Leviathan Falls

June 1, 2021

No plot details yet, but Corey wraps up the ninth and final novel in his Hugo Award-winning "Expanse" series, which is seeing new life as a Prime Original undertaking. With a 125,000-copy first printing.

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Starred review from November 15, 2021
Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, writing as Corey, stick the landing in their spectacular ninth and final Expanse space opera (after Tiamat’s Wrath), set in a future where humanity has begun to expand beyond the solar system. For decades, human communities on a number of planets have been subject to the rule of the Laconian Empire—but its ruler, Winston Duarte, is no longer in control after a failed experiment that he’d hoped would grant him immortality, but instead changed him into something other than human. Meanwhile, the extraterrestrial threat to mankind remains, heightened by the discovery that the ancient alien intelligences that created the ring gates that enable intergalactic travel were themselves wiped out by something even more powerful. Reluctant hero James Holden is again committed to doing whatever he can to protect and unite humanity, aided by his crew on the Rocinante, who each face painful choices on the way to the gut-punching conclusion. Multiple perspectives—including that of a ruthless antagonist—create empathy with each member of the scrappy cast without ever slowing the pace or oversimplifying the interstellar intrigue. This fully satisfying resolution renders the entire series an all-time genre classic.

Starred review from November 1, 2021
Leviathan Falls picks up where Tiamat's Wrath (2019) left off: the Laconian Empire defeated, Teresa Duarte onboard the Rocinante with Holden and crew, and the ancient enemy of the gate builders seeking ways to destroy reality itself. The final installment of Corey's Expanse series is its strongest yet. It's a thrill ride of a tale, boasting the same kinetic momentum of the first book, with the highest possible stakes and profound emotional resonance. The story is masterfully paced and structured, filled to bursting with some of the genre's best world building. One of the central themes is how individual selfishness sabotages the greater good. It's easy to read this as a commentary on current real-world circumstances, but it is elevated into an exploration of universal truths. This book illustrates the greatest strength of speculative fiction: to imagine unique circumstances as strange mirrors to help us see ourselves more truly. Corey maintains an impressive balance between unflinching realism and hope, with no illusions about the myriad faults of humanity, but still holds a fundamental belief in the essential worthiness of people. This is a deeply satisfying and fitting conclusion to one of the best space opera series in many years.

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