Leviathan Wakes (eArc, NetGalley). It took me at least 3 months to finish Leviathan Wakes, and catching it on the shelves in Mysterious Galaxy a few weeks back, I realized that my favorite part of the entire book was the pink lettering on the side. There needs to be far more pink in space opera. Pink looks great in space. (Which reminds me-- I'm desperate for a book either involving spectroscopy or planetary geodesy in one of its core plot elements. Any recs?)
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. (from amazon)
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. (from amazon)
At first glance, LW seems exactly like my type of book, which is why its probably more interesting to explore why it didn't work for me rather than what exactly I thought about it. There are countless glowing reviews , but in fact, io9's headline underscores possibly the single biggest reason I didn't love it-- comparing it to a big-budget Hollywood science fiction movie, which I tend to avoid like the plague or only watch when I'm feeling feisty.
Considering space opera I do like (I am quite addicted to everything archaeological space opera-- Jack McDevitt, Alastair Reynolds, etc, so it isn't like I'm some snob who doesn't love a good pseudo-scientific rip rolling yarn), I remembered I don't really like the kind of movie that LW wants to be in book form, and that's a problem. Because it really does read like a movie. Which isn't necessarily a fault-- "Feed" and "Deadline," with their pop culture mash up, devastatingly fast pace & twists also remind me of movies, but that's not why I like or don't like them. When it comes to LW, it is basically my least favorite science fiction tropes plastered into a snazzy Hollywood-style shell. I couldn't keep any of the characters straight, I had no investment in the plot, and at least there are female characters, we'll give it that.
Also, I should probably confess I do adore the MLN Hanover books, so it isn't like I'm not a Daniel Abraham fan. Though I did bounce off Dragon's Path as well. Perhaps Leviathan Wakes just didn't click, alas.
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