The Expanse
by James S. A. Corey, Hallie Lambert, Georgia Lee · first published 2018
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Near-future space opera set across Mars, the Belt and the outer planets, with attention to realistic travel times and gravity, plus socio-political commentary. Easy to read, funny and clever; suits hard-ish SF fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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What Hacker News says
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…more fun than Executive Orders though) While waiting for the next Game of Thrones book I picked up a few new series that I really enjoyed! I hope to get a few new suggestions out of this list. The Expanse - James Corey Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds Broken Earth - NK Jemisin Three Body Problem - Liu Cixin (translated: Ken Liu)
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Anything in the Culture series by Iain M. Banks; The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey; The Commonwealth and Void trilogies by Peter F. Hamilton, and the Night’s Dawn trilogy also by Peter F. Hamilton; The Dune saga by Frank Herbert.
on “Water found on a potentially life-friendly alien planet” ↗I mainly read SF to relax (biased towards hard space opera) and have accumulated a "best of the best" list of my own: Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey (TV show The Expanse is loosely based on this, but IMO doesn't even come close) Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds Three Body Problem (all 3 books) - Liu Cixin Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks (your gateway drug into…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗Not sure if it is on the same level of realism as those listed for evertyhign, but "The Expanse" series by James S. A. Corey for me was a breath of fresh air. The book really considers things like the time it would take to go from Earth to Mars, or the edge of the Solar System, and also take into…
on “Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy and Physics: A Topical Index” ↗…though arguably not his finest work. I might pick up his earlier work for re-reading over Christmas. Anathem probably, which I would recommend to anyone. - Leviathan Falls (part 9 and the last one of the Expanse series). James S.A. Corey (the writer duo). The whole series was quite enjoyable and this is a fitting end to it.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗Fiction:- The Expanse by James S. A. Corey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_Wakes & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calibans_War Near SF by Daniel Saurez http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_(Suarez_novel) Non Fiction:-…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗Okay, let me pull out some post-2005 fiction that does the same thing: James S. A. Corey writes beautiful socio-political commentary in The Expanse series. Max Brooks' World War Z was biting in its own special way, more (admittedly positive) social than political commentary. Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice shows us a world where the only pronoun…
on “Ursula K. Le Guin, “the emissary from Orsinia,” challenges expectations” ↗…focus the discussion on the core arguments around how social protection should be done. For a pretty balanced fictional treatment of a future with UBI I recommend James S. A. Corey's novel series "The Expanse" (now a SyFy TV show). Specifically, the novella "The Churn" deals with characters living in a society with universal basic income, and to a lesser degree "The Vital Abyss".
on “Request For Research: Basic Income” ↗…Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty? And "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" by Samuel P. Huntington? Also, Gleick: Chaos? Oh, and for fiction the James S. A. Corey: The Expanse series, veeeery easy to read, normally funny, and quite clever.
on “Lessons learned after 300 books in 4 years” ↗…place on a different planet in the universe with a separate (well thought out) magic system. Different books in different series start to reveal the why's and how's and how it is all linked. Enjoying the Expanse series right now by James Corey, sci-fi with us living on Mars and in the belt, when a dangerous alien self-replicating molecule shows up. If science fiction is your thing, I can't recommend higher the…
on “Ask HN: Which audiobooks did/do you like?” ↗…always looking forward to it, since I really like to immerse myself into my current book's world (I'm reading a really good book right now called "Cibola Burn" by James S. A. Corey, the fourth book in The Expanse Series). Additionally, it helps me to fall asleep much better and my sleep has improved a lot, too. I can recommend this to almost anyone; IMHO sleep hygiene in general is quite important, and this is…
on “Some Favorite Non-Technical Books (2018)” ↗…published this year, just that you've read it this year. I'm a little late to the game but I read: Lean Startup by Eric Ries and it really changed my understanding of how a startup should work. Also read the Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey and really enjoyed the cosmic horror aspects of the series.
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've read this year?” ↗For space opera stuff, I really liked Ann Leckie's Ancillary Sword https://annleckie.com/novel/ancillary-justice/ series and Corey's The Expanse stuff (I read the books after watching the series). For transhuman stuff, Brin's Kiln People, Morgan's Altered Carbon, and Scalzi's Old Man's War were fun. Along the lines of epics like Asimov's Foundation…
on “The Culture War: Iain M. Banks’s Billionaire Fans” ↗…enough to buy the first book, and then I was hooked because the world and its inhabitants are super interesting. “Don’t judge a book by its synopsis,” etc. Bonus, ‘cause why not: James A. Corey - The Expanse. Read your own summary for this one =)
on “50 authors, 50 science fiction stories shorter than novels” ↗Currently reading Cibola Burn - the 4th in the Expanse series by James SA Corey. Very good hard-ish SF series. I also just finished Creativity Inc., Ed Catmull's book about Pixar. Extremely valuable insights about running a creative organization.
on “Ask HN: What book are you reading right now?” ↗