Love this show and the books, especially the audiobooks narrated perfectly by Jefferson Mays. If you haven’t checked out the books, you’re missing out on some of the best sci-fi in ages. I love that they are set in a very unique time period in the future that we don’t see a lot of: earth has colonized the solar system but interstellar travel is not possible. No warp drive or hyperspace. That means traveling from one planet to another can take months.
The show does such a great job of showing and explaining accurate space physics. No artificial gravity. You want gravity? Best we can do is engine-generated thrust.
All the characters have great arcs too. I was sad that the final three books were never adapted, but the way the books were written means that they can easily finish the series with a movie trilogy if they want.
James SA Corey started a new sci-fi series I am digging so far, The Captives War. VERY different from The Expanse but still fascinating
I was sad that the final three books were never adapted
I haven’t read the books, and that was the biggest hook for me. Such a cock-tease. Some day I’ll probably read ‘em, I’m familiar with the authors’ fantasy books from way back when they used a single pseudonym, Daniel Abraham, and liked their stuff.
But damnit, I wanted to see it onscreen!
I’m convinced it will be revived as a cartoon for the last three books.
I think it’s coming back as live action, in about 5-ish years, to let the actors age naturally and reduce the need for constant heavy makeup.
About halfway though the first book; really enjoying it thus far. I will say, its length is giving me some whiplash after reading The Forever War just prior. That was a crazy easy read.
I knew it was gonna be good sci-fi when they had someone get beheaded in zero gravity and blood pooled into a ball above their head.
Second the audiobooks. Absolute masterpieces.
earth has colonized the solar system
Inyalowda taking credit for what beltalowda did. Every time.
Tried reading the books. Got bored with the slow story line and predictable plot.
It was a little better than Game of Thrones. Siblings fucking and attempted murder of a little boy in the opening scenes. I noped the fuck right out.
How far did you get in The Expanse books?
I had the exact opposite experience. The books were far better. Did you watch the show?
Nope, tried the books before the shows came out. Had zero interest in the shows.
GoT was dragging ass through much of the books as well as the show. Really lost interest, never finished either. I was glued to the Expanse books, and the TV adaptation was…ok. They messed with the characters a little too much and of course F’d with the story, but it was close enough to be decent. Pity they had to get rid of Alex because of the actor being a douchebag, I think Amos could have been cast better, and Holden went through a lot of shit in the books we never got to see in the show.
Oh yes. Loved the books. Still trying to get my hands in the complete blu-ray box.
Book 4 was a difficult read because the antagonist is ridiculous. His motivation was “the company” without any real reason for it beyond a paycheck. No one is that blindly loyal without a personal reason, it was dumb. Up until this character, we had nothing but rich characterization. This antagonist felt lazy and 2D, making the book difficult to get through. An entire antagonist built out of tissue paper.
Then, in later books, we sort of lose the crew, to old age, so we have to rewire our brains to accept them in different roles, as old people. Aging changes the landscape. It’s like that last season of Fringe where you’re questioning what you’re watching. You even check the vid to make sure it’s actually Fringe. Later, you accept it as Frimge, but it’s not immediate.
Strong disagreement on you over Murtry. He was head of security and given a free hand at dealing with the Belters however he saw fit. There have always been racists eager to kill and harm minorities, and he was getting paid to do it.
Edit to add more: his contract was going to essentially make him a baron on New Terra, collecting a percentage of any future revenue from the colony. He just had to remove the skinnies by any means necessary, and then he was going to be set for life. That’s essentially how the Americas were colonized by Europeans, so idk why you find it so hard to believe that the ruthless racist in a hyper capitalist society wouldn’t act the same way.
His personal motivation was being king of his particular hill. When you’re out on the frontier, fear makes you want control.
I had a bigger problem with Elvi’s fawning, personally. Thank the gods that wasn’t in the TV adaptation.
They made my boy Holden into a shit bag for the show. Like total fuck stick. Book Holden is much more realistic.
Both Holden and Amos were far better in the books. Didn’t help they had to cut the actor who played Alex from the show, too.
Oh, maybe I’ll give the books a try because I hated show!Holden
“should have been as big as ‘Game of Thrones’”
So it was like a violent porno, but in space?! /s
No, that’s the problem. Would have done better if we’d seen Frankie Adams or Dominique Tipper topless.
It’s as good as advertised. The adaptation of book 2 (S2E6-S3E6) is still my favorite season of television ever. The character of Camina Drummer is also one of those wild TV adaptation stories where the new writing and the actor were so good that they had to keep bringing her back.
I’m okay with where the series ended–even successful shows these days aren’t likely to get full adaptations–but the shortened final season still makes me sad. It’s even shorter than it looks on paper, too, as part of the runtime includes one of the novella plots, which only serves to set up a future storyline. Maybe they’ll pay that off eventually with a new production, but it’s awkward as hell in hindsight.
