The Expanse

Exceptional storytelling! A very well-written tale of the socio-political dynamics of humans at the time when we have pushed out into the solar system.

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While I preferred the storylines and actors in the later seasons, there wasn’t a single dud episode in the whole six season series. Every episode is exciting and has incredible, very believable graphics. The Expanse has pushed Star Trek: Discovery out of first place in my mind for Best Sci-Fi series.

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Though humans live all over the solar system from Earth, to Mars, to space stations in the asteroid belt, to the moons of Jupiter, there are three main cultures: Earthers, citizens of Mars, and Belters. The author of the books that are the source of the material for this series did an excellent job with making three distinct human cultures.

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Earthers are used to 1G of gravity, open skies and endless bodies of water. The people from Mars are militant rule-followers with big dreams of making Mars a garden paradise. While the Belters are their own distinct people. They have a unique culture and patois language, and they are exploited by the ‘Inners’.

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An alien life-form enters the solar-system and changes the socio-political balance forever.

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The story is a huge sprawling thing with nine novels, several novellas and some short stories. The series was begun by Syfy but after three seasons they cancelled it. Prime picked it up, made three more seasons, and then they cancelled it. Stopping the story there, the folks at Prime did a great job of sewing up most of the bits at the end, but there are three important plot lines hanging loose. Although it’s not likely to happen, I hope someone picks up the series for the last three books.

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What made this series so great for me are the characters. There are so many strong women! The depth and arc of the characters is remarkable and the actors were really well-chosen. Great acting with the exceptional writing and fabulous graphics gives each episode a real punch.

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While we were watching it, my partner and I would discuss each various sub-plot, and I actually dreamt about it a few times. With this series, my partner also went against his miserly one-episode-at-a-time rule for TV watching. We sometimes watched two in a row! It's that good.

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Great, great science fiction. Absolutely recommended.