Season 2 of The Expanse has just wrapped up and what a wild ride it was, and even more so for me. Since I decided to do things in epic geek fashion. So I binge watched season 1 and simultaneously got through book 1 and most of book 2 while watching season 2. This made the level of enjoyment that much more for me. I do realize that this is little more than what most people would do, but I am a hardcore sci-fi geek and that’s just how we roll. Seriously I have to say that the main reason I got into this series is that is one the best works science fiction out there at this point in time. Those who do not know what the expanse is, it is a series of novels, novellas, and stories by James S.A Corey, and that is the pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The first book, Leviathan Wakes was released in 2011, and sequels have been released each year since, and book 7 is scheduled for release in November of 2017.

The story takes place roughly 230 years in the future and Mankind has colonized the solar system. You now have humans living on the moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt and moons of the outer planets of the solar system. Earth and Mars are the super powers of the solar system, economically and militarily. The people who live in the asteroid belt and moons of the outer planets known as belters, feel that they are treated as second class citizens by Earth and Mars. So now you have political tensions rising among the factions. Then you throw in another mysterious player who has advanced ships and some kind of biological weapon that appears to not have originated on Earth and things start getting dicey.

So getting on to the show, I have to say that Syfy network has outdone itself with the production of the show. The book to screenplay adaptation is done really well and it’s not word for word. So fans of the books can enjoy the show and have the sense of anticipation of events to come without being overly predictable. The actors do a fantastic job and the casting was done superbly. I feel that each actor really fits the characters that they are portraying from the book series. There is no over the top dialogue or cheesiness, this is a political action drama that mostly takes place in space. The show and books really touch on how people divide themselves and start the equivalent of tribal factions in most situations. Also it makes you think, well at least it did for me that given enough time people will be living in space, and that will change the human body. That will raise the question, what does it mean to be human at that point.

It’s hard for me to talk about the show without giving away a ton of spoilers. I know that some of you who have never seen or heard of this show and I’m here to tell you, you’re missing out. Like I said, season 2 just wrapped up last week and Syfy network has already renewed it for another season in 2018. You can stream season 1 on Amazon Prime, and season 2 should be on demand. So no excuses people, there is plenty of time to catch up on the two seasons and if you want to go hardcore geek jump into the book series as well. This series has a lot to offer even for people who are not sci-fi lovers, there is mystery, action, political drama and spacebattles. I feel like I shouldn’t have to say anymore. Thanks for reading everyone from your TakeToopodcast sci-fi geek Nick.