Leviathan Wakes, written by James S. A. Corey and published in 2011, is a space opera set in the 24th century. It is the first of nine novels in the Expanse series, which also includes eight novellas and short stories. The novels are written in the third-person limited perspective, with the chapters rotating through a series of point-of-view characters. In Leviathan Wakes, the chapters follow Jim Holden and Joe Miller, with the Prologue and Epilogue featuring Julie Mao and Fred Johnson, respectively.

This guide references the June 2011 paperback edition published by Orbit Books.

Plot Summary

In the 24th century, the solar system is largely colonized and gripped in a cold war between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. Mars is a rival of Earth, thanks largely to its advanced technological capabilities. In this universe, highly sophisticated space stations have been built on planetary moons. The moon is now Luna, under Earth’s jurisdiction. Other lunar stations include Deimos (Mars), Ganymede (Jupiter), and Phoebe (Saturn), each of which figure into the broader narrative. Humanity has also colonized several asteroids, and these stations comprise the Belt.

Earth has squandered its natural resources and relies on off-planet commercial activities to support its population. Mars also requires resources to sustain its engineered planetary systems and rapid growth. Much of the industry that meets the inner planets’ needs occurs in the Belt, where humans who have never lived in Earth or Martian gravity have developed distinctive physical characteristics. Belters are taller and thinner than Earthers, and most cannot survive long in the gravitational fields of Earth and Mars. They live in highly controlled environments and perform hard physical labor that largely benefits the Inners, such as hauling ice across the system for water.

The narrative begins about 150 years after Earth and Mars reached the brink of war. Although war was avoided, the planets have maintained a tenuous political balance ever since. Increasingly sensitive to exploitation from Inners, the Belters have formed the Outer Planet Alliance (OPA) to gain strength in numbers. They want to be recognized and treated as equals, but the various factions disagree about how to achieve these goals; piracy, for example, is common. Many leaders on Earth and Mars view the OPA’s acts of rebellion as terrorism.

The story recounts the adventures of four crewmates who survive the destruction of their water-hauling ship the Canterbury. The crew includes Earther and executive officer Jim Holden, Belter and engineer Naomi Nagata, Earther and mechanic Amos Burton, and Martian and pilot Alex Kamal. The story also follows Joe Miller, a detective obsessed with the disappearance of Julie Mao, a young woman caught in the center of an experiment that threatens to eradicate all humanity.

A distress beacon lures the Canterbury off-route. Five crew members take a shuttle to check the ship emitting the signal in a rescue/salvage operation. While they investigate the situation, the Canterbury is destroyed by a nuclear weapon. As the highest-ranking survivor, Holden becomes captain of the remaining crew, who initially chafe under his authority. In reporting the attack over a public channel, Holden reveals the distress beacon was powered by a Martian battery, implying that Mars destroyed the Canterbury. Holden believes he’s simply reporting facts, but his broadcast inflames tensions between the inner planets and the Belt, which erupts in riots.

A Martian Navy battleship called the Donnager arrives at the scene, detaining the shuttle and its five crewmembers, whom the Martins intend to debrief. Meanwhile, a squadron of small spacecrafts appear and engage the Donnager in close-quarters combat. Before the attackers can board the Donnager, the captain has Holden and his crew dispatched to safety on the Tachi, a smaller gunship. Then, rather than give up the vital proprietary information in the Donnager’s core, the captain sets the ship to self-destruct. On the Tachi, which Holden renames Rocinante, Holden turns off the transponder to remain hidden from any attackers. The ship heads to Tycho Station, run by Fred Johnson, a former UN Navy hero who is now a leader of the OPA. Fred hires the Rocinante to go to Eros Station to pick up a stranded OPA operative.

Meanwhile, Joe Miller, a seasoned Belter detective on Ceres Station, tries to track down Julie Mao, the daughter of a wealthy couple who want her returned to her home on Luna. As he digs into the case, Miller learns a lot about Julie and becomes infatuated with her. He creates a version of her in his mind, and she becomes a ghostly companion of sorts. Miller suspects a connection between Julie’s disappearance and the Canterbury’s destruction. This hunch propels him to hunt down Jim Holden, whom he tracks to Eros Station.

On Eros, the Rocinante crew and Miller meet and discover the remains of Julie Mao, who was infected by some mysterious substance dubbed the “Phoebe bug.” Shortly after this discovery, Eros is thrown into chaos by an “attack.” The population is in danger of radiation exposure, and people are herded to radiation shelters. Suspicious, Holden and Miller force a guard to let them into one of the shelters. Inside, they realize the radiation level is off the charts—and they’ve been exposed.

Holden and Miller struggle to get to the Rocinante, and Miller saves Holden’s life in the process, dragging him by his belt as they both grow increasingly ill. Once onboard, they are treated with the advanced medical supplies from the sick bay. Miller and the crew escape Eros and travel to coordinates left by Julie. There, they find a ship tethered to an asteroid. Their subsequent investigation reveals a dead crew, clearly infected with the same substance that killed Julie; a safe containing a mysterious substance; and a recorded message.

The message was recorded by Dresden, a scientist who works for a research corporation called Protogen—which is led by Jules-Pierre Mao, Julie Mao’s father. Dresden reveals that the “Phoebe bug” was a weapon an ancient civilization attempted to use against Earth eons earlier. The attack failed, but the substance lingered on Phoebe. Believing it to be an agent of evolutionary change that might be programmable to give humans godlike abilities, the researchers decided to run experiments to observe what the “Protomolecule,” as they named it, can do. Their experimentation included deliberately “seeding” the entire population of Eros with the Protomolecule, which cost the lives of 1.5 million people, mostly Belters. The mysterious substance in the safe is a Protomolecule sample.

The Rocinante returns to Tycho with the safe. Fred Johnson is persuaded to lead an OPA attack against Thoth Station, the Protogen headquarters. Miller participates in the ground battle, while the Rocinante engages in space. Badly damaged, it’s forced to land on the station. Inside, Fred, Miller, and Holden confront Dresden, who is apparently running the entire operation. Dresden argues that Protogen’s actions were justified by the project’s potential long-term benefits. In response, Miller kills him in cold blood. Furious that Miller played judge, jury, and executioner, Holden refuses to let him travel on the Rocinante.

While waiting for their ship to be repaired on Tycho Station, Holden and Naomi begin a romantic relationship. Amos and Alex are both eager for the Rocinante crew to stay together and get whatever work they can find. This leads into the lingering problem of Eros: It must be destroyed to protect the solar system from the Protomolecule. The Rocinante participates in an elaborate plan to nudge the station onto a trajectory toward the sun. They will use the Nauvoo, the largest and most advanced ship built in human history, to do the “nudging.” Miller, who is working with Fred, also participates by joining a group of OPA soldiers assigned to attach bombs to Eros Station. Instead of evacuating after the job is done, Miller decides to stay on Eros and perish with it.

As the Nauvoo approaches to bump Eros onto its new course, the station dodges, avoiding impact. This is unprecedented: Space stations can’t move of their own volition, yet Eros does just that, behaving like a giant spaceship. It then accelerates, heading straight toward Earth. Earth discharges its nuclear arsenal toward the coming station, but Eros disappears from radar. The only way the weapons can find it is if the Rocinante follows and paints a target on its tail, but Eros is traveling at high-G speeds that humans can’t endure for long. Rather than set the ship on autopilot and sacrifice the crew, Holden abandons the chase.

However, they realize that Miller can provide the needed signal from Eros. Miller enters the infected station, determined to find Julie. Since she was “patient zero,” he believes she has become the mind driving the Protomolecule, and thus the station, and hopes to convince her to divert Eros away from Earth. Holden persuades Fred to reprogram the warheads to take a longer path that will buy Miller time. Miller finds Julie, who is still alive in a way, though she’s not human anymore. She doesn’t understand what she has become; all she wants is to go home to Earth. Miller convinces her to redirect her course to Venus. He removes his spacesuit and joins her, allowing the Protomolecule to take him.

The plan works, and the solar system watches as Eros approaches Venus only to break apart in a dazzling display in the planet’s upper atmosphere. After, Holden and Fred meet on Ceres, where Fred is preparing to address a Peace Conference. Holden has given Fred the Protomolecule sample, which he intends to use as a bargaining chip to prevent a future war.