Small Allusions in the Great Expanse

This blog post is a collaborative effort by my colleague Brenda Hoffman, writing tutor at the St. Augustine Campus Tutoring Center, and SJR State Student Evan Godfrey. Evan is a part-time employee at the writing center and says this about his time there, "Work in the writing lab is a good sort of challenging. Most of the time, we're reviewing papers, but the most fun I have is when students engage in conversation about their work. It feels more stimulating that way. What interests me is less so the work and more so the reward I get. I write very often for school, work, and my hobbies, so working in the lab rewards me with ever-increasing experience with various writing styles and essay types. This is especially rewarding considering that, on top of computer science, I want to pursue professional writing and create stories."

Evan is working towards an AA degree at SJR State with the intention of pursuing a Bachelor of Computer Science degree later at UCF. Evan says about his reading interests, "I prefer to read fiction. The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Genres are my favorites since I am drawn to creative world-building and character drama. In 2021, I was confined to my living room since I had to dog-sit. I found myself watching the Prime original series based on The Expanse and told my brother, who recommended the books. I picked up the first book, Leviathan Wakes not long after and have found them far more engaging than the show. The characters are great, the story is satisfying, the themes are interesting, and the worldbuilding is fantastic. Overall, it is the best space opera I have ever engaged with."

Please enjoy Evan's post: Small Allusions in the Great Expanse

In an age long past, a group of storied travelers journeying home along the expansive planes hear a shrill cry upon the winds amidst the craggy rocks yonder. Upon venturing whence the sound didst come, they spy a maiden stranded atop them. A lone knight steps forth to rescue the imperiled damsel, only to learn she is a foul Siren who set a devious trap. Servants of the underworld emerge and devour the knight’s witless companions, leaving only him to tell the tale. The enraged knight sets off in pursuit of vengeance. Yet, the knight was barely a day into his quest when he stumbles upon a fierce god of thunder. Taking a brief repast, the knight tells of what transpired amidst the rocks. However, the knight’s explanation is interrupted as more foul creatures emerge.  The god of thunder challenges the attackers, holding them back while the knight takes a noble steed and rides off to continue his pursuit. He ventures to and fro until he finds a hidden tomb—the attackers’ den. Yet, what should the knight spy upon venturing inside but a monster most evil from a time before creation. Fearing for his life, the knight and his horse escape the clutches of the devilspawn. Vengeance will ever remain beyond the grasp of men who contend with gods.

Now that you’ve read my little story, what if I were to tell you it is actually science fiction? An absurd notion, surely. Forsooth, it doth bear striking resemblance to a bard’s fantasy tale more than science-witchcraft, but pray allow me to elucidate. The story you just read was derived from literary references in James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes—first book in the science fiction space opera series, The Expanse. Upon my first reading, I noted several references to other literary works, but brushed them off as a simple naming convention. Various forms of media utilize a similar convention for one-off moments where the audience can say: “I understood that reference!” I thought these were no different until, after taking a closer look, I noticed a pattern: almost every name in this book holds a hidden meaning that ties directly to the story.

Leviathan Wakes begins on the star freighter Canterbury as it returns to Ceres station, its home port in the asteroid belt. En route, it receives a distress signal from another ship, the Scopuli, so the freighter changes course to investigate. When it arrives, the Scopuli is adrift and unresponsive, so four crewmembers led by James Holden (the series protagonist) board the Canterbury’s shuttle, the Knight, and inspect the Scopuli. During the inspection, however, a mysterious warship attacks the Canterbury, and it goes down with almost all hands. Holden and his crew on the Knight are the only surviving witnesses and are picked up days later by the Martian battleship Donnager. As Holden is explaining the situation to the Martian navy officers, more mysterious ships attack. Holden and his crew board a gunship and escape the Donnager. They name the gunship the Rocinante and pursue the mysterious attackers, finding one of the ships, the Anubis, hidden in an asteroid. Upon boarding it, they discover it holds a dark secret: an alien micro-organism that infested and consumed the Anubis’ crew. Holden and the Rocinante’s crew manage to escape before they too are infected.

Observant readers already see several standout names, such as Anubis, Rocinante, and Canterbury. Normally, these would be simple references to other works of literature—a naming convention to be read and then forgotten as fast as it was noticed. However, each allude to portions of the larger story. Anubis is the Egyptian god of tombs and the underworld, alluding to the tomb the warship Anubis becomes. Rocinante is the horse that carries the brave fool, Don Quixote, referring to Holden and his crew’s bravery in the face of impossible odds, but also implying their ignorance of the Anubis’s secret. The Canterbury refers to the Canterbury Tales, a book wherein various travelers share stories while on the road—a clever hint at Holden’s soon-to-be crew: a group of storied misfits traveling the solar system. Some names also serve to foreshadow plot beats. Scopuli is the Latin word for “crags,” sharp rocks upon which Sirens sang, luring sailors to their deaths—precisely what the starship Scopuli does. Leviathan Wakes, the title of the book, refers to a biblical monster that humans cannot comprehend or control, foreshadowing the alien awakening aboard the Anubis. However, not all names are complex allusions. For example, the Donnager is named after a Germanic thunder deity, only indicating its status as a warship. And the Knight simply refers to its status as the Scopuli’s would-be rescuer—savior of the damsel in distress. However, knowing these references, do you see now how closely my story resembles that of Leviathan Wakes? A siren upon the rocks lures travelers to their doom; the Scopuli lures the Canterbury into danger. A knight ventures inside a tomb to fight evil; Holden ventures inside The Anubis to learn its dark secret.

When the references tie into the story directly, they become a powerful narrative tool. Not only can well-read audiences connect with these allusions, allowing them to feel in-the-know, but they also gain a sense of the full picture before it is revealed, encouraging their detective’s intuition to take over. The real strength of good science fiction is its ability to captivate audiences and ask them to think, and Leviathan Wakes takes this a step further by complimenting and rewarding the reader’s knowledge. Yet, for those like me who did not possess this knowledge, it presents a worthy challenge: to engage with unfamiliar literature and uncover the full meaning behind the allusions. The rewards are as numerous as the stars.