The Expanse

Good science fiction shows are hard to come by on TV. Whilst the genre seems to be dominating the big screen, television is an entirely different story. However, SyFy seemed to have succeeded with this space opera based upon the ongoing novels by James S. A. Corey which started on SyFy on December 14, 2015.

The series is set 200 years into the future where humanity has managed to colonise the entire solar system. James Holden, played by Steven Strait (Sky High, The Cofenant), is the Executive Officer of an ice freighter called Cantebury and is involved in a tragic accident which could destabilize Earth, Mars and the belt. Meanwhile, Josephus Miller, played by Thomas Jane (Boogie Nights, The Punisher, The Mist), is a police detective born in the asteroid belt. He’s given the objective to find Julie Mao, portrayed by Florence Faivre (The Siam Renaissance, Chok-Dee, The Elephant King), a missing young woman. There’s also Shohreh Aghadashloo’s (The Report, X-Men: The Last Stand, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters) character Chrisjen Avasarala who’s a United Nations executive working to stop war breaking out between Earth and Mars. The missing woman and Canterbury ice freighter are soon worked out to be linked and part of a large conspiracy theory.

The tensions between the two planets have been compared to the cold war between America and Russia in the 1940s to early 90s. Overall the series has been heavily praised for its off-worldly portrayal of politics on earth combined with Star Wars and Star Trek-esque effects. Whilst keeping to the main storyline, the series introduces new and intriguing differences which keeps readers interested also. So far, the season maintains a solid 75%, 8.9/10 and 8.3/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, TV.com and IMDb respectively. With only one season released, it has already been likened to Lord of the Rings with critics suggesting it could become as big as the filmed adaptations.

The original novel series currently contains five novels titled Leviathan Wakes, Caliban’s War, Abaddon’s Gate, Cibola Burn, Nemesis Games and Babylon’s Ashes; two prequel short sorties, one prequel novella and a novella set between the 2nd and 3rd book. The first novel of the original series even received a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2012. There are 3 more books currently planned to be released in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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