Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Call me late for the party. I’ve never been a fan of traditional science fiction, preferring knights, wizards and dragons to aliens, FTL drives, and space stations. But as a genre book reviewer I’ve felt a certain amount of (internal) pressure to branch out.Leviathan Wakes kept coming to mind as I chose new books to review but I always managed to find an excuse why some other book was more appealing or would generate more traffic or what not. I should have known better.  I’ve read a good amount of Daniel Abraham’s work and have never been disappointed. His collaboration with Ty Franck, under the pseudonym of James S.A. Corey lives up to any expectations I had based on those excellent novels. Leviathan Wakes is science fiction for readers without advanced science degrees who are far more interested in plot and character than the actual science of our science fiction. This is space opera that eschews the usual trappings of the genre, and focuses instead on tight realistic world building and a character driven story that approaches the material from unexpected angles.

This is not to say, fans of space opera will be in completely unexplored territory. The world of Leviathan Wakes is infinitely familiar. Humanity has taken to the stars but remain limited to our solar system due to the limitations of the technology that has given them the planets if not the stars. By confining the characters to a smaller sandbox, Corey is able to overlay real world concerns and issues onto his interplanetary stage without getting lost in scads of exposition and explanation. The solar system is a world not far from our own once you scratch the surface. Divisive politics, prejudice, corporate greed and the small struggles of real people are the order of the day and readers will instantly feel at home in this zero-g landscape.

The novel opens with a mystery that feels so much like the “ice monster prologue” of A Game of Thrones that it feels impossible not to recall the connection between these authors and Martin. But it’s handled well and ties into the main plot thread quickly enough that I can’t begin to criticize the method.  The next two chapters introduce us to our viewpoint characters and this is where Corey’s writing really shines.

First, we have Jim Holden, the second in command of an ice hauler called the Canterbury. Holden is thrust into command of the remains of the Canterbury’s crew when his ship and most of his friends are murdered while on a mission of mercy near a small out of the way asteroid. Holden is an idealist, whose simple moralistic world view leaves him woefully unprepared for the consequences of his broadcasting evidence of the attack. Holden brings to mind the rough around the edges, good intentioned space captains from countless films and television shows in the genre, and Corey makes good use of the trope while subverting it by not having Holden stray into Han Solo or Malcolm Reynolds territory at all. Holden is a man who wrestles with not his choices, but the consequences of them, all while trying to keep the remaining members of the Canterbury’s crew alive in a solar system on the verge of collapsing into war.

The second viewpoint character is Miller, a middle aged police officer on Ceres Station. Miller is in many ways the antithesis of Holden. With his career on the decline due to his depression and alcoholism, Miller is assigned to find the missing Julie Mao, who figures heavily in the prologue of the novel. Miller’s world weary, suspicious view of the world is in sharp contrast to Holden’s idealism and optimistic world view. Miller’s quest to locate Julie and his growing obsession with his quarry leads him to Holden and his crew in the middle section of the novel as the Belt and Mars inch closer and closer to out right war. It is quickly apparent that Miller is a damaged soul, the quintessential noir detective, and that finding Julie Mao is, at least in his mind, his last shot at redemption. When Corey brings Holden and Miller together the sparks fly as the two men’s conflicting world views lend the novel it’s most believable conflict. This unlikely pairing is the heart of the novel, and I often found myself wishing they could just get along, but knew that the story would be far weaker if Corey had followed the path of least resistance.

The crew of Holden’s ship, the Rosinante, is sympathetic and expertly drawn. In fact, they are in many ways more easily relatable than the two principal protagonists. I hope for viewpoint chapters from Naomi and Amos in the next volume. Each of the supporting characters, no matter how secondary to the plot have nuance and importance to the principal characters they orbit. While many of them can be easily described in terms of genre tropes, Corey’s delivery makes that familiarity a blessing rather than a curse.

Another highlight of Corey’s writing is the distinct sense of place that is evoked in the various locales in the novel. With the narrative spanning the solar system, it would have been easy for Corey to gloss over the specifics and focus on action, plot and character. Instead, every location has a distinct flavor. The casinos of Eros, slums of Ceres Station, and the more opulent environs of Tycho are all given equal time to shine with the details of the environment and its denizens woven so seamlessly into the narrative that the reader is in fact absorbing the material in a natural way. The characters experience their environment and we readers are merely along for the ride.  Even the ships that occupy so much page space have their own character and peculiarities. This attention to detail allows for a fully immersive experience that avoids info dumping in almost every instance.

With spaceship battles and pitched gun fights in the close quarters of space stations, Leviathan Wakes has more than enough action for genre fans. The choreography and emotional heft of these scenes is some of the best I’ve seen in any genre. Violence is never meaningless to those who are touched by it, and Corey never forgets that fact. Conflict always has repercussions to either the plot or the characters.

In conclusion, Leviathan Wakes is science fiction for lovers of story that like the science in the background and the human element front and center. If you want to explore science fiction but don’t care about astrophysics or the technical specs of every ship and firearm, Corey has written the book for you. Leviathan Wakes is poised to be a classic in the genre moving forward, a natural progression from the classics that came before with a decidedly modern sensibility.

Coming Attractions: The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham

Daniel Abraham is one of the most prolific writers in speculative fiction. His partnership with Ty Franck under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey has produced the widely acclaimed Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War, with the third volume Abaddon's Gates coming soon. The duo also have an upcoming Star Wars novel featuring Han Solo in the works as well. For those of you who prefer fantasy to science fiction, Abraham has The Dagger and the Coin series, which has been one of the best received new fantasy series in recent years. The cover and blurb for the third installment in this excellent series has just been released with a projected publication date of May 2013.

And here's the blurb:

The great war cannot be stopped. 

The tyrant Geder Palliako begins a conquest aimed at bringing peace to the world, though his resources are stretched too thin. When things go poorly, he finds a convenient target among the thirteen races and sparks a genocide. 

Clara Kalliam, freed by having fallen from grace, remakes herself as a "loyal traitor" and starts building an underground resistance movement that seeks to undermine Geder through those closest to him. 

Cithrin bel Sarcour is apprenticing in a city that's taken over by Antea, and uses her status as Geder's one-time lover to cover up an underground railroad smuggling refugees to safety. 

And Marcus Wester and Master Kit race against time and Geder Palliako's soldiers in an attempt to awaken a force that could change the fate of the world.

I haven't read The King's Blood yet, but this blurb is going to have me waiting at the mailbox for its arrival. It looks like 2013 might be Daniel Abraham's best year yet.

Coming Attractions: Star Wars Universe

At New York Comic Con, Del Rey announced two new projects in the Star Wars universe. The first will tell a story that was first mentioned in A New Hope, but has remained a mystery ever since. The second sees a writer responsible for one of the most popular science fiction books released in recent years.

John Jackson Miller will tackle Kenobi, which details the Jedi’s master's life following  events of  Revenge of the Sith. Miller had the following to say about the project:

Kenobi is a sweeping story that’s part epic western, part high-stakes drama, part romance — but it’s all Star Wars, taking place in the early days of Obi-Wan’s exile to Tatooine. I’ve been working on this concept for years and the basics are pretty simple. The greatest hero in the galaxy faces his toughest challenge yet: He must stop being Obi-Wan — and learn to live as Ben.

The release date for Kenobi is  set for late 2013.

In other news, the third book in the upcoming “Rebels” standalone novels,  focusing on the principle characters in the original trilogy set between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, will feature Han Solo. The tale will be penned by James S. A. Corey, otherwise known as the writing duo of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Corey's immensely popular space opera novels Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War leave little doubt that this project will be one to watch for. 

Which of these upcoming additions to the mountain of Star Wars titles are you most looking forward to? 

Review of the Week: Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover

I really wish I didn't know M.L.N. Hanover was actually Daniel Abraham. Unclean Spirits was a birthday present and an apt one given my love for Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. Looking at the cover we have all of the usual suspects for urban fantasy with a female lead. Scantily clad woman wielding a weapon? Check. Obligatory tattoo on said scantily clad woman? Check. Look at my tight and revealing ensemble pose? Check. Based on that, I expected to find a fairly paint by numbers urban fantasy novel. And if the author wasn't a favorite of mine masquerading under a pseudonym, that would have been just fine. I tend to be slightly less critical on debut authors. After all, they are just getting started and I have found several excellent series that started out with less than stellar opening volumes including the adventures of the only wizard listed in Chicago's phone book. I suspect this first book of The Black Sun's Daughter will likely fall into the same category. But knowing that this novel came from the author of The Long Price Quartet and the excellent The Dagger and the Coin series, I, perhaps unfairly, expected better.

Which is not to say that Unclean Spirits isn't a good book, because it definitely is. You just have to take a closer look to see discover how good it really is. On its face, the concept doesn't seem anything earth shattering but in true Abrahamian fashion, Hanover manages to make it somehow more than your father's urban fantasy story. If that's not enough to get your attention, it definitely should be.

Unclean Spirits is the story of Jayné Heller, who when settling the estate of her suddenly deceased uncle, finds herself thrust into a world that she doesn't understand. While she is the inheritor of her uncle's surprisingly vast fortune she also inherits his problems and, it seems, his occupation. And as an exterminator of those possessed by evil spirits that turn them into things out of nightmare, her deceased Uncle Eric's problems are extremely dangerous. Making things worse, her uncle's murderers have decided that anyone poised to inherit their greatest enemy's estate is a threat best eliminated. Jayné has to adapt to these shocking revelations quickly, or she'll never have the chance to enjoy or understand her strange inheritance.

Even looking at that synopsis, it isn't really obvious just how far from the urban fantasy norm Abraham is straying. He puts his own unique stamp on genre tropes is everywhere. His unifying explanation for the supernatural elements of the setting is a thing of pure genius. In essence every type of supernatural creature can be explained by a variation of the same possession mechanism. I have a strong suspicion that this ground level change in the common premise will lead to some very interesting world building, but sadly there seems little time for this as Abraham sets up the pieces of this inaugural tale. But in a first volume that is so expected as to be forgivable.

Another more subtle point is that our protagonist is actually quite different from that staple of urban fantasy that the cover art suggests.While she has some small protection granted to her as the heir to whatever supernatural gifts her uncle obviously possesses, Jayné has no idea how any of it works. In addition, she is caught completely unprepared for the circumstances the author hurls her into. This is a college drop out in water far over her head. Understandably, Jayné has almost no control over her own trajectory for at least the first two thirds of the novel. That lack of agency makes her a definite change from the Anitas, Harrys, and Mercys that seem to clog the genre. One might think that choice would lead to a boring protagonist, especially in the unsurprisingly first person narrative. But Abraham wisely makes Jayné likeable enough that her lack of aptitude is endearing and sympathetic rather than frustrating. Hints at her back story, including her unexplained exit from college and her adversarial relationship with her overbearing and parochial parents leave us with questions about Jayné that we want answers too.

The supporting cast is motley assortment of cliches turned on their heads and completely unexpected and refreshing choices. The stand out for me is Midian, the vampiresque epicurean who dispenses much needed world building while preparing meals that actually made me hungry as I read about them. As her uncle's last client Midian is much more than just one of Jayné's eventually band of merry men, but a potential antagonist whose goals only temprorarilly coincide with her own. Throw in a couple of decidedly ordinary folk who are pressed into service after Jayné narrowly manages to save them from the spirit that shoved the husband's mind into the family dog before possessing his body, and you are in for a wild ride. Abraham gives plenty of glimpses of potential for character depth and exploration, but most are not exploited to anything resembling the level of any of his other novels. We are often left seeing the ripples of something interesting in the undercurrents of the largely predictable plot, but very rarely does the author do anything other than tantalize.

My largest complaint with the characterization is that the villains of the piece, get an embarrassingly minuscule amount of development. Which is what leaves me hoping that Midian comes back in an antagonistic role. All of the baddies we meet are straight from central casting, including the big bad himself. When contrasted with the attention to detail we see in the Jayné and crew, it was terribly jarring. It seemed as if the author had no real intentions of these villains being anything more than glorified cannon fodder as he set up the characters he really wanted to write about.

The plot is full of the things you would expect in urban fantasy, increasingly difficult opposition as the heroes move up the pyramid of villainy, best described by Midian as something like Amway, but with possession, wounded allies, reversals of fortune, and victory through unexpected means. Its entertainingly familiar and the people going jumping through the hoops are fare more compelling than the hoops themselves. The pacing is tight, but leaves room for quieter character moments without ever dredging itself in seemingly needless tedium. Nothing to brag about per se, but definitely not unsatisfying either.

I'd say Unclean Spirits definitely has the ingredients to be a refreshing re-imagining of the urban fantasy genre, but it has yet to deliver on that potential. My personal opinion, a little more Abraham and a little less Hanover will go along way to establishing Jayné Heller as contender for membership in the heavyweight division beside the Dresdens and Blakes of the genre.

Review of the Week: The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

I want to love Daniel Abraham's books. Really, I do. I discovered Abraham through his good friend and genre legend, George R. R. Martin. Martin's sterling recommendation sent me directly to the book store to pick up the first book in The Long Price Quartet and immediately dove into its pages. Abraham's epic fantasy debut was intriguing with a world unlike anything I'd read in the genre, and with nary a trope in sight, full of unique characters and a deeply personal story arc.  It was like an exotic dish from a culture I knew absolutely nothing about; I savored and enjoyed every bite. I read the rest of the series as they were released. While I enjoyed them just as much I realized that Abraham's novels, like exotic food, would never replace my love for an old fashioned cheeseburger. I like these novels, but I wanted to love them. So when Abraham's next novel, The Dragon's Path debuted I was excited. Maybe I'd love this one.

 The Dragon's Path is definitely a departure from The Long Price Quartet, introducing readers to a world that is infinitely more recognizable. Tropes of the genre are very obviously present this time around. Abraham has filled this world with dragons, strange new races, political upheaval, ancient tomes that promise to reveal mysterious secrets, and even some swordplay. The magic is minimal, at least thus far, which could be the influence of Abraham's good friend and eloquent pitchman, Martin. Abraham is setting the table for a familiar feast early on, and I found myself ready to settle down for a meal. However, Abraham's choice of utensils led to a little fumbling.

The characters of The Dragon's Path are a quartet of seemingly easily recognizable archetypes. A troubled, yet capable soldier, Marcus, is charged with guarding Cithrin, a young apprentice of the Madean bank, as she attempts to smuggle its treasures out of the Free City of Vanai before enemy troops can occupy the city. In addition, we are introduced to two noblemen who are embroiled in a political conflict that is poised to shake the halls of power throughout the realm. Dawson, the childhood friend of King Simeon, is a man of vast influence and power who stands at the head of a faction desperate to protect the rights of the privileged noble class against a growing cry for substantial political change. Geder is the awkard bookish minor lordling who finds he must take drastic measures to stay afloat in the shark infested waters of his birthright or be drowned under the weight of their machinations.

But rather than tell a comfortable if predictable story, Abraham delves into these characters with an eye for the intensely personal and through that unflinching lens we find that while all of these characters seem poised for heroics, none of them are entirely likable. Even the most likeable of the four, Marcus and Cithrin, display traits that make it difficult to see them in a wholly favorable light. When these stories are viewed as a study in character, Abraham shows a genius for uncovering what really motivates and impacts these characters. Even when they make foolish or questionable decisions readers can easily understand why. But without a standout character that readers want to cheer for the novel's lack of a true hero is keenly felt.

Another of Abraham's numerous strengths is his ability to make elements that might seem boring at first glance very compelling. The exploration of commerce and the inter-workings of banking are explored through Cithrin's character arc. Abraham does this with a deft hand that manages to fascinate with its depth of detail while always moving the plot along. The political maneuverings of Dawson and Geder get similar treatment though the political angle is not so unique and startling as the economical one. Sadly, Abraham's strengths plays a part in the novels weakness once again. The Dragon's Path, while always entertaining, lacks any real sense of action. That is not meant as a criticism for a lack of sword waving or epic battles, though both are glaringly absent. It's more pervasive than that. There are few places where the story has a real sense of momentum. I waited desperately for a tipping point where the narrative picks up speed and feels in danger of running away with our characters, but it never came.

With that said, it seems that The Dragon's Path is more about declaring the combatants and defining the field of battle than anything else, which in a projected quintet of novels is no small feat. I have every hope that the newly released The King's Blood will up the ante on the action, while still delving deep into what makes these so wonderfully drawn characters fit to be the heroes of this epic tale. And given the growth in Abraham's writing since The Long Price Quartet, I'm confident that I'll eventually find the story I'm meant to fall in love with. I'll definitely keep reading until I do.