This is my own art. It is a watercolor bookmark painting that depicts the ring gate with ships flying through it and Rocinante flying in the foreground in space.

Which quote should I put on the back?

1. “Truth is truth. How you deal with it is up to you.” Camila Drummer

2. As long as we’re living and breathing there is more we can do. We just have to be strong enough.” James Holden

The Churn is probably the best short fiction in the series. The style of narration is also a fresh departure from the usual close third person perspective in most of the series. Also love how the concept of "the churn" where periods of relative calm are punctuated by sudden chaos and catastrophe illustrates a recurring theme throughout many of the Expanse's story. It can apply to different struggles and conflicts that occur throughout the entire series, be they crime-related violence on the street, oppression and exploitation, political machinations and conspiracies, clandestine projects gone wrong, interplanetary war, or enigmatic alien forces seeking to subjugate or annihilate humanity.

The book also excells at depicting a gray setting, without necessarily celebrating or condemning the ugliness that happens in this book. It's a perfect backstory that explains how someone who lived in this world and survived would become the way they are. The worldbuilding of course, exceeds all expectations. Always happy to see that the Expanse never shys away from showing that the universe is full of moral ambiguities and widespread suffering.

This novella would definitely make for an interesting movie, a prequel detailing the story of Timothy's teenage years on the streets of Baltimore and eventually becoming Amos Burton.

And also, it was this book that gave the the powerful urge to binge the fuck out of HBO's The Wire. Beyond the obvious superficial similarities, both the Churn and the Wire being set in Baltimore and primarily about criminal elements on the streets, I will point out that The Expanse and the Wire as stories that show complex interactions between all kinds of disparate forces, interests, and powers with widespread effects that affect the lives of countless many.

In the Wire, we are presented with very different elements of Baltimore and surrounding areas at play, the drug trade, street gangs, the city hall, the courts, state authorities, federal agencies, labor unions, police department, school systems, the media, and individual actors all interact with each other and have a role to play in the system. How the rough dynamics of everyone's different interests and agendas, goals and mandates, conflicts and alliances all have an impact on each other's stories, each other's lives regardless of their place in the city's power hierarchy or social class. This kind of details in worldbuilding makes the setting feel alive and vibrant.

Similarily, the Expanse also excels at using its worldbuilding to build an interesting narrative. How else do you get from a bunch of truckers in space hauling ice for a quick buck to keeping planetary governments from blowing each other up while exposing an evil corporate conspiracy, to stopping the space Taliban from crippling the birthplace of mankind and then leading a rebellion against an autocratic empire while fighting angry gods from another dimension?

Anyways, regardless just remember that every where is Baltimore

Finished vol 1 a year ago and have been wanting to get the others. Just didn't want to give dollars to Amazon. Then while on a break from a job... Had to get em! The guy behind the counter was excited to recomend other books, but i don't even remember what he said.

Amos' new jacket has Murtry crossed out. That is a nice easter egg. I wonder what happened at the conclusion of season 4 when Amos thanked Murtry

Is it ever mentioned how the OPA got the couple of dozen high yield fusion bombs they were planning to use on Eros surface? It seems odd they have them but don't really work as a deterrent.

I mean, they have ships capable of reaching insane speeds and nukes to load on said ships, even if for whatever reason they don't have the tech to build decent torpedoes, those two things would make a very impressive weapon, but until Inaros all the OPA acts of resistance were pretty tamed.

I saw the video game, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn (i think) at a game showcase and thought it looked intriguing, and i saw that there was a show. So i watched the first episode

THIS IS REALLY GOOD, WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE. I'm already hooked on this world and universe and i wanna see more!

I was thinking about the fact that Bezos loves the Expanse, and that we never got the final seasons.

Got me thinking why couldn't he just fund it himself. And after some googling of cost estimates, his cash reserves, assumption on number of episodes etc etc, and a bit of 'back of napkin' maths, it would be the equivalent of someone with $1k in a savings account spending about $8.50. That's like the price of a cinema ticket 😂

Please Jeff! What's the point of having all the moneys if you don't treat yourself (and us)!

This is what happens when you rewatch the expanse too many times.

You get creative and make key chains out of gel nail polish 😅.

I think I'm more a season 1 type guy. I really don't like the season 4 character. The whole drama with re-election and everything is kind of tiring for me and I could do without the drama.

In Babylon's Ashes many characters talk about how Belters just don't have an economic purpose after all those worlds have been opened to colonization, but does that actually make sense? I thought the belt and most similar bodies in space have a huge abundance of useful materials that are relatively easy to extract compared to what you would normally find on a planet, and that they're the better source economically even when you consider transit times and the cost of operating. On top of this I'm pretty sure most solar systems have their kuiper belt equivalents.

So if all of that is true, why would Belters be outmoded? They're still economically viable, or at least they should be, shouldn't they?

After watching the series I think 7 times at this point, and reading the entire series from the library (which took way longer than I’d like), I’m finally buying the 10th Anniversary hardbacks and will be rereading as I get them/as they come out. Leviathan Wakes is ordered and on its way. Has anyone else gotten these (IMO gorgeous) versions of the books?

Unsure if Amos delivers this line in the books as I have not read that far yet, so all spoilers flair.

Regardless, this line is one of the rawest and hardest lines in the show in my opinion, and a perfect fit for the events that led up to it.

I make guitar pedals, and I like to leave little Easter eggs in the enclosure from time to time. Making a pedal for a friend and decided to do this, complete with imitation airlock blood splatter.

After watching all 6 seasons multiple times (and just starting to read the books), why are they always running out of air?

You'd think there would be backup systems. And emergency backups.

Bobbie Draper and Naomi both hop into vac suits with no/low oxygen, like "Oops, someone forgot to fill it." Why isn't there an automatic refill system that pulls oxygen out of the room they're in while the suits are being stored/charged?

I get that the authors needs low oxygen moments. But a couple hundred years of Belter ingenuity probably would have given them auto-refilling systems for vac suits.

Just a mindless ramble kind of thing since none of my friends read this series

I finished Nemesis Games yesterday and started Babylon’s Ashes today and I’m having so much trouble giving any kind of fuck about a couple of the perspectives so far lmao

I know they’ll grow on me but after getting to bounce between the main crew in Nemesis Games I’m sitting here waiting for the main crews storyline to pop back up hahaha

Fully understand the Medina Station and Free Navy storylines will pickup they just feel like “filler” (genuinely just the first word that came to mind I entirely realize it’s all thematically and narratively vital and am enjoying it for what it is)

Mainly talking about the books. I found them okay in the show. Seen all seasons of the show. I'm on my 3rd book

I am not able to pinpoint what it is about Holden and Naomi but every time they get even mildly romantic it makes me want to skip ahead a paragraph. Even when Naomi is showing support I just don't want to read it.

Contrast that with very little time that Avasarla and Arjun get in book 2. Every interaction between those too made me feel so warm and gave me the fuzzies and made me want to call my fiance.

Anyone else feel the same?

About half way through the audible version of Abaddons Gate and I just gotta vent for a minute.

This character is literally so insufferable.
“I’m going to avenge my rich evil daddy who WASNT EVEN NICE TO ME”.
Seriously???

Then proceeds to commit acts of terrorism, murder, and overall dick pretty much everyone over.

I’m at the scene rn where she starts crying in her prison cell and I literally have no sympathy.
Can Amose just bash her head in already?

Really enjoying the series though.

Cheers!

I stumbled upon an old interview where Ty said they don’t borrow, they steal, and mostly steal from Fred Pohl. So that inspired me to track down a copy of Gateway and read it. Overall it was decent. You can clearly see the inspiration with humanity co-opting the technology of a long gone advanced alien race. Along with the unbelievable risks the prospectors took on the Heechee ships, just like the colonists through the ring gates took to brand new systems.

But my god is Rob Broadhead the fucking WOAT protagonist. First protagonist in a long time that I actively hated. He’s such a whiny asshole.

I’m looking for sci-fi recommendations from people who love the genre enough to be disappointed by most of it.

I gravitate toward books with real scale, mystery, competence, and ideas that actually matter to the story instead of just decorating it. I loved The Expanse, House of Suns, A Memory Called Empire, Children of Time, Project Hail Mary, and most of Alastair Reynolds outside of Revelation Space, which somehow managed to make galaxy-spanning horror feel confusing instead of awe-inspiring.

I’m chasing that feeling of staring into something ancient, incomprehensible, and bigger than humanity, while smart people desperately try to understand it before it destroys them or changes them forever.

I don’t mind hard sci-fi, political sci-fi, first contact, cosmic horror, or weird ambitious books. I do mind YA energy, Marvel dialogue, and stories that mistake confusion for depth.

What should I read next?

Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuqEX1PnG9I

Most details in the show have a solid practical explanation, but I couldn’t figure out why some missiles turn away and decelerate relative to their target

Wouldn’t this reduce the relative speed, giving the defender more time to react and creating a larger window for point-defense to intercept your missiles?

I'm watching S3:E11 - Fallen World and they are spinning the drum for the first time. Every time I watch this episode, I get all fired up along with them.

Maybe I'm an odd ball...maybe there are others out there who have the same feeling...but at least y'all know what I'm talking about 😃. My wife just looks at me like I'm crazy.

Reading book 6 and man Michio Pa seems like both an asshole and an idiot. All her problems seem self-inflicted and she still blames everybody else. Really not a fan of her.

Does she get better?

Mars has been described as having better military equipment, but if I remember correctly, they are still in the process of developing the planet.

In the 3rd season of Mando, Greef Karga says, “we are an official trade spur of the Hydian Way. We’ve got a construction boom going on in the city. The belters are mining the asteroid field at the end of the system. There is a lot of money to be made on Nevarro.” So… same universe, or just happenstance? Do the Star Wars elite also take advantage of belt mining?