The Expanse
Eric S Brown
The Expanse premiered in 2015 on the Science Fiction network and was met with generally good response from critics. The Expanse is set in a future universe where humanity is divided into three factions- those on Earth, those on Mars, and those who reside the system’s outer asteroid belt. Its plot is divided between one cop’s search for a missing girl out in the Belt and an UN rep.’s struggle to keep Earth and Mars from going to war with each other.
Often compared to the Science Fiction Channel’s reboot of Battlestar Galactica, the Exanpse, for the most part, lives up that praise. Its characters are well delevoped and fun. The main ship of the series, is called the Rocinante, a Martian gunship, aqquired by four people from the Belt. The chemistry of the crew is fantastic, easily equaling that of such series as Star Trek and Babylon 5. And the world is just as developed with humanity’s three factions having diverse cultures and technology.
Season One drags the viewer, kicking and screaming, into a murder mystery and a political hotbed at the same time implying that the two are connected. The first season isn’t as slow as that of some series and certainly has its share of action from gunfights to beautifully depicted ship to ship combat. And the Expanse keeps ship combat as realistic as that of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica and David Weber’s Honor Harrington novels too.
The series builds upon itself getting better season to season. By the end of its third season, the Expanse was sadly canceled but its devout fanbase managed to make enough noise that Amazon picked up the Expanse for three more seasons.
If you’re searching for new SF show to dive into, one could do far, far worse than the Expanse. It lives up to the current hype and perhaps even exceeds it.
