THE EXPANSE --it's premise, plot and socio-political implications

[Lord Ba'al]

Hmmm... Just tried purchasing book 2 (Caliban's War) but the damn promo code I earned doesn't work. Probably region specific this code. Anyone interested in a 5 Canadian dollar promo code for an e-book from Kobo? Might work in USA, dunno. Probably best bet it would work in Canada. I tried going to the Canadian Kobo website but that didn't work for me and I tried using a Canadian VPN but that also didn't work for me. Probably because I'm signed in on my account and that has a UK billing address on it. I could try changing my account to Canadian but I would have to remove my payment details. That would probably work, but then in the end I probably wouldn't be able to read them unless I keep pretending to be in Canada and then I wouldn't be able to read my UK books and I don't feel like switching back and forth all the time. Too much of a hassle compared to the few bucks I would be saving.

So anyway, I got five of these codes each worth 5 Canadian dollars. Who's interested? @Tripler perhaps??

Edit:
By the way I would expect these codes to have to be used on individual purchases, so you probably can't stack them together for a single purchase. But The Expanse books aren't really super expensive it seems.

 

[Overmind One]

I need someone who knows about the books. Seems like @Overmind One's a good bet, but I think at least one other person here might have read them.

I have a Kobo account now for e-books and I've purchased Leviathan Wakes so far. There appear to be more than 8 books. I think a bunch of them are only side stories going more in depth into characters and such. I would like some confirmation in regard to which books are more important than others and which order I should buy them in. I'm not gonna buy all of them at once anyway. I did Google it of course but I'm not certain. Also the books aren't listed in chronological order on Kobo apparently.

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/search?Query=the+expanse

What are your thoughts?

Season 1 - Leviathan Wakes + the beginning of Caliban's War
Season 2 - Caliban's war + Abaddon's Gate
Season 3 - Abaddon's Gate + Cibola Burn (likely at the finale)
Season 4 - Cibola Burn

I don't know which book will follow Cibola Burn, but there are 3 more books.

 

[Tripler]

Hell yah . I'll take it ...

 

[PussyGalore]

Hell yah . I'll take it ...

Well I hope you're able to read Canadian. Personally I wouldn't chance it but you strike me as a risk taker so best of luck to you my friend!

 

[Lord Ba'al]

Hell yah . I'll take it ...

Sent them in PM. Hope they work.

 

[Tripler]

Well I hope you're able to read Canadian. Personally I wouldn't chance it but you strike me as a risk taker so best of luck to you my friend!

Yah eh ! There's a time in this hosers life that he just has to take that leap of faith and truck on through , even if I have to eat backbacon covered with maple syrup on toast in the morning before heading out of my Igloo on my skidoo into the frozen beyond eh !

 

[Lord Ba'al]

 

[Jim of WVa]

Season 1 - Leviathan Wakes + the beginning of Caliban's War
Season 2 - Caliban's war + Abaddon's Gate
Season 3 - Abaddon's Gate + Cibola Burn (likely at the finale)
Season 4 - Cibola Burn

I don't know which book will follow Cibola Burn, but there are 3 more books.

According to Wikipedia, these are the novels:

1. Leviathan Wakes (2011)
2. Caliban's War (2012)
3. Abaddon's Gate (2013)
4. Cibola Burn (2014)
5. Nemesis Games (2015)
6. Babylon's Ashes (2016)
7. Persepolis Rising (2017)
8. Tiamat's Wrath (2019)
9. Unnamed novel 9 (2019)

 

[Lord Ba'al]

According to Wikipedia, these are the novels:

1. Leviathan Wakes (2011)
2. Caliban's War (2012)
3. Abaddon's Gate (2013)
4. Cibola Burn (2014)
5. Nemesis Games (2015)
6. Babylon's Ashes (2016)
7. Persepolis Rising (2017)
8. Tiamat's Wrath (2019)
9. Unnamed novel 9 (2019)

Yeah I know, but there are also several other ones, cheaper, like origin stories. I was hoping someone might have read those or knew more about them.

 

[Jim of WVa]

Yeah I know, but there are also several other ones, cheaper, like origin stories. I was hoping someone might have read those or knew more about them.

The short story, "The Butcher of Anderson Station" is a very good story that can be purchased on Amazon. The comic series is a collection of character origin stories and is also good.

 

[Overmind One]

Yeah I know, but there are also several other ones, cheaper, like origin stories. I was hoping someone might have read those or knew more about them.

Well, I am reading Nemesis Games right now, and that comes after Cibola Burn. I have not read the others yet. Nemesis Games fleshes out each of the characters who play the crew of the Rocinante, without them together on the ship. The next book which should be the basis for most of Season 5, deals with the gate and destinations it has created. I think you should just do like I am doing and read them in order. IF, you are that interested in this universe. I am hooked!

This show has replaced the beloved spot Star Trek used to have, and it has had to be upgraded to the new standards set by The Expanse series. Star Trek never quite met the bar this show has set and passed already.

 

[Lord Ba'al]

If I do read the books I would read them in order. But that is where it gets confusing. Book 1 through 8 is obvious. But these origin stories, should those be read before reading book 1, or should some of them be read in between books 1 through 8? That's what I was talking about.

 

[Overmind One]

If I do read the books I would read them in order. But that is where it gets confusing. Book 1 through 8 is obvious. But these origin stories, should those be read before reading book 1, or should some of them be read in between books 1 through 8? That's what I was talking about.

Good question. I don't really know. I started with Leviathan Wakes, and only after I had watched about 4 episodes of the show. By episode 7, I had already finished Leviathan Wakes and Caliban's War, then in the break I read Abaddon's Gate and started Cibola Burn. I started reading Nemesis Games about a week ago.

 

[Lord Ba'al]

Here's a list of what's available in e-books for The Expanse and James S. A. Corey on the Kobo website.

Leviathan Wakes (book 1)
Caliban's War (book 2)
Abaddon's Gate (book 3)
Cibola Burn (book 4)
Nemesis Games (book 5)
Babylon's Ashes (book 6)
Persepolis Rising (book 7)
Tiamat's Wrath (book 8)
The Expanse - Origins
The Expanse Origins #1 (James Holden)
The Expanse Origins #2 (Naomi Nagata)
The Expanse Origins #3 (Alex Kamal)
The Expanse Origins #4 (Amos Burton)
The Vital Abyss (an Expanse novella)
The Churn (an Expanse novella)
Strange Dogs (an Expanse novella)
Gods of Risk (an Expanse novella)
The Butcher of Anderson Station (an Expanse short story)

And the following are not related to The Expanse as far as I can tell, but James S. A. Corey were still involved in the writing apparenly.

Edge of Infinity
Meeting Infinity
Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves

As you can see from above, aside from the 8 books, there are 10 other e-books related to The Expanse. I have a feeling that the one named "The Expanse Origins" might be all 4 of those other Origin books wrapped into one, but I'm not sure. Then there's still 4 novellas and a short story. This is why I'm wondering in which order to read the books, if I do read them that is. Maybe it's not a good idea to read 1 through 8 first. Maybe the Origins stories should come first. Or maybe those are best left for later on, if and when you would like to dive deeper into those specific characters. And the novellas, perhaps those are like little teasers for people to stay satisfied with while they're waiting for the next real book to appear? I dunno.

 

[Overmind One]

Here's a list of what's available in e-books for The Expanse and James S. A. Corey on the Kobo website.

Leviathan Wakes (book 1)
Caliban's War (book 2)
Abaddon's Gate (book 3)
Cibola Burn (book 4)
Nemesis Games (book 5)
Babylon's Ashes (book 6)
Persepolis Rising (book 7)
Tiamat's Wrath (book 8)
The Expanse - Origins
The Expanse Origins #1 (James Holden)
The Expanse Origins #2 (Naomi Nagata)
The Expanse Origins #3 (Alex Kamal)
The Expanse Origins #4 (Amos Burton)
The Vital Abyss (an Expanse novella)
The Churn (an Expanse novella)
Strange Dogs (an Expanse novella)
Gods of Risk (an Expanse novella)
The Butcher of Anderson Station (an Expanse short story)

And the following are not related to The Expanse as far as I can tell, but James S. A. Corey were still involved in the writing apparenly.

Edge of Infinity
Meeting Infinity
Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves

As you can see from above, aside from the 8 books, there are 10 other e-books related to The Expanse. I have a feeling that the one named "The Expanse Origins" might be all 4 of those other Origin books wrapped into one, but I'm not sure. Then there's still 4 novellas and a short story. This is why I'm wondering in which order to read the books, if I do read them that is. Maybe it's not a good idea to read 1 through 8 first. Maybe the Origins stories should come first. Or maybe those are best left for later on, if and when you would like to dive deeper into those specific characters. And the novellas, perhaps those are like little teasers for people to stay satisfied with while they're waiting for the next real book to appear? I dunno.

I dunno...according to what I am reading, the Origins "books" are actually comic books:

Amazon product
The Expanse is much more than just Holden, Naomi, Alex and Amos. The original books seem to be more "organic", fleshing out many more characters than just the crew of the Rocinante. If you start with those origin stories first, you will miss the building of the Expanse universe, and the stories will focus only on 4 of the characters (The crew of the Roci). I don't think that is a good thing because this is not like Star Trek, where the crew of the favorite ship is also the center of the story. It seems to be going in that direction, but there are other equally as important characters like Crisjen Avarsarala and Bobbi Draper. and Fred Johnson. And the Behemoth ship is at least as important as the Rocinante, maybe more since it is a station now. These origin books came after the show was produced, and they are only 28 pages each. They could spoil the perception of the show for you, I think.

 

[Lord Ba'al]

I still wonder why the Mormons have not sued the Belters for stealing their massive ship. But don't give away any spoilers please!

 

[Overmind One]

I still wonder why the Mormons have not sued the Belters for stealing their massive ship. But don't give away any spoilers please!

But...but...

 

[Tripler]

 

[Overmind One]

This actor truly loves the show and his character in the show. Its really refreshing, and reminds me of Leonard Nimoy and also George Takei. And he loves talking about the show.

 

[Tripler]