I read the first book but didn’t like it very much: felt a bit fluffy and trope-y to me, while I prefer harder sci fi (most recently, 3 body trilogy).

Should I continue with the series? Does it introduce harder science/philosophy concepts or are these mostly action/adventure books in sci fi setting?

I know y’all are fans of the books, no disrespect meant!

Just finished Leviathan Falls, almost a year after I started Leviathan Wakes. Absolutely love this series and I feel a bit empty now it’s over.

I’ve done Remembrance of Earths past but not much other sci-fi. I’ve also read a song of ice and fire. Any recommendations would be welcome

Has anybody in here read the Three Body Problem books? Is anybody in here aware if James Corey and Cixin Liu have read each other?

I am struck by both the similarity and difference of these books. It is as if the authors attended the same university course and turned in very different novels in response to the same prompt.

I enjoy The Expanse more, but I definitely find that the Three Body trilogy brings some very interesting points to the conversation that I see the books in.

Similarities: both are hard science fiction.. the hardest. Versus other "space operatic" works, they both have a preoccupation with the laws of physics and how they would influence humanity in space. Both deal with what Liu would call a "Dark Forest Strike" - a preemptive strike by an alien race meant to wipe out an entire other alien race. Both deal with a humanity that is "changed" by being in space- in Expanse, the Belters, and in Three Body, the surviving human warship The Bronze Age and its crew. Both deal with a mysterious alien "orb" with impossible properties that gets right in the face of a human ship. Both deal with alien life that move through 3rd dimensionality in impossible ways and screw with human perception. Both have at least one massive time jump that sees the governing order on earth completely change and render the past seemingly obsolete. Both feature an occupying force from another star system that must deal with light delays. Both talk in at least a small way about cultural evolution under that occupying force.

In differences, there are many.. but to summarize, I think the biggest difference is in focus-- in what seems important to the two authors. For example, it is quite literally a world changing event in Three Body when human bodies are put in the recycler in order to not waste resources and survive. It is described as splitting those who did it off from humanity and making them essentially a different species. In The Expanse, throwing humans in the recycler is basically a cultural quirk of the belters at worst, and really just common sense survival, and noone really blinks an eye at it.

Anyone read both series?

Hi folks! I’m about 5 hours into Leviathan Wakes. I’ve loved the book so far outside of one detail that keeps causing me pause. They keep referring to the Razorback as Julie’s racing… penis???? I’m sure it’s something else as the narrator pronounces it “pen-is”, but i can’t imagine how it could be spelled. Can someone tell me what I’m missing?

Thanks!

Almost all of the Expanse short fiction is enjoyable as standalones, so what if you'd started with Memory's Legion? Taking into account how much time passes between each piece

I got a friend who prefers short fiction to read Strange Dogs and they adored it, so i wonder if they'd also be able to get into the rest of Memory's Legion

I’ve almost finished the 3rd book and the one thing I have really learned from these books is to kill your enemy at the first opportunity and never offer “redemption” or”justice” because they will just bite you in the ass.

Hi all my buddies! Just finished the first book, loved it, tale as old as time, etc.

I come away from it with two questions I hope someone can answer; it's perfectly possible that I missed an easy answer somewhere in the text, but I've got new books to read, like Caliban's War. Needless to say, they're spoilerful, so consider yourselves warned.

​

1. When Dresden is explaining the whole We Found Something deal and about all of the scientists on Phoebe who were working on the protomolecule, Holden (I think) suddenly declares "You turned them into sociopaths"; in the text this is treated like pieces of a puzzle falling into place, but seemed like it came out of NOWHERE to me and made zero sense mechanically or narratively. Was this just a weird thread that didn't go anywhere, or Holden having a moment of Space Madness, or did I miss something?

2. One of the very first things we learn about the protomolecule is that it feeds off of radiation, this is a known, relatively well-understood aspect of how it works (see what happened in the Eros shelters); did all of the protagonists simply forget this when they were discussing bombarding it with literally all of the nukes, or was there some reason that wouldn't just be the equivalent of pouring gas onto a nightmare flesh-fire?

Thanks gang!

and surprised at how deep into the character's minds the narration goes. like miller's death-self, and holden's guilt over killing, etc.

do the other books ponder deep, heavy topics too, but i just forgot?

Just rewatched the series and want to continue/end the story. I haven't read any of the books and don't really feel like starting from Leviathan Wakes since I just finished my Season 1 to 6 marathon.

I'm curious about which book I should start with to pick up from where the show left off.

Is the show parallel to the books, or do they mix things from different books? Does it even make sense to approach finishing the story by skipping books?

What are your thoughts?

The ExpanseLeviathan Wakes Book 1 by James S. A. CoreyThis is a self-made map based on the book and TV series, using pictures that accurately represent the ships, planets, and stations.

https://preview.redd.it/tjvlz3v7fxhc1.jpg?width=511&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c2058a42ade1a28b3222ea5da0eceea4f228dcf

I'm about halfway through Cibola Burn (book #4) and happen to be reading The Magician's Nephew (Narnia #1) with my kids at the same time. I just made the connection that perhaps Corey's Ring network idea was inspired by Lewis' yellow and green rings that transported Digory and Polly to the Wood Between the Worlds (which is basically Corey's ring station). The Wood Between the Worlds offers access, with the use of rings, to thousands of other worlds.

They have to be connected. Anyone else thought of this?

Not sure how I missed it on my first listen... I must've been so overwealmed by the ending, that I just didn't.

That last chapter makes me really want another 3 books set 1000 years in the future 🤣

And... AMOS!!

I’m about 100 pages into the first book and I’m hooked and excited to see where the series goes! One thing I noticed is that the guys worked for GRRM, talk about his mentorship, and he has a quote on the cover.

I’m happy that unlike GRRM they finished their series, so that’s already a good sign. But GOT started getting pretty convoluted and I’m not sure I’d have finished it even if GRRM ever does. Does The Expanse suffer similar issues? Am I suddenly going to need to know like 100 characters and all their storylines will intersect? Random time jumps?

Basically I guess I’m asking did anyone have trouble sticking through the series as they progressed because they felt things were either too hard to follow, too confusing, or things just kind of stopped making sense to them? I know most people on this sub probably love all the books, but I’m just curious to get opinions before I dive too deep.

Thanks!

Edit: Thanks for putting my worries at ease! These comments were very helpful and I’m looking forward to keeping on with the series and ideally moving on to the tv series afterwards!

I started a re-read of the series with Persepolis Rising, and tried to imagine I'd never read any of the previous books. It works surprisingly well (except for LF>!Miller!<), considering the book mentions past context just enough to figure out what's going on. Plus, the first book already took place after a decent amount of history anyway.

ALSO: imagine how cool it would be to watch the origin of the final trilogy's world from a prequel perspective. It risks making it feel like the final state of the world is an inevitability as with all trilogies, but that kinda hindsight-view of history is a theme of a few books anyway.

Thoughts?

Okay I just finished the series and I was a little disappointed Naomi never got contacted by Filip again. She just lives the rest of her life thinking he died on the ship with Marco. Was the final book rushed to meet the TV series timeline?

I have thoroughly enjoyed my Expanse journey. I read the first book on a recommendation. This has lead to be continuously consuming the rest of the novels and novellas(in expected release order). I haven't taken a break, haven't worked any other reading in. I do plan on the The Martian as I heard their is a small callback.

When starting PR I was thrown off a little by the large time jump. I quickly found myself being over that, settling back in like a well broken in glove. I find myself slowly reading, letting the pages flow over me like cool sheet in the summertime. I'm limiting myself to just a few chapters a day to prolong the pleasure. I'm both anticipating and dreading the end the of series. Anyone else have a similar experience?

I really liked Jarred Harris portrayal of the character. In strange dogs his death is alluded to. However I don't understand why Marcos killed him. And I wish he had been more backstory and time in the spotlight. Any other characterw you would have liked to have seen more of from the expanse?

He said, she said, he said, she said, they said, said, said, said, said.

Please tell me the second book does not this nonsense. I know it's so dumb but it's really breaking my concentration. It's like nails on a chalk board.

Holden dies in cruciform pose/T-pose. The analogy is pretty blatant even if not intentional. They never say that Holden takes the Christ Pose himself, but he does take up Duarte's post in the alien station, and Duarte is described as (Book 9):

At the center was something the size of a human being. A man with his arms outstretched, cruciform. Thick cables of the filament wove into his sides, his arms, his legs.

So we have to assume that Holden died as a sacrifice to save all of humanity, in Christ pose.

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