Leviathan Wakes—by James S.A. Corey

"a really kickass space opera; interplanetary adventure the way it ought to be written." – George RR Martin

I’m not sure that I can put it any better. I agree on every point with Mr. Martin: James S.A. Corey’s debut novel Leviathan Wakes is as tremendous and affecting an adventure as I’ve ever read.

(Calling it a debut novel is…perhaps not wholly true. James S.A. Corey is the pen-name of writers Daniel Abraham (you may have heard of him) and Ty Franck.)

Here’s the hook from the publisher, Orbit Books:

Welcome to the future. 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 hauler making runs from the rings of Saturn to 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. War is brewing in the system.

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 governments, 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.

Leviathan Wakes is a page-turner. You remember that feeling—maybe it was Dune, or Ender’s Game, or Something Wicked This Way Comes—when you’d spend a whole summer afternoon, entranced by a story, and then come night, you’d sneak a flashlight into your bed and keep reading? This is that kind of book. This is a book that grabs your imagination and does not release until the gratifying final pages.

And then promises you more. Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the Expanse series. The sequel, Caliban’s War, is reportedly already at the publisher’s.

I can’t wait.

POST-SCRIPT: Something's in the water-- John Scalzi reviewed this book today, too. Only he got Daniel and Ty's thoughts on writing space-opera. Highly recommended read.

(Thanks to Jamie Todd Rubin for the heads-up.)