The Expanse (novel series)

All of the novels and five of the novellas have been released as audiobooks, with Jefferson Mays as the narrator for all novels and the novellas The Vital Abyss, Strange Dogs and Auberon. Erik Davies is the narrator for the novellas The Churn and Gods of Risk.[16]

The Expanse is set in a future in which humanity has colonized much of the Solar System, but does not have interstellar travel. In the asteroid belt and beyond, tensions are rising between Earth's United Nations, Mars, and the outer planets.[17]

The series initially takes place in the Solar System, using many real locations such as Ceres and Eros in the asteroid belt, several moons of Jupiter, with Ganymede and Europa the most developed, and small science bases as far out as Phoebe around Saturn and Titania around Uranus, as well as well-established domed settlements on Mars and the Moon.[17][18]

As the series progresses, humanity gains access to thousands of new worlds by use of the ring, an artificially sustained Einstein-Rosen bridge or wormhole, created by a long dead alien race. The ring in our solar system is two AU from the orbit of Uranus, and passing through it leads to a hub of starless space approximately one million kilometers across, with more than 1,300 other rings, each with a star system on the other side. In the center of the hub, which is also referred to as the "slow zone", an alien space station controls the gates and can also set instantaneous speed limits on objects inside of the hub as a means of defense.[19]

The story is told through multiple main point-of-view characters. There are two POV characters in the first book and four in books 2 through 5. In the sixth and seventh books, the number of POV characters increases, with several characters having only one or two chapters. Tiamat's Wrath returns to a more limited number with five. Every book also begins and ends with a prologue and epilogue told from a unique character's perspective.

The central characters are the crew of the Rocinante, a salvaged Martian naval gunship. The main crew consists of:

• James "Jim" R. Holden, the captain of the Rocinante, from Earth (an Earther), former UN Navy officer
• Naomi Nagata, chief engineer and executive officer, a Belter
• Amos Burton, mechanic and general muscle, an Earther
• Alex Kamal, pilot of the Rocinante, a Martian, former Martian Navy pilot

The Outer Planets:

• Josephus "Joe" Aloisus Miller, a Belter who worked as a detective for the Ceres station security firm, Star Helix Security
• Juliette "Julie" Andromeda Mao, the oldest child of Earther plutocrat Jules-Pierre Mao, former pinnace racer and Outer Planets Alliance convert
• Frederick "Fred" Lucius Johnson, a former UN marine reviled as the "Butcher of Anderson Station" and now the leader of the OPA
• Dr. Praxidike "Prax" Meng, the chief botanist of the RMD-Southern soy farm project on Ganymede and father of Mei Meng
• Mei Meng, daughter of Prax
• Carlos "Bull" c de Baca, a member of the OPA serving as chief security officer aboard the Behemoth
• Michio Pa, executive officer of the OPA ship Behemoth, later captain of the Free Navy ship Connaught
• Basia "Baz" Merton, a welder from Ganymede, later citizen of Ilus
• Manéo "Néo" Jung-Espinoza, a young Belter from Ceres
• Marco Inaros, a commander of Free Navy, a radical OPA branch
• Filip Inaros, a teenage member of the OPA, and later Free Navy, and son of Marco Inaros and Naomi Nagata
• Camina Drummer, chief of security of Tycho Station, later president of the Transport Union
• Jakulski, Roberts, Salis & Vandercaust, four techs, working for the Free Navy on Medina Station

Mars:

• Roberta "Bobbie" W. Draper, Martian gunnery sergeant in the MCRN, of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force
• Sauveterre, the captain of the MCRN Barkeith
• Solomon Epstein, inventor of the "Epstein-Fusion Drive"

Earth:

• Dmitri Havelock, a security contractor from Earth and former partner of Joe Miller
• Chrisjen Avasarala, the UN Assistant Undersecretary of Executive Administration, later UN Secretary General
• Clarissa "Claire" Melpomene Mao a.k.a. Melba Alzbeta Koh a.k.a. Peaches, a daughter of Jules-Pierre Mao, magnate of Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile from Luna; as Melba she is a licensed electrochemical technician. After forming a bond with her, Amos gives her the nickname Peaches.
• Dr. Elvi Okoye, a biologist from Earth, now a leading figure among citizens of the new colonies
• Rev. Dr. Annushka "Anna" Volovodov, a Methodist pastor at St. John's United on Europa and Earth
• Namono "Nono" Volovodov, wife of Anna, with whom they have a daughter, "Nami"

Laconia:

• Winston Duarte, High Consul of the Laconian Empire, defector from the Martian navy
• Teresa Duarte a.k.a. Tiny, the daughter and heir of the High Consul
• Paolo Cortázar, a former member of Protogen's nanoinformatics research division, he is now the lead researcher on Laconia
• Santiago Jilie Singh, a captain in the Laconian Imperial Navy and commander of the Gathering Storm
• Anton Trejo, High Admiral of the Laconian Imperial Navy and captain of the Heart of the Tempest

Franck writes all the Holden, Bobbie, and Anna chapters, while Abraham writes the Miller, Melba, Avasarala, Bull, and Prax chapters.[24] The writers meet weekly to discuss upcoming chapters and swap completed chapters for the other to edit.[20]

The novels are written in third-person limited. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a character central to the story, while the prologue and epilogue are told by a recurring character or a one-off viewpoint. Most of the books employ four point-of-view characters (plus the prologue and epilogue viewpoints). Leviathan Wakes features two, Babylon's Ashes features sixteen, and Tiamat's Wrath features five. James Holden is the only character to be used as a viewpoint character in all eight novels.

The series overall has been well received, with the first novel Leviathan Wakes being the highest praised.

For Caliban's War, Wired.com's Geek Dad and Publishers Weekly both praised the novel. GeekDad cited the book's "believable human personalities and technology that is easily recognizable" as a highlight.[25][26]

Publisher's Weekly gave Abaddon's Gate a starred review saying "series fans will find this installment the best yet."[27] The same publication gave Cibola Burn a starred review and called it "splendid" and it "blends adventure with uncommon decency."[28]

• Leviathan Wakes (2011) — Hugo Award for Best Novel nominee 2012, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel nominee 2012
• Abaddon's Gate (2013) — Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel winner 2014, Goodreads Choice Awards, Best Science Fiction nominee 2013
• The Expanse  — Hugo Award for Best Series for Best Series nominee 2017

The American television channel Syfy announced a straight-to-series commitment to a television adaptation of The Expanse in April 2014, ordering the production of ten hour-long episodes for a first season[29] and premiered in December 2015. As of 2020 four seasons consisting of a total of 46 episodes have been produced, with the final episode of each season sharing its name with the respective book. The series stars Thomas Jane as Josephus Miller and Steven Strait as Jim Holden. The rest of the crew of the Rocinante are played by Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata, Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal, and Wes Chatham as Amos Burton. The other major cast members are Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala, Chad Coleman as Fred Johnson, and Florence Faivre as Julie Mao. Frankie Adams joined the cast in season 2 as Bobbie Draper. Critics have praised the show for its visuals, character development and political narrative.

Four digital comics based on the books and tying into the television series were published by ComiXology. The comics were written by James S.A. Corey, Hallie Lambert and Georgia Lee and illustrated by Huang Danlan, Triona Farrell, Juan Useche and Rahzzah. The Expanse: Origins reveals the untold backstories of the crew members of the Rocinante before the start of the series. All four comics were also released in print as a compilation titled The Expanse Vol. 1: Origins, which also featured a new story about Detective Miller.

An Expanse board game, designed by Geoff Engelstein and published by WizKids, was released in October 2017.[34] The authors of the book series collaborated with Engelstein on its development.[35] The game focuses on politics, conquest and intrigue similar to the board game Twilight Struggle, although with a shorter playing time. Players represent Earth's UN forces, the military of Mars, the O.P.A., and Protogen Inc, each struggling to become the dominant power in the Solar System. They use cards and action points to move and place Fleets and expand their Influence in contested areas. The cards represent characters and events from the universe of The Expanse, each bearing key images from the show. Each character has special abilities that must be correctly exploited in order to gain the upper hand in the struggle for control.[36]

The Expanse: Doors & Corners Expansion has been announced for release by WizKids in February 2019. It contains five new modules that can be used independently or in any combination together with the base game.[37]

The Expanse Roleplaying Game uses the AGE (Adventure Game Engine) system designed by Chris Pramas to bring James S. A. Corey's universe to life. The core rulebook and Gamemaster's Kit launched on Kickstarter in July 2018 and gathered over $400,000 from their campaign.[38] The book was written by game designer Steve Kenson and is published by Pramas' company Green Ronin Publishing.[39] The game allows players to create their own character of the various galactic factions and adventure through the galaxy at the various settings or even on their own ships. It includes a bonus short story by James S. A. Corey titled "The Last Flight of the Cassandra".[40]