Leviathan Wakes

By Will Nelson

Hello again! Today I’ll be talking about one of my favorite recent science fiction books – Leviathan Wakes, by James Corey.  It is part of the Expanse series, which was made into the well-received Expanse series on American television.

Leviathan Wakes is set in the near future, when humanity has settled on Mars and the outer fringes of the solar system. Due to this expansion, humanity has divided into three new groups: Earthers, Martians, and the “Belters,” people who are born in space stations and colonies on the fringes of the solar system. Earth is overpopulated and dominated by a future version of the United Nations, while Mars is involved in a planet-wide terraforming effort. There is an alliance between the two planets, while both rely on the Belters to provide food and resources. However, there is a radical faction of Belter society, the Outer Planets Alliance, that is agitating for independence from both Earth and Mars.

The main character, Jim Holden, is a former officer in the UN navy who is serving as an  Executive Officer on an ice freighter running supplies between Ceres to Saturn. On a routine trip, he encounters a distress call from an abandoned ship floating in space. As Holden is boarding the ship, his freighter his attacked by a mysterious enemy, and the mystery starts…

While Leviathan Wakes is worth reading just for the plot, what is particularly interesting is Corey’s depiction of human society at a time when it has spread to other planets. His depictions of the intricate politics of the Belt, Mars, and Earth are especially insightful. For example, Mars seceded from Earth, a cause of tension in their relationship, but both must present a united front to prevent the Outer Planets Alliance from seeing any weakness. Likewise, since Belters grow up in a low-gravity environment they are taller and more skeletal than Martians and Earthers, leading them to be treated as second-class citizens, causing resentment that helps the Outer Planets Alliance.

In fact, Corey’s depictions of how new societies like Mars have affected the old divisions on Earth is quite interesting. In Corey’s world, the new societies created in space have superseded old national and racial divisions, but not replaced them. For example, one of the other main characters, Alex Kamul, is of South Asian decent but speaks with a strong Texas twang native to the area of Mars he comes from. Likewise, the Belters are descended from peoples all across the world, and developed a Belter “creole” heavily influenced by many different languages.

Corey’s explorations of future societies like this make me wonder how human society would change if we did expand into the solar system. Would old national divisions be superseded, like in Corey’s world, or would they merely be carried into space? Would there be a scramble to claim resources like other points in human history, or would society work to share the resources equally?

Questions like these only scratch the surface of what Leviathan Wakes covers, which is why you should give it a look yourself!