After too long away, the space opera is returning to TV. Even better, the new series being produced for Syfy is based on The Expanse, the series of bestselling blockbuster sci-fi novels that have won glowing reviews and awestruck praise from sources as diverse as The Telegraph , George RR Martin, the Financial Times and Wired . It’s been described as “ Game Of Thrones in space” and considering Syfy was the channel that gave us Battlestar Galactica , we’re confidently expecting that the TV series of The Expanse is going to turn the book series into a Thrones -sized phenomenon.
The first season, which will be 10 episodes long, is currently being written and developed by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby ( Children Of Men , Iron Man ).
The series is widesceen sci-fi in novel form. A fast-paced, character-packed, action-driven high-octane rolercoaster ride that – as you can tell – earns reviews full of the kind of language usually reserved for big summer movies. “A really kickass space opera,” says George RR Martrin. “ Great characters, excellent dialogue, memorable fights,” says Wired . “Literary space opera at its absolute best,” says IO9 .
The books are credited to an artificial construct known as James SA Corey, a pen name for Nebula nominated Daniel Abraham ( Long Price Quartet) and Ty Franck (who among other things is George RR Martin’s personal assistant). Humanity has colonised the planets of our solar system which has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions: the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond.
