write Leviathan Wakes, the debut novel of The Expanse, and what started as a single book quickly evolved into a nine-volume epic spanning decades, factions, and the very question of what it means to be human.

Their writing is marked by a rare balance: hard science fiction rooted in realism, paired with fast-paced plotting and deeply human characters. While the books thrill with cinematic action, it's the moral weight behind each decision and the fragile alliances between Martians, Earthers, and Belters that leave a lasting impact.

Behind the pseudonym lies a name steeped in meaning—“James” and “Corey” taken from their middle names, and “S. A.” from Abraham’s daughter. Even this choice was deliberate, a subtle nod to the golden age of 1970s space opera authors. And yet, their work feels distinctly modern, wrestling with the same social, political, and ecological anxieties we face on Earth, but magnified through the lens of a colonized solar system.

The series’ popularity soared beyond the page when it was adapted into a critically acclaimed television series, praised for its fidelity to the books and its compelling ensemble cast. In 2022, the final novel, Leviathan Falls, earned the Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, cementing their legacy as one of the defining voices of contemporary sci-fi.

James S. A. Corey may be a shared name, but what Abraham and Franck have created together is singular—a deeply immersive, politically charged, and emotionally resonant vision of humanity’s future among the stars.

The Expanse

Humanity has reached the stars—but it’s still haunted by its oldest problems.

The Expanse begins not with a heroic mission or utopian dream, but with a missing girl and a mystery that pulls at the fragile threads of a solar system on the brink. Mars, Earth, and the scattered colonies of the Belt live in uneasy balance, each burdened by political tension, economic disparity, and centuries of mistrust. And then something ancient awakens.

Read more ...

What sets this science fiction epic apart isn’t just the scale—though it spans planets, factions, and eras—it’s the people caught in the chaos. A haunted ship’s captain with a stubborn moral compass. A foul-mouthed politician willing to burn worlds to save her own. A Belter detective chasing ghosts through dust and vacuum. Their stories intertwine not because fate demands it, but because the system they inhabit is collapsing—and they’re just awake enough to notice.

The world-building is dense and lived-in, with asteroid stations that feel rusted and claustrophobic, Martian warships that hum with quiet threat, and alien technologies that refuse to be understood. Yet amid the cosmic scope, the emotional core always stays human. The writing captures the intimacy of fear, loyalty, and hard choices, even when the stakes are planetary.

Adapted into a critically acclaimed television series, The Expanse has become a touchstone for modern space opera—not by echoing the past, but by carving its own orbit through the genre. It’s science fiction where the future looks eerily familiar, and the real alien threat might not be from beyond the stars, but from what we carry with us into them.


The Expanse consists of nine primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads — considered a complete series. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1)
★ 8.22 / 19
Caliban's War (The Expanse #2)
★ 7.90 / 10
Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse #3)
★ 8.42 / 7
Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4)
★ 7.66 / 6
Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5)
★ 8.40 / 5
Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse #6)
★ 8.60 / 5
Persepolis Rising (The Expanse #7)
★ 9.34 / 3
Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse #8)
★ 9.34 / 3
Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9)
★ 10.00 / 2
Memory's Legion (The Expanse)
★ 10.00 / 1


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