Leviathan Falls

I finally finished The Expanse! I started this series in 2017, so 9 years ago, and it took a re-read of 6 of the books to get it done. This might be the longest series I’ve ever read to the end of, except for The Famous Five. I read all 21 of those as a child! And since this is a series finale, my thoughts are reflective on the series as a whole, and there will be unavoidable spoilers for the earlier books.

I am not typically much of a series reader, so the fact that I was motivated to read all 9 of these books speaks highly of how engaging it is! But… as you may glean from the 3-star rating, I did find this last book disappointing. In fact, I gave the last 4 books only 3 stars. Honestly, everything after Nemesis Games (book 5) has show more been missing something for me.

It is often said that this 9-book series can be read as a trilogy of trilogies. The first part is humanity discovering the protomolecule and the ring gate technology, the second is humanity expanding colonies through the ring gates which has a lot of political consqeuences, and the third part is the rise and fall of the Laconians and an eleventh hour return to the original thread of the mysterious Big Bad Aliens that ended the civilisation that built all the fancy technology (aka, the Whitewalkers of The Expanse if we were to think in a Game of Thrones/ASOIAF terms).

For me, I think what I most enjoyed about this series was the strong character development, the human villains and the intriguing mystery of the builders and the Big Bag threat. Sadly, those are the elements that fell away in the final of the series.

The thirty-year time jump in Persepolis Rising really confused how I saw the characters, and it also meant that the authors dispensed with any meaningful character growth for the main Roci crew. They’re now in the 60s and have been together for decades, how much more could they and their relationships change? The Laconian Empire plot also went nowhere in particular, and for me failed to make any point about military dictatorships. Duarte’s return in Persepolis Rising ended the last bit of intrigue in the series, and the Laconians were just too big and powerful. They were unbeatable, and that took all the wind out of the sails in books 6-7, and it never came back for me.

Most disappointing is that there was never any real resolution to the overarching background threat of these mysterious aliens. We never come into contact with them aside from bizarre space events. It ended up being in a human squabble that was resolved, of course, by Holden. Actually, the ending really reminded me of Mass Effect 3 – it’s nowhere near as disappointing as that, just plot-wise we are in the same realm! – one lone human (James Holden) decides the fate for everybody else, and it is a choice between keeping the fancy technology but losing all human individuality (think Pluribus, we’re doing hive minds, this is akin to the green ending of ME!) or lose all the fancy technology and the ring gates (aka the Mass Effect relays!) but get to stay as individual humans (basically the red ending). I love Mass Effect with all my heart; it is a part of me, but I never want to be reminded of those last 15 minutes of it, and also, this was just a derivative and uninteresting way to end The Expanse.

I will confess that I was quite bored by the last half of this book, and by the end, I’d basically mentally checked out (it’s why it took a month to finish!). I was no longer invested in any of the characters because they were all just shadows of their former selves (and I’m not even going to get into what was going on with Amos), and so I was unaffected by what I’m sure was intended to be emotional farewells for everyone.

This is disappointing because this series had some serious highs! The first 3 books are truly excellent, and Nemesis Games has some of the most gripping and shocking events I’ve read in a book, as well as some really great and interesting character development for Naomi! There are some fantastic, memorable characters, especially my favourites Detective Miller (who was only really in book 1!), Amos Burton, Chrisjen Avasarala and Bobbi Draper. Even James Holden is memorable in his own way.

If I ever decide to re-read the series, I would only go as far as Nemesis Games (book 5) and leave it there. Unfortunately, I found nothing to really recommend about the following 4, now knowing how it ends. It also makes the cancellation of the Amazon Prime adaptation make a bit more sense to me – I am now looking forward to rewatching that and finishing it.

I would still really recommend the series because, as disappointing as I found the ending, it was not a bad ending… it was just fine. I’ve definitely come across much worse. Also, none of the books dipped below 3 for me. I still found things I enjoyed about the characters and the world, even when the plot went in a direction that didn’t resonate with me.

For the law of fives bingo, this counts for the last book in a series, Locus award winner, over 500 pages, Sci-fi genre explore (Space Opera), and Muskoka is a dog analogue from Laconia, so I’ll count him as an animal, and then there is what Amos ends up as as a fantastic creature.

# REVIEW SUMMARY
## I LIKED
- The first third was quite exciting.
- I wasn’t actively annoyed by anything; it was just lacklustre.
- The return of “Miller.”
## I DIDN’T LIKE
- Plot-wise, the ending was too reminiscent of Mass Effect 3, and also just not very exciting.
- The series lost its intrigue and character growth as it went on. show less

Corey, James S. A. Leviathan Falls. The Expanse No. 9. Orbit 2021.
Reading Leviathan Falls, I was reminded again how deft is the Corey writing team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. All the familiar elements of space opera are given an original twist. We have seen science at the service of the power-hungry before, but the motives of the baddies are diverse and nuanced in ways that make them stick in the mind and elicit as much pity as fear. The surviving crew of the Rocinante is more battle-hardened, battle-scarred, and battle-weary than in previous books. Naomi and Jim are more self-reflective than ever. Amos is, well, not quite Amos. Or maybe he is more Amos than ever. Their battle is no longer against petty tyrants but against an show more existential threat to humanity, and they know it. After eight volumes, not including short stories, the series has dozens of characters whose stories need wrapping up. There are as many philosophical and political issues as there are characters. Corey manages to give us just enough to satisfy without ever bogging down the action. It is quite a juggling act. The series has come to a satisfying end, with just a hint of future possibilities. Leviathan Falls is for me the most ambitious and best-written novel in the series, and that is exactly as it should be. 5 stars. show less

I've greatly enjoyed the whole Expanse series and am sad that it’s now over. Nine books plus short stories make for a very substantial series, though. The pace and plotting have remained excellent throughout, while the appealing cast of characters tie it all together. [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] concludes the plot and character arcs in a very satisfying fashion. It seems amazing that the whole thing kicked off with a dead woman and detective investigating. From this seemingly unoriginal and unpromising start, a brilliant and distinctive space opera unfolds. As it ends, there show more is a tangible sense of the main characters handing over to a new generation as well as dramatic events impacting the whole human race.

I think it's interesting that [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] deploys a threat that seems to be increasingly ubiquitous in futuristic fiction: the hive-mind. The frequency of this turning up as the antagonist in the last couple of years (e.g. in [b:The This|58950899|The This|Adam Roberts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639950958l/58950899._SY75_.jpg|92907496], [b:Skyward Inn|52592203|Skyward Inn|Aliya Whiteley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599341450l/52592203._SY75_.jpg|78293563], and [b:Alexandria|52310896|Alexandria|Paul Kingsnorth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583267977l/52310896._SY75_.jpg|73035795]) suggests to me a particular anxiety about technology eroding the boundaries of our minds. Of these recent depictions, [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] seems the most visceral and thus most effective at showing why a hive-mind threatens the sense of self. Tanaka's discussion with the psychiatrist about the intrusion of the hive-mind as 'an intimate assault' is chilling. The scenes of Alex's son and his family experiencing the hive-mind are disorientating and creepy.

It was only when drafting this review that I noticed [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] skips between points of view within chapters, rather than each chapter following only one character as was standard in previous books of the series. In other contexts such skipping around has put me off, but here I barely noticed it as the narrative is so well-controlled. It also helps that the majority of characters and the setting are very familiar to the reader by this point. Perspective-switching keeps the plot moving without creating confusion.

The important new character in [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] is Tanaka, a colonel in Duarte's army who is sent on a top secret tracking mission. It is appropriate that she quotes [b:Moby Dick|2389|Moby Dick|Herman Melville|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391744708l/2389._SX50_.jpg|2409320] (which I only recognised as I've recently read it!), as she is a ruthlessly focused hunter throughout. The ultimate end that her pursuit leads to is very fitting. She finally locates Duarte, who is behind the hive-mind she cannot stand being subsumed into. To stop the hive-mind she kills him, despite that being quite the opposite of her original mission. Meanwhile the Rocinante crew remains central to the narrative, dealing with the trauma of all they've experienced before as well as new space battles, high speed chases, weird alien technology, and keeping a cute dog on a spaceship. All the original crew meditate upon how they've changed over time; this is especially significant for Amos. The absence of Bobbie and Clarissa is remarked upon, while Miller stages a last act return. I really enjoyed this twist, as I like Miller much more as a spooky alien ghost than as a detective with a drinking problem. When Jim takes the place of Duarte and destroys the gates to save humanity, I was glad he had an alien ghost friend to keep him company. It's a suitable finale for Holden, who has been trying to sacrifice himself for a greater cause for decades. Ending interstellar travel in order to avoid the notice of godlike aliens bent on genocide is certainly a suitable cause and a thrilling finale. Readers who have become invested in the plot, characters, and setting of The Expanse will, I think, find [b:Leviathan Falls|28335699|Leviathan Falls (The Expanse, #9)|James S.A. Corey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699._SY75_.jpg|48382891] an excellent conclusion to this epic series. I couldn't put it down. show less

Damn you James S.A. Corey! You stuck the landing.

I'm happy to say Leviathan Falls is a satisfying, action packed, emotional way to end The Expanse series.

The Expanse chronicles humanity’s expansion through the solar system and out into the stars–thanks to the discovery of frighteningly powerful alien technology–primarily through the eyes of a small gunship’s four-person crew lead by Jim Holden. Many decades in after the discovery of the alien protomolecule in Leviathan Wakes, we find our heroes on the brink of total annihilation. In Leviathan Falls, the ninth and final book in the series, humanity’s made too much progress using the alien protomolecule, and it’s angered a race of demigods from another universe that are show more testing ways to exterminate our entire species by randomly adjusting the laws of physics. A galactic empire (The Laconian Empire) is struggling to restore its former dominance while also searching for the crazed emperor that just might have an answer that can save humanity. And the crew of the Rocinante is searching for answers of its own. And when the Rocinate discovers that the crazed Emperor, Winston Duarte, reappears he promises to fight off humanity’s interdimensional attackers by co-opting the weapons left behind by the protomolecule’s creators. To do so, he has to turn our entire species into an interconnected hive mind. But, will Jim Holden allow a crazed Emperor to possess God-like power? And can Jim and the rest of our favorites: Naomi, Amos, and Alex save the day?

The answer is, of course, yes. But, as in all the stories in The Expanse, this book is both hope filled and bleak for there is always the Churn. It's the idea that nothing ever stays the same. Dark times come and go, and so do good, good people die and empires fall and worlds and nations are born and fade away, and history finds a way to leave everyone behind in the end. The Churn means change. And the sacrifice that our crew aboard the Roci exhibits, is just part of the never ending Churn.

Yes, there are heroic deeds within Leviathan Falls, and yes, humanity might be saved in the end but Leviathan Falls reminds us that there is a cost to survival and a cost to doing the right thing.

And it's one last emotional ride. Having watched these characters grow and change over the course of so many books, and what they go through within the ninth, makes Leviathan Falls a tear-jerker. The heroes of the Rocinante aren't archetypes - this ain't Star Wars. We have watched these characters become more fragile, more caring, more human. And in the end, it is hard to part with them.

I couldn't have asked for a better ending. An ending with our flawed heroes doing the best they can in dire circumstances, giving humanity a chance to perhaps learn from its mistakes. And in doing so securing an unknown but promising future for the human race. The question at the end is can we learn from our ambition to be Gods? Can we learn to cooperate?

Jim Holden seemed slightly optimistic - he says at one point (to paraphrase): sure, there will always be war - but the human race is a race that hinges on kindness. James S.A. Corey seems to think the same. show less

The final book of the Expanse provides a pretty satisfying end to what is to me the best hard sci fi book series of all time. The Laconian Empire is staggering after the events of the previous book- they are down to one monster ship (though they have plenty of pretty effective cruisers), the protomolecule platforms are destroyed and can't be rebuilt, the Laconian leader is a brain-damaged wreck, and his heir has run away on the Rocinante.
That could all be good news for our protagonists, but there's a kinda big problem: the Laconians sent a bomb into the ring gates, and now the mysterious forces inside them are pissed and they're trying to kill everyone.
We get a new character, Tanaka, a vicious Laconian soldier tasked with the job of show more finding Duarte after he seems to come back to life and then disappears in an ancient alien spacecraft. Tanaka believes her best shot to find him is to find his daughter, who is hiding out on the Rocinante with Holden, Naomi, zombie Amos, and Alex.
The book concludes, as one would expect, with a lengthy showdown that wraps up both the fate of the Laconian empire and the war between humans and the entities in the rings. We finally get a little explanation of the nature of the rings and how they are powered, thanks to the research of Elvi along with zombie Cara.
The book is great, as were the others. I mark it a half star below previous volumes though- I found the descriptions of Elvi's research so opaque that I really didn't get it, and I found the climax to be a bit overstuffed and long- the book could have been cut by 50 pages easily enough.

But those are quibbles. Any Sci Fi fan should read this whose series (or do what I did- watch the TV series and then read the last 3 books, which take place after the TV series ends). show less

Hard to believe the series is done, and I've been putting off writing my review so I could have some time to digest it. What did I think of Leviathan Falls? I think it was terrific. In terms of the series as a whole, I think this book caps off what is likely my favourite of the "trilogies", and I like the arc that the three trilogies created together. I liked the new character of Tanaka, and the culmination of the characters of Jim, Amos, Alex, and Naomi. While I had kind of anticipated the large beats this book might take in terms of it's plot, it was wonderfully written - in an exciting and stirring way. Even if you anticipate the twists and turns - it's the details that make The Expanse really pop. Even out in the orbit of some show more planet on the other side of the galaxy, or inside the weird ring space, the writers have been terrific at making characters and situations relatable - and I think that's a hallmark of The Expanse. This isn't a story about heroic archetypes - it's a story about regular blue collar folks caught up in plans much larger than they are - and the lengths to which they are willing to go. I'm going to miss my friends on board The Rocinante - but I'm eager to see what James SA Corey has in store for the future, assuming Ty and Daniel decide to work together again. Cheers, beltalowdas! show less

4.5 stars

This rating is for the individual book and the series as a whole, which I thought was original and just a fantastic ride. I loved the core characters that I was with throughout out the series, as well as the nuanced supporting characters I met along the way. The multiple POVs as the series grew gave me such a strong sense of who the characters were, and—what I liked the most—that they weren’t just one thing, but could change and grow. Villains could become allies, and the heroes didn’t always agree or follow the same path. Characters could see each other’s flaws and decide whether or not they could live with them.
Another thing I loved about the series overall is how unpredictable it was. Sometimes there were huge show more time jumps in between books. Sometimes the books started with a completely new set of characters before eventually circling back to the crew of the Roci. While often disorienting, I appreciated being kept on my toes and not getting formulaic installments.
This book brought things full circle in way that was rough, but perfect. I never guessed where it was going or how things would resolve, but I really liked where the authors landed with it.
Highly recommended! show less