Thursday, January 26, 2017

Corey, James S.A. (Leviathan Wakes)

I'm reading along... and realizing that the book is moving very quickly. Goodness, if we go at this rate the entire first season of the TV series (called "The Expanse") is going to be over before I'm halfway through the book. Yup.

I almost thought about stopping, so that I would watch the new season (premiering in February, I believe) before I read all about it by finishing the book. But, I just couldn't stop reading. This is one engaging writing duo - and it took me a while before I learned it was a duo, not a solo endeavor - and they create this environment and spin you from world to world without nary a concern that you will get confused by the rapid changes of planetoid, space station, or spaceship. In addition, they assume you will immediately understand how Mars, Earth and the Belt (the asteroid belt) could be at each others' throats, without a whole lot of explanation.

That is absolutely the case. It's simple to see how we could end up in a state like this, if we were also inhabiting a couple rings out from the earth. (Heck, aren't we about to see it in action right now?) There's only one part of the book that didn't ring true for me, and that didn't have much to do with the sociopolitical climate of this space opera, but instead the moral stances of our two main characters after one of them makes a quick and disturbing decision. But this is fascinating in its own right - on the one hand, we have the idealistic Earther, and on the other hand, the overly cynical and pragmatic Belter. It's worth watching their stories spin together and then apart.

For those of you who haven't read this first book before watching, the Aghdashloo character does not show up in the TV series at all... yet. I'm fascinated to learn why, when I read the next book.

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