Mankind has moved beyond Earth, colonizing Mars and the asteroid belt. As with most colonies, the people of Mars and the Belt don't always get along with each other or with Earth. Citizens of Earth live at normal gravity and enjoy free air and water. Citizens of Mars live in domes, but have all the best technology. The citizens of the Outer Planets live in slum conditions and depend on the others for their air and water. They are the workhorses of the system and resent their place.
Jim Holden is the XO on the ice-hauler Canterbury, working the asteroid belt, hauling ice back to the colonies. When the Canterbury receives a distress signal, Holden and a small crew investigate. They find an abandoned ship, the Scopuli, with a Martian-powered distress signal. Minutes later, the Canterbury is destroyed by mysterious ships. Holden broadcasts this information to the solar system and starts a conflict beyond his imagining.
Miller is a hard-broiled detective on the asteroid Ceres. He is assigned the task of finding heiress Julie Mao and returning her to her parents on Earth. Julie joined the Outer Planets Alliance (OPA), a revolutionary group trying to gain independence for the Outer Planets. She was on the Scopuli before it disappeared. After Holden's broadcast to the system, Miller and the other security forces are overwhelmed by rising tensions as the OPA and Mars get into a shooting match leading up to all-out war.
Miller and Holden's stories come together as their investigations lead them to the same conclusions. They are opposite sides of a coin. Miller is a cynical realist; he sees what is going to happen and what the consequences are going to be. Holden is an idealist who believes in sharing information and letting the people come to their own truths. Their philosophies clash as they try to figure out what powerful force is trying to bring all the players in the solar system to war and how they can stop it.
Author James S.A. Corey's story was compelling and ended up in a direction I would not have predicted. I enjoyed the claustrophobic feel of the stations and ships and thought the politics involved were fairly plausible. I think the author did a fantastic job on the world-building. I could clearly see how the system developed and what the motivations of the players were. This was a long book and could have been trimmed a bit in the middle, but overall it was a compelling story that was hard to put down. "Leviathan Wakes" is the first in a series of books and has been adapted as "The Expanse" on the SyFy Channel.
Angie Bayne is the Children's Department manager at Missouri River Regional Library.