I did not care for season one. Frankly, it felt like a slog fest. But everyone seems to love this series. Can someone convince me why I should continue to watch season two, if I wasn’t a fan of season one?
i'm rewatching the series. Maybe I've had too much to drink, but knowing Amos' arc, when he grabbed Mei's hand, it was so emotional for me. And then Cotyar's sacrifice. Oye!
I think Julie was older in the books, but I'm not sure if I remember correctly. But Julie Mao's actress Florence Faivre is a few months older than Clarissa's actress Nadine Nicole. If they changed it in the show, why?
Just wanted to shout out what an amazing community this is. as time as gone on I've started coming here more and more, and always been amazed at both the level of deep knowledge people share, and how kind and thoughtful people are here.
In the spirit of discussion, I was curious what people thought about how Belters would celebrate life as they got more autonomy. Would they all rally around the Transport Union's foundation? Would some still celebrate Inaros? And how would they celebrate?
I only watched the show, thought it was great. My question is this: after the Gates were opened and there were 1,300 systems available to humanity, was one of the connected systems the star that the Mormons would have taken the Behemoth to? Better yet, was it ever confirmed if that star had a habitable planet there?
Just wtf was the protomolecule DOING prior to creating the ring gate?
So the PM's ultimate goal was to create the gate, okay, cool. Why was it dissecting and and trying to understand humans? What purpose did the hybrids serve on its end? Zombies, flying Eros, a ring..? It does one thing, then another, then, seemingly randomly, another, with no clear line or plan between them. Was the goal always to establish a certain mass and build the ring, and human intervention is to blame for everything else? The show always moves on to the next thing before anything with the PM at the time makes sense.
Unless, and I'm hoping this is the case, I'm just slow and have seriously misunderstood something. Is there anywhere I can go to fully understand the timeline here? Finished the show, wrapping up book one.
I kinda learned of this series when I wanted to find some good space opera for me to read. Thats when I stumbled (partially thanks to AI and goodreads) to this series. Ive purchased the greek translation of the book (but if I happen to like this, might as well continue in english) and I have read so far the introductory chapter, and the first two chapters with holden and miller. Though I really love the atmosphere, outer space, spaceships, Ceres etc, one thing that kinda ticks me off is how its kinda written like a movie, and not as much like prose. I dont know if its a prevailing theme or if I’ll get used to it. Nevertheless I am hooked thus far! The science is cool and the characters seem well written. Plus, I just have a positive bias into anything with cool spaceships and outer space exploration/combat, so there is that. Wish me luck!
Just wanted to shout out what an amazing community this is. as time as gone on I've started coming here more and more, and always been amazed at both the level of deep knowledge people share, and how kind and thoughtful people are here.
I've seen a lot of praise for several of the novellas, like The Churn and Strange Dogs, but not for The Vital Abyss. I've just finished the latter and wanted to offer some praise for this great novella.
If the heroes of the nine novels of The Expanse are the crew of the Roci and their allies, then the villains (in my opinion) are the humans seeking to abuse the protomolecule to their own ends. These people (not The Free Navy, or the protomolecule, or the Goths) are the bad guys. But who are they? We certainly get to learn a bit about Mao and Duarte; these are the guys at the top who are trying to utilize the protomolecule to change the arc of history. But Mao and Duarte have no technical skills, so who is actually doing the deeply unethical work with the protomolecule? Paolo Cortázar and his team, that's who! This team is the hidden enemy from the very beginning, right from Book One. We hardly ever see them; we get very little info on who they are, where they work, or why they do what they do. We get chapter after chapter about Murtry, Inaros, Trejo, and Tanaka, but these people aren't the true enemy. Holden's real enemies from the very beginning (though he's mostly unaware of them) are Cortázar and his team. It's somewhat paradoxical that the antagonists of a nine novel series are almost invisible and that the protagonists should be so oblivious to them for so much of the story. The Vital Abyss is a huge contribution to the universe of The Expanse because it finally gives the reader a glimpse of what was really happening all along. At last we get to see what was really driving the story through nine novels.
Regarding the novella itself: the writing is chilling. The warped psychology of Cortázar and his team of engineered psychopaths is beautifully portrayed. His discussions with Michio Pa are revealing but not heavy-handed. The decision to write in the first person (unique in the oeuvre of The Expanse) is brilliant because it reflects the complete selfishness of the engineered psychopaths on the protomolecule team; they can only see their own point of view and they exist in the first person only.
The Vital Abyss is a very well written glimpse into very damaged humans and is a crucial piece of the puzzle for readers who want to know what was really going on in the nine novels (not just dealing with poisonous slugs on a mining colony).
I write this list as a huge fan but no hard feelings. I think there is communal dislike for Abaddon's gate.
I consumed all of these ravenously via audiobook over the last 7 months. It was awesome and I wish I could get my friends to attack 10 books so I could talk to someone about them.
I think all great stories have their lulls and this is no exception.
I wanted more Clarissa and Amos because their moments gave me constant intrigue and excitement. I wanted more Anna because I felt like she pushed the comfort zone of the characters she interacted with. And I also enjoyed the theological wrestling that she presented.
I wanted less Alex and less Filip. I didn't resonate with either of them much. Alex grew on me in the last 2 books though.
I thought the Churn was genius and all of the short stories really had a fun pacing to them.
I'm a categorical fantasy reader and this series was such a fun ride outside of my norm.
I give the whole series a 9/10.
Now i've got see the show!
This just popped up for me. CBC has just released Seasons 1-3 of the expanse on CBC gem. Free with ads or ad free with a subscription.
Was reading some discussions of Gundam universe >!about Char Aznable, and someone mentioned how character Y in the Expanse is similar to Char, to the point of also doing Z to Earth (the major event). So now I know event Z will happen in the Expanse, in the book I'll start soon nonetheless...!<
Can you guys help make me feel better that despite having the major event spoiled to me, it should not ruin my enjoyment of the book and future stories? Man I don't know if I should cry or laugh of getting spoiled in totally random places!
edited to be clear who I am talking about in Gundam since many people would probably not get what I meant
edit 2 it is about Nemesis Games. It is actually mentioned in the post flair but apparently it's being overlooked.
If you could get one more novella, what character would you want a novella on?
Mine would be Anderson Dawes.
Made the red kibble from the note in the kitchen in episode 2 of The Expanse’s Telltale game, with Virgil’s mushroom sauce on the side. Really good actually, i will be making this again.
Recipe for Red Kibble, transcribed and annotated:
1/2 cup red bean paste (i used sweet potato paste)
1/4 cup flour (i used a 60/40 mix of flour and cornmeal)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
In a large bowl combine flour and spices with red bean paste, knead together until homogenized and start making 3cm balls with the dough. Add a drizzle of oil to a saucepan on medium heat and drop in small batches of balls, moving constantly until medium to dark brown in color. Remove and drain on a paper towel, serve immediately
Virgil’s Mushroom Sauce, made this off the cuff so there’s no precise measurements other than exactly what i put in.
In a small saucepan place 6-8mushrooms (i used literally brown button mushrooms from a farmer’s market) and grill them, dry, until desiccated. Remove and place in blender.
Peel and slice the tops off of 2 small whole white onions, grill until desiccated, place in blender.
Toast 3 teaspoons of red pepper flakes in dry saucepan until dark, add to blender.
Blend all ingredients well, adding small amounts of water if needed until fully homogeneous. Return to saucepan and simmer until water is nominally removed, place in bowl and serve hot.
I hope everyone has enjoyed Beltalowda cooking! I’ll be back again sometime with more adventures in belter culinary tradition
Title says it all, gaven't watched the show yet, is this a show you can watch with your mom or not? Just curious
I grew up in Albuquerque. Quinceanera was very much part of our culture. It was nice to see quinceanera mentioned casually by characters. Just a normal part of life, eh? I loved it so much.
My parents didn't do a quinceanera for me because we were white and they didn't want to overstep. But fifteen year old me thought I was Mexican like all my friends and got very hurt. But I'm so glad that they included this tradition in their book.
Edit to add: I looked it up because I was curious about the actual origins once it was discussed in the book. It started in Ancient Aztec and Mayan culture. The Spanish added a Catholic ceremony in seventeenth century. Exposure to English culture added elaborate dresses in the 19th century. Really interesting rabbit hole that I just dove down due to a throwaway line.
I meant to post this pic when I bought it, but forgot. I watched the series, and went into the books. Such an amazing series. I really love these characters and the world building is so great. I won't go into spoilers too much here but I loved the epilogue 'The Linguist'.
I wish there was more but glad I got to read this, thank you ty this sub for all the posts encouraging TV watchers to read this cuz I would've slept on it.
I feel a void so I'm going to do the audio books next
Finished the show and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on shows that’s are similar??
(Honestly didn’t like the ending of the show as it left so many questions more unanswered but need something for the itch now!) ((have not read the books and am not really a book person))
When the protomolocule pods launch, Alex has the Roci sitting next to the launchers. When they start to launch he opens fire, but doesnt have an angle on the launchers. He proceeds to waste a bunch of PDC rounds as a sitting duck.
Why didn't he just hover like 20 meters up and shoot the launcher? Cmon man, if the capt is off the ship then be a better cap!