The first book of the Expanse series, “Leviathan Wakes”, begins in familiar territory. A woman awakes on a ship in captivity, she makes her escape from the confined space and then she encounters something that very quickly catapults the story into horror territory.

This is not your typical space opera.

The genre-crossing, planet-hopping tale follows two principal characters: Detective Miller and Captain Holden. Holden’s story follows a more traditional space adventure narrative, where Miller’s takes a deep dive into the noir genre. This dual-character structure can sometimes leave characters feeling underdeveloped, but the hefty 640-page novel makes room for both to get their complete story arcs.

The book also leads the two protagonists into conflict frequently. Miller has the typical hardened cynicism of a noir cop, and Holden has the optimistic naïveté of a starship captain on “Star Trek”. As such, their moral compasses are differently aligned, and their actions have lasting consequences on the entire galaxy, as well as the other characters.

The world of the Expanse is also fully fleshed out. Earth has colonized other planets in the solar system, but focused on the development of Earth over the expansion of the colonies, leading to a very uneasy peace.

There are also tiny settlements in the asteroid belt, leading to the eventual evolution of a separate race: the Belters. The science of how the futuristic technology works is described, but not in depth, which is a good thing in this case. Otherwise, it could leave the plot feeling thin and discarded.

In conclusion, “Leviathan Wakes” is a worthy beginning to a series that manages to avoid all the pitfalls of not only first books, but the science fiction genre as a whole.

Final Score: 9.5/10